Tickle Your Neurons: Our Best Psychology Books from 2017
Psychology is an exciting field. Fresh ideas are springing up constantly, and the momentum of research produced grows faster and faster. Technology expands the possibilities for opening new perspectives. But what are the latest, most popular psychology books, crowned the best of 2017? Blinkist has compiled a list of the hottest psychology titles to hit the shelves this year.
1. Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens‑Davidowitz
Everybody Lies
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
We now have a new tool for digging out the truth: big data. The servers that form the cloud gather information on countless aspects of human existence. Algorithms study the patterns in all this data and reveal aspects of human thinking we’ve never seen before. Our desires, beliefs, and prejudices, all now reside within an array of 0’s and 1’s. Is big data something to be scared of or can it be put to good use? Ex-Google data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz’s Everybody Lies takes anonymous Google search data and uncovers the secrets of people’s searches.
2. Emotional Agility by Susan David
Emotional Agility
- 15 min reading time
- audio version available
Dr. Susan David drew on twenty years of research and professional experience to formulate the ideas behind Emotional Agility. Her four-step approach is meant to help us in those moments when our emotions threaten to make us erupt in frustration or crumble in despair. By harnessing our values, adaptability, self-acceptance, and open-mindedness, we can surpass our destructive emotional tendencies. Read this top psychology book from 2017 to learn out to deal with negative emotions as they arise, gain self-awareness, and improve your relationships.
3. The Captain Class by Sam Walker
The Captain Class
- 15 min reading time
- audio version available
For The Captain Class, Sam Walker studied the 16 greatest sports teams in history, looking at the NBA, MLB, and English Premier League, among others. He hoped to discover the common element that led to such success. What he found was that the character of the team’s captain played a profound role. The Captain Class offers a fresh take on leadership, examining the traits these captains shared that contributed to their teams’ extraordinary performances. Read Walker’s book, if you want to know how to lead like a champion and apply these teams’ lessons across a vast spectrum of disciplines.
4. How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett
How Emotions Are Made
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
Leading psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett presents her revolutionary theory of human emotion. How Emotions Are Made challenges the common conception that emotions are automatic and universal across cultures. Learn why emotions feel automatic, how they affect disease, and the ways you can train your emotional intelligence. This groundbreaking research on how the brain constructs emotions is already beginning to deepen our theories of psychology, medicine, the legal system, and even airport security. Feldman Barrett brings a new light into our understanding of the mind and brain, and, ultimately, what it means to be human.
As 2017 draws to a close it’s good to take a moment to reflect on what we achieved, what we’re grateful for, and what we really enjoyed over the past year. If you want to explore other great nonfiction produced in 2017, then have a look at the best management and entrepreneurship titles, and even more top psychology books-in-blinks on Blinkist.
