Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World

“The title of the book takes me back to high school. Who was popular? Where are those people now? In this book, Prinstein discusses and presents research on our innate and universal need for status and likability. When people say they don’t care about status or when they claim indifference to what other people think of them, it sounds cool; however, we sense that it isn’t true. It is part of human nature to care about how others regard us. Prinstein writes that popularity is based on likability as well as status, but that it’s difficult to simultaneously convey both these characteristics. Research on social perception shows that we evaluate other people according to these two fundamental dimensions of social perception.” Read more...

The best books on Making A Good Impression

Övül Sezer

“Mitch Prinstein is a fabulous psychologist who studies social intelligence. I only chose books that I think are great science, but also really well-written. Prinstein wrote a wonderful book, very warm and relatable. There are a lot of great stories, and it’s a terrific summary of more or less everything that’s known on the topic of popularity. Popularity is an inescapable part of life—especially for adolescents and teenagers and the people who love them, but for everybody in many facets of life. His work (and this book) shows that there are ways to go about the popularity game that are bad for you and for others.” Read more...

The best books on Character Development

Angela Duckworth, Psychologist