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A review by bootman
The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony by Jay J Van Bavel, Dominic J Packer
5.0
2nd read:
I read an early copy of this book before it came out in 2021 and was fortunate enough to have Jay on the podcast. I remembered loving this book, but I enjoyed it even more this time around, which I didn’t think was possible. I’m fascinated by group psychology, and it’s such an important topic during these polarized times. Dominic and Jay have done so much interesting research that they pack into this book while also drawing from many other studies. They also offer some new ideas and information about famous studies like the Stanley Milgrim and Stanford Prison Experiments that are fresh and super interesting.
This book will help you understand why people are so divided and how it happens. More importantly, they discuss how we can use what we know about group identity to help bring people together and resolve some of the most challenging issues we face today. It’s definitely one of the best books I’ve read about how our groups and identities shape us, and I know I’ll be giving it another read in the future.
1st read:
This year has produced so many amazing books, and 2021 just keeps delivering. Jay and Dominic were kind enough to send me an early copy of this book, and I can’t even begin to explain how fantastic it is. From the introduction of the book, I was hooked because although I’ve read plenty of social psychology books around how we interact with one another, this one took a completely unique angle on the topic. The authors are researchers and they became really interested in how our individual and shared identities play a major role in our lives and how we behave in groups. To set the foundation, they start by explaining the research behind minimal group paradigm, which really highlights how it doesn’t take much for us to form ingroups and outgroups.
If you’re interested in this topic, you’ll come across some familiar research, but Van Bavel and Packer have done a ton of their own studies. Not only have they conducted their own research, but they also notice interesting findings from famous studies like the Milgrim experiments that others haven’t recognized. The research and communication of the meanings and findings are top notch, but I personally think my favorite part is how this book is structured.
This year, I’ve read over 260 non-fiction books, and this is the first one where I said, “Wow. This book’s chapters build on top of one another perfectly.” As I was reading, I was thinking about how all of the research can possibly explain real-world scenarios, and the authors end up creating a path straight to that destination. After building a great foundation, they then discuss many social issues we’re experiencing today such as political polarization, the BLM protests of 2020, police violence, and so much more.
The Power of Us stands out as a book that everyone from academics, to politicians, to average citizens need to read. We can either deny that we evolved in a way that can divide us, or we can accept the science, recognize issues, and work towards solutions together.
I read an early copy of this book before it came out in 2021 and was fortunate enough to have Jay on the podcast. I remembered loving this book, but I enjoyed it even more this time around, which I didn’t think was possible. I’m fascinated by group psychology, and it’s such an important topic during these polarized times. Dominic and Jay have done so much interesting research that they pack into this book while also drawing from many other studies. They also offer some new ideas and information about famous studies like the Stanley Milgrim and Stanford Prison Experiments that are fresh and super interesting.
This book will help you understand why people are so divided and how it happens. More importantly, they discuss how we can use what we know about group identity to help bring people together and resolve some of the most challenging issues we face today. It’s definitely one of the best books I’ve read about how our groups and identities shape us, and I know I’ll be giving it another read in the future.
1st read:
This year has produced so many amazing books, and 2021 just keeps delivering. Jay and Dominic were kind enough to send me an early copy of this book, and I can’t even begin to explain how fantastic it is. From the introduction of the book, I was hooked because although I’ve read plenty of social psychology books around how we interact with one another, this one took a completely unique angle on the topic. The authors are researchers and they became really interested in how our individual and shared identities play a major role in our lives and how we behave in groups. To set the foundation, they start by explaining the research behind minimal group paradigm, which really highlights how it doesn’t take much for us to form ingroups and outgroups.
If you’re interested in this topic, you’ll come across some familiar research, but Van Bavel and Packer have done a ton of their own studies. Not only have they conducted their own research, but they also notice interesting findings from famous studies like the Milgrim experiments that others haven’t recognized. The research and communication of the meanings and findings are top notch, but I personally think my favorite part is how this book is structured.
This year, I’ve read over 260 non-fiction books, and this is the first one where I said, “Wow. This book’s chapters build on top of one another perfectly.” As I was reading, I was thinking about how all of the research can possibly explain real-world scenarios, and the authors end up creating a path straight to that destination. After building a great foundation, they then discuss many social issues we’re experiencing today such as political polarization, the BLM protests of 2020, police violence, and so much more.
The Power of Us stands out as a book that everyone from academics, to politicians, to average citizens need to read. We can either deny that we evolved in a way that can divide us, or we can accept the science, recognize issues, and work towards solutions together.