Skip to main content
contentVerticalPosition: , overrideVerticalAlignment: , contentHorizontalPosition: , overrideHorizontalAlignment:
contentVerticalPosition: , overrideVerticalAlignment: , contentHorizontalPosition: , overrideHorizontalAlignment:

Welcome to Wheatley Institute

Learn more about our mission and who we are.
contentVerticalPosition: , overrideVerticalAlignment: , contentHorizontalPosition: , overrideHorizontalAlignment:
contentVerticalPosition: , overrideVerticalAlignment: , contentHorizontalPosition: , overrideHorizontalAlignment:

Marriage, Motherhood, and Women’s Well-Being

Read our newest report about motherhood and happiness
contentVerticalPosition: , overrideVerticalAlignment: , contentHorizontalPosition: , overrideHorizontalAlignment:
contentVerticalPosition: , overrideVerticalAlignment: , contentHorizontalPosition: , overrideHorizontalAlignment:
contentVerticalPosition: , overrideVerticalAlignment: , contentHorizontalPosition: , overrideHorizontalAlignment:
contentVerticalPosition: , overrideVerticalAlignment: , contentHorizontalPosition: , overrideHorizontalAlignment:

We Are Not Afraid

Join us on September 11 for a special movie screening.

Strengthening society through research-supported work that fortifies the core institutions of family, religion, and constitutional government.

INITIATIVES

overrideTextColor= overrideCardAlternateTextColor= overrideDisableBackgroundImage= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overrideCardShowButton= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=
overrideTextColor= overrideCardAlternateTextColor= overrideDisableBackgroundImage= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overrideCardShowButton= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=
overrideTextColor= overrideCardAlternateTextColor= overrideDisableBackgroundImage= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overrideCardShowButton= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=
overrideTextColor= overrideCardAlternateTextColor= overrideDisableBackgroundImage= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overrideCardShowButton= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=
data-content-type="event"

Eternal Man and the Power of Identity

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday, October 15
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=
data-content-type="article"

Jesus Christ: the Complete Self-Expression of the true God in True Humanity

October 11, 2024 11:06 AM
The 2024 Truman G. Madsen Lecture on Eternal Man was given by Reverend Andrew Teal, a chaplain specializing in Christian church history and a full member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at Oxford University.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription=true overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Who’s Really Going to Church? Evidence From Cellphone Tracking Data

October 11, 2024 10:39 AM
Wheatley Institute and the BYU Economics department were pleased to hear from Dr. Devin Pope, an Associate Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. Dr. Pope used cellphone data to explore the frequency, regularity, and correlates with religious worship in America across geographies and religious traditions.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription=true overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Why America Went Crazy and How You Can Stay Sane

October 03, 2024 03:35 PM
Wheatley Institute helped to host David French, author and columnist for the New York Times, as a speaker at Brigham Young University's campus forum, where he addressed increased political division and hatred in the United States.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription=true overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription=true overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=
data-content-type="article"

The Atlantic Highlights Wheatley Marriage Study

September 04, 2025 12:11 PM
"There are many reasons people choose not to have children or not to get married, but false messages about happiness should not be one of them. The articles I read long ago were right that parenting (and marriage) can often be exhausting. But they ignored the sense of meaning that comes from parenthood and the connection of physical touch at the core of family life."
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription=true overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Podcast - The Real Lives of Women of Faith

September 03, 2025 11:09 AM
Magnify the Podcast featured Wheatley Family Fellow Jenet Erickson discussing findings from a recent Pew Research study on women of faith. Latter-Day Saint women were found to have very high rates of happiness and spiritual well-being, in sharp contrast to negative pop culture depictions. Pew Research concluded: "“It may be the confluence of the religious values and practices, reinforced by social ties and norms, that give religious communities their powerful effects on so many aspects of human flourishing.”
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription=true overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Committed Romance Is Scary For Many Young Adults

August 22, 2025 03:27 PM
Brian Willoughby, a Wheatley Institute Family Fellow, contributed an article to the Deseret News about a sharp decline in dating among young American adults. Willoughby cites financial pressures, low confidence, and shifting priorities as factors in this "disconnect from romance, dating and marriage."
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription=true overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription=true overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=