Popular: Why being liked is the secret to greater success and happiness - Softcover

Prinstein, Mitch

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1785040545 ISBN 13: 9781785040542

Publisher: Ebury Publishing, 2017

Synopsis

When did you last count how many followers you have on Instagram or Twitter? Have you noticed how obsessed politicians are with opinion polls? How many ‘likes’ did that post get you thought was so funny? What’s happening with that friend who keeps cancelling on you last minute? What does that little voice in your head say to you when you present to a room full of people? And are you aware just how much your behaviour today is driven by your experiences of popularity as a teenager?

We live in an era that is completely obsessed with popularity, both in the real and, increasingly, in the virtual world where hard data from our social media channels show us just how popular and visible we really are. Parents and teachers are becoming increasingly concerned about the high anxiety (especially amongst young girls) surrounding young people and their insatiable appetite for acceptance online – all at the expense of school work, real friends and healthy self-esteem.

The Popularity Paradox is a fresh and fascinating book about the science of popularity. Based on 20 years of research and written by popularity expert Mitch Prinstein, it investigates what popularity is, why we care about it so much – even if we don’t think we do – what kind of popularity is worth caring about and how we can get the popularity we want, even if we didn't have it when we were younger. Although very much written for a general audience, the book will also appeal to parents wishing to support children through their formative years to ensure that their experience of popularity today shapes them positively as adults in the future.

About this title

About the Author

Mitch Prinstein Ph.D. is the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and the Director of Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mitch's Peer Relations Lab, first at Yale University and then UNC, has conducted research on popularity and peer relations for almost 20 years. His classes on popularity are so popular that people queue down the halls to get in and he has to use the largest lecture halls to hold them. Mitch also serves as the President for the Society for the Science of Clinical Psychology and is a former member of the Board of Directors for the American Psychological Association.

Review

""We have all imprinted emotionally on the vicissitudes of our teenage years. Mitch Prinstein, in this compelling, page-turner, tells us why and also how we can shed the skins of our adolescence. Even better he tells us how our children can achieve meaningful popularity. A science-based Dale Carnegie."" -- Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D. Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania

Edition details

• Publisher: Ebury Publishing
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1785040545
• ISBN 13: 9781785040542
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288