Haidt has written multiple books for general audiences, including The Happiness Hypothesis (2006) examining the relationship between ancient philosophies and modern science,[6] The Righteous Mind (2012) on moral politics,[7] and The Coddling of the American Mind (2018) on rising political polarization, mental health, and college culture.

In 2024, he published The Anxious Generation, arguing that the rise of smartphones and overprotective parenting has led to a "rewiring" of childhood and increased mental illness.

[13] At Shweder's suggestion, Haidt researched moral complexity in Bhubaneswar, India,[16] where he conducted field studies and "encountered a society in some ways patriarchal, sexist and illiberal".

[22] In 2015, Haidt co-founded Heterodox Academy, a non-profit organization that works to increase viewpoint diversity, mutual understanding, and productive disagreement.

[29] Feelings of moral elevation cause increases in milk produced during lactation in breastfeeding mothers,[30] suggesting the involvement of the hormone oxytocin.

Haidt's main paper on the social intuitionist model, "The Emotional Dog and its Rational Tail", has been cited over 7,800 times.

[33] In 2004, Haidt began to extend the social intuitionist model to identify what he considered to be the most important categories of moral intuition.

In this work, they also developed the new revised Moral Foundations Questionnaire-2 which has 36 items, measuring Care, Equality, Proportionality, Loyalty, Authority, and Purity.

[7] He is on the advisory boards of RepresentUs, a non-partisan anti-corruption organization; and Braver Angels, a bipartisan group working to reduce political polarization.

[51] David Mikics of Tablet magazine profiled Haidt as "the high priest of heterodoxy" and praised his work to increase intellectual diversity at universities through Heterodox Academy.

[52] In 2020, Peter Wehner wrote in The Atlantic, "Over the past decade, no one has added more to my understanding of how we think about, discuss, and debate politics and religion than Jonathan Haidt."

He added that, "In his own field, in his own way, Jonathan Haidt is trying to heal our divisions and temper some of the hate, to increase our wisdom and understanding, and to urge us to show a bit more compassion toward one another.

[55] The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (2012) draws on Haidt's previous research on moral foundations theory.

The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure (2018), co-written with Greg Lukianoff, expands on an essay the authors wrote for The Atlantic in 2015.

[56] The book explores the rising political polarization and changing culture on college campuses and its effects on mental health.

It also explores changes in childhood, including the rise of "fearful parenting", the decline of unsupervised play, and the effects of social media in the last decade.

Haidt posits that two major factors have contributed to a significant shift in childhood experiences and a subsequent increase in mental health issues among young people: The widespread adoption of smartphones and the rise of overprotective parenting styles.