Wheatley in the News

We are designed for love. We’re designed to experience love eternally. This is joy. And that is grounded in family relationships, mothers, fathers, children bound together eternally. I think it’s so beautiful.

The Constitution is foundational to what we all love about America. Arizona State professor Paul Carrese noted in a lecture at the Wheatley Institute last year that “our very complex constitutional system of separation of powers and federalism inherently call for civil disagreement over both long-term and day-to-day political issues.” So, understanding the rights underlying our constitutional system and how they protect people who disagree with us is critical.

These findings hint at a generational transformation in how Americans relate to political legitimacy. Older Americans are unified in their faith in the Constitution. Middle-aged Americans are split by education, sorted into different legitimacy frameworks. And younger Americans are divided and diverse, with no dominant view and increasing weight placed on personal belief and public opinion.

"The Convention’s rules assumed that if you brought people together and had them listen to one another, they’d change their minds...The Framers became friends who were willing to engage in good faith negotiations and seek mutual accommodations for the sake of unity."

Utahns have a long tradition of showing up with compassion and caring for each other. We each have a role and a responsibility here. We can choose dignity over division. We can disagree better. We can heal together.

A recent article in The New Yorker investigated various AI companion websites, citing a Wheatley Institute report on how dangerous and widespread the use of romantic chatbot services is.

"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."

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.”

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."