Jonathan Haidt
3
Books ReviewedIn Jonathan Haidt's own words
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt discusses 'The Anxious Generation' on CBS Saturday Morning, examining the impact of smartphones and overprotective parenting on youth mental health.
Uploaded by CBS Mornings, 2024 · Watch on YouTube ·
Jonathan Haidt books in order
6 books; 3 reviewed on LuvemBooks. Dates and covers from Amazon.
2005The Happiness HypothesisAmazon ↗
2012Our review →
2018The Coddling of the American MindAmazon ↗
2021All Minus OneAmazon ↗
2023Our review →
2025Our review →
The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price
4.7/5
reader rating · 742 ratingsThe Amazing Generation is a practical handbook for tweens aged 9–12, co-authored by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and health journalist Catherine Price, designed to help young readers reclaim friendship, freedom, and fun from the pull of smartphone addiction — and reviewed here on the basis of its content and published critical reception, not hands-on use.
Reviewed Jul 14, 2026
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
4.6/5
reader rating · 13,592 ratingsJonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation (Penguin Press, March 2024) is a work of social-science argument that attributes a documented rise in teen mental illness to the spread of smartphones, social media, and what Haidt calls the shift from a "play-based" to a "phone-based" childhood. It is one of the most widely discussed nonfiction books of 2024, praised by many parents and educators as an urgent call to action — and challenged by researchers who question whether its causal claims hold up to scientific scrutiny. This review is based on the book's contents as described by the publisher and published critical sources, not hands-on application.
Reviewed Sep 9, 2026
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
4.6/5
reader rating · 11,973 ratingsJonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion is a social psychology book, originally published in 2012 and reissued by Vintage in 2013, that argues human morality is driven primarily by intuition rather than reason — and that this fundamental fact explains the chasm between liberals, conservatives, and libertarians in modern political life. Structured across three distinct arguments, the book introduces Haidt's moral foundations theory, mapping six dimensions of moral judgment — care/harm, fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion, sanctity/degradation, and liberty/oppression — to show why different political tribes speak what amount to different moral languages. It is a challenging, research-grounded work that draws both strong admiration and pointed critique, and remains one of the most discussed social psychology books of the past decade.
Reviewed Feb 17, 2026
Ask LuvemBooks about Jonathan Haidt
- Where should I start?
- Start with The Righteous Mind if you want the clearest statement of Haidt's core framework: morality as intuitive first, reasoning afterward, with consequences for political and religious conflict. If your immediate interest is kids, phones, and mental health, The Anxious Generation is the more urgent entry point. Both have Amazon reader ratings of 4.6/5, with much larger rating counts than The Amazing Generation.
- What's their writing style?
- Haidt's reviewed books use social-science argument: name a mechanism, then use it to reorganize a familiar debate. In The Righteous Mind the mechanism is intuition-driven morality; in The Anxious Generation it is a claimed rewiring of childhood through smartphones and social media. With Catherine Price on The Amazing Generation, the style becomes more practical and age-targeted for tweens, while our review notes it was assessed from content and published critical reception rather than hands-on use.
- Books we've reviewed
- We have reviewed 3 Jonathan Haidt-related books. The Amazing Generation, co-written with Catherine Price, is a Children's Books handbook for ages 9-12 about loosening smartphone addiction's grip, with a 4.7/5 Amazon reader rating from 742 ratings. The Righteous Mind is his 2012 moral-psychology argument about intuition, politics, and religion, rated 4.6/5 from 11,973 Amazon ratings; The Anxious Generation is the 2024 phone-based childhood argument, rated 4.6/5 from 13,592 Amazon ratings.
- How do their books compare?
- The Righteous Mind is the broadest theory book: it explains moral and political division by arguing intuition leads and reason follows. The Anxious Generation is narrower and more timely, attributing a documented rise in teen mental illness to smartphones, social media, and the move from play-based to phone-based childhood. The Amazing Generation is the most practical, turning related concerns into a guide for tweens, co-authored with Catherine Price.
- What genre do they write?
- Haidt is an American social psychologist, and the reviewed books span nonfiction shelves rather than a single genre label. Our listings place The Righteous Mind in Philosophy & Religion, The Anxious Generation in Parenting & Child Development, and The Amazing Generation in Children's Books. The common thread is social psychology used to explain moral conflict and childhood change.
- Why is The Anxious Generation trending?
- Its summary calls The Anxious Generation one of the most widely discussed nonfiction books of 2024, published by Penguin Press in March 2024. The argument attributes a documented rise in teen mental illness to smartphones, social media, and the shift from play-based to phone-based childhood. It has a 4.6/5 Amazon reader rating from 13,592 ratings, the largest rating count among the books we've reviewed.
- What should I read after The Anxious Generation?
- If The Anxious Generation leaves you asking why people reach such different moral conclusions, go back to The Righteous Mind for Haidt's broader account of intuition-driven morality. If you want the same phone-and-childhood concern made usable for a younger reader, choose The Amazing Generation with Catherine Price. That order moves from diagnosis, to theory, to a tween-facing handbook.
Who is Jonathan Haidt?
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