Popular by Mitch Prinstein and Why? by Mario Livio

POPULAR by Mitch Prinstein is subtitled “The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World” and he stresses the difference – and relative desirability – between those two elements (likability and status). Prinstein is the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and the Director of Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and spends a great deal of time exploring the meaning of popularity, particularly the relationship between popularity in high school (or even childhood) and adult life.

Prinstein divides his argument into nine chapters with titles like “The Popularity Boomerang” and “Clicks and Cliques” (a look at the influence of social media). In some ways, it seems ironic that POPULAR will likely be used by our AP Psych classes, although they will certainly find much to relate to in his many anecdotes.  And hopefully, they will benefit from his view that “the more we understand about popularity and how it affects us throughout our lives, …. the better chance we have for meaningful, satisfying, and rewarding interpersonal relationships...” POPULAR received a starred review from Library Journal and numerous other positive comments, including those from authors such as Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink.   

WHY? by astrophysicist Mario Livio is another new psychology book and deals with “What Makes Us Curious.” One interesting aspect is that while Livio considers himself a very curious person, this field is not his specialty and he therefore needed to consult across disciplines with psychologists and neuroscientists. He begins the book with reference to Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” and then introduces emphatic curiosity as well as the importance of surprise. Subsequent chapters refer to inventors and theorists such as da Vinci, Galileo and Feynman. 

Livio’s chapter five deals with the Intrinsic Love of knowledge and looks at curiosity as a “powerful source of motivation for its own sake,” much like we recently find students gravitating to library maker spaces for the chance to freely tinker and experiment. WHY? also involves a discussion of memory, willpower, and a quote attributed to Einstein: “The important thing is to not stop questioning.”