Hey, so my sister asked if for Christmas I can get her a book about psychology. She said she’s interested in how to read people and their behaviour and what their behaviour means. Does anyone know of any books I can get her that are an easy read for her age group and get her introduced to the topic ! Thanks
by SpicyWater0909
2 Comments
She may like more social science that tells a story while educating like Malcolm Gladwell (blink or outliers), Sam Kean, Dan Ariely. I’d say all are pretty age appropriate and great introductions to different aspects of the field.
She may also be interested in positive psychology books – brene brown, Angela Duckworth, Martin seligman, Jane Dutton… those are all along the lines of educating on the science of wellbeing so more about cultivating the positive life versus clinical psychology
How to Change by Katy Milkman is pretty good. Reasonably accurate, accessible, interesting. Dave McRaney’s You Are Not So Smart is a highly accessible, though somewhat fluffy take on cognitive biases and errors. It’s not bad as an intro level book.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is probably the best popular press psychology book of all time. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini is also a clear winner. These two are slightly more sophisticated, but excellent pieces of work.
I don’t recommend Gladwell; he plays extremely loose with evidence and prioritizes storytelling above accuracy. I would also say to avoid Ariely; he’s a decent writer, but he’s also in the middle of a fraud case (which also casts doubt on quite a few of the studies he likes to write about).