A delightful treatment of a subject many of us would prefer to ignore, gently subversive in its undermining of...
A comprehensive guide for bringing the power of money under control.
By her count, BBC Radio host Hammond (Time Warped: Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception, 2013, etc.) discusses 263 experiments by psychologists and neuroscientists that demonstrate how science can illuminate our many foibles and obsessions about money and deal with them effectively. The author—who has won awards from the British Psychological Society, the British Neuroscience Association, and other medical, psychological, and publishing associations for her contributions to the public understanding of science—reviews their insights, which range from the best ways to encourage children to improve their grades at school and teach them how to manage their pocket money to lessons about older, unconscious processes gleaned from Yale University’s work with token-managing monkeys. The primates, hoping for grapes, are taking part in experiments on loss aversion similar to those conducted on humans by neuroscientist Daniel Kahneman. “Just like humans, [the capuchins] seem to hate a loss” rather than seek the pleasure of a potential gain. Whether shopping or eating out, the motivation seems to be the same. Case studies illustrate how to make decisions about which kind of all-you-can-eat buffet to visit. Spending more for the buffet, for example, and really enjoying the food, works out better than eating from the cheaper spread. Pleasure, enjoyment, and good memories seem to be preferable as time passes, so for people who want to spend money on themselves, Hammond recommends buying “experiences rather than material goods.” In a practical, sometimes-amusing narrative, Hammond provides a valuable summary of work in psychology, behavioral economics, and more, and her numbered “Money Tips” are particularly helpful.
A delightful treatment of a subject many of us would prefer to ignore, gently subversive in its undermining of preconceptions and prejudices.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-231700-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Perennial/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
IN THE NEWS
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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