Mitch PrinsteinPopular: Finding Happiness and Success in a World That Cares Too Much About the Wrong Kinds of Relationships

This book provided some good suggestions for parents about how to help their children become better citizens, more equipped to navigate social relationships, although I think this could have gone deeper. I think certain research discussed to support some arguments through the book did not clearly make the points the author sought to make. Generally an interesting read, particularly in reflecting back on my own experiences and those of my child.

Great book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I even wish it had been longer. Will read it again. I was attracted to it because one day I was thinking how social media is sometimes like being in high school again, with people concerned about status and popularity. I did a search on those ideas and found this book. It did not disappoint and helped me with my understanding of this phenomenon in social media and society.The author's discussion of status vs. likability added a fresh perspective and I think it has actually benefited me personally as I began to understand I'd rather be likable than just plain popular or have some kind of status. It helped me feel better about myself when I realized that many people seem to find me likable even if I may not have as many friends or followers as others. Quality over quantity--a good goal to strive for.Also, although the author backs up his points with evidence from research, the science doesn't bog down the reading or get boring. Glad I bought it. I recommend Popular to anyone who loves psychology and sociology or just wants to learn more about social dynamics in contemporary Western culture.

I enthusiastically recommend this outstanding book by one of the leading researchers in this field. Dr. Mitch Prinstein combines research findings with hilarious stories to create a compelling book about popularity and likability--two forms of social status with strikingly different implications. As a fellow researcher in this field, I can say that Dr. Prinstein is a renowned expert on this topic, and here he also demonstrates his exceptional ability to explain his scientific findings in an engaging, approachable way that I imagine all readers can appreciate. This book would be ideal for adults interested in social science, teens who are struggling with their own peer status, and parents who want to understand how to help their kids navigate today's complex social landscape in which status seems paramount. Buy this book!

He has a fascinating thesis that your popularity as a youth follows you in your adult life and has profound implications on you as an adult, but he never supports his thesis persuasively.Instead, author gives hackneyed social science research, many of which I have read in magazine in news articles, about stone age humans needed groups to survive and that being lonely affects your health and can cause disease and inflammation.The book would have been much better if he conducted his own research and followed the lives of people in the popular clique, people who had friends in high school but were not popular and averaged out and people who reported little to no friends in high school and saying how that impacted them as adults.The best chapter was about fame, addiction, and social media and how they are all inter-related.

This book is required reading for the incoming class of freshmen at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. I belong to an adult book club. The club's selection for August 2018 is always the same book that the freshmen read, so this year this is our August selection.For someone of that age, the book is appropriate and could be quite beneficial. After preparing for my upcoming August meeting, I loaned the book to some high school students who found that it was potentially beneficial to them, as well.There are ideas in here that could be beneficial to anyone.

Read it as required reading for university. The author is clearly enthusiastic about the topic of popularity, and some of the anecdotes and studies are engaging and helpful. Unfortunately, the book is very fluffy and repetitive. The author would have done better to find a more brutal editor who could help him sculpt the text into a better organized, leaner finished product of 150 pages instead of approximately 240. If you're someone who reads a lot of nonfiction, the pace and organization of this book might feel frustrating.Likewise, if you're the kind of person who prefers natural human interactions and is already aware that status and social media can lead to damaging attitudes toward identity and relationships, you're going to flip through most of the book waiting for the author to say something that surprises you.All that said, some of the kids in my discussion group seemed to get a lot out of reading this, so it might be an eye-opening read for the selfie queen in your life.

This book kept me interested cover to cover. As a practicing psychologist I learned a lot that I can use with adolescent and adult patients who struggle with their perceptions of being disliked and unpopular. I particularly appreciated how much recent research was summarized in a very user friendly way. A very good read! I would recommend this book to my patients.

If you found solace (and who didn't) in "High School Never Ends," you'll love this book, a primer on how popularity shapes the most important moments of our lives. Through rigorous science and riveting stories, Prinstein deconstructs popularity into two forms: one worth chasing, the other worth letting go. His writing is accessible, suspenseful, and thoroughly sourced by way of citations of peer-reviewed academic literature.

Great reading, I liked the use of quotes at timely junctions. One can relate to popularity from your childhood to the present.