The Power of Us

Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony

By: Jay J. Van Bavel PhD, Dominic J. Packer PhD

Narrated by: Jay J. Van Bavel PhD, Dominic J. Packer PhD, Terrence Kidd

A revolutionary new understanding of identity, showing how our groups have a powerful influence on our feelings, beliefs, and behavior - and how these shared identities can inspire both personal change and social movements.

If you're like most people, you probably believe that your identity is stable. But in fact, your identity is constantly changing - often outside your conscious awareness and sometimes even against your wishes - to reflect the interests of the groups you belong to.

In The Power of Us, psychologists Dominic Packer and Jay Van Bavel integrate their own cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to explain how identity really works and how to harness its dynamic nature to:

• Boost cooperation and productivity
• Overcome bias
• Escape from echo chambers
• Break political gridlock
• Foster dissent and mobilize for change
• Lead effectively
• Galvanize action to address persistent global problems

Along the way, they explore such seemingly unrelated phenomena as why a small town in Germany spent decades divided by shoes, why beliefs persist after they are disproven, how working together synchronizes our brains, what makes selfish people generous, why effective leaders say “we” a lot, and how playing soccer can reduce age-old conflicts.

Understanding how identity works allows people to take control, moving beyond wondering, “Who am I?” to answer instead, “Who do I want to be?” Packed with fascinating insights, vivid case studies, and a wealth of pioneering research, The Power of Us will change the way you understand yourself - and the people around you - forever.

©2021 Jay J. Van Bavel, PhD, and Dominic J. Packer, PhD (P)2021 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

"The Power of Us is a fascinating journey into the science of identity. If you've ever struggled to understand why people join cults or mindlessly conform - or, have wondered how to build great teams and influence better choices, this is the book you need. It is a practical, entertaining and, above all, vital guide to human behavior." (Charles Duhigg, best-selling author of The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better)

“Better than I have ever seen, The Power of Us assesses the influence of tribalism on our actions and specifies ways to turn the force from destructive to constructive. A truly important book." (Robert Cialdini, author of Influence and Pre-Suasion)

"As American politics shifts from fights over ideology and policies to conflict over basic identities, we increasingly need help from social psychologists to understand what is going on. The Power of Us is an excellent resource in filling this urgent need." (Francis Fukuyama, author of Identity)

Fantastic

A wonderful book and the introduction read by the authors makes for particularly good listening.

Really engaging & interesting book about groups!

Loved this book -- it was a super engaging book about the good and bad side of our group minds. My absolute favorite chapters were the ones about politics and fake news (the dark side of identity), as well as the final chapter about how we can leverage our groupish behavior to solve social problems. Highly recommended!

Essential reading

This important work is essential reading for a variety of disciplines, my own conflict management (theory and practice) included. I find myself returning to the book two years after its publication, not just for some of the insights contained therein, but also for the fresh way of thinking about various aspects of identity and the conflicts caused by getting that crucial assessment wrong. the writing style is easy-going and makes some complex issues accessible for even the most casual reader. Highly recommended

Narrator is unbearable!

I'm sure there is a lot of great info in this book. Unfortunately, the narrator reads in such a way that it is difficult to endure. Had to return this audiobook after the first hr. Maybe I'll read it instead.

Neo-Marxist propaganda, with some interesting facts sprinkled in.

Very disappointing book. It had some interesting and informative conclusions on some subjects covered, but not worth all the Marxist-esque propaganda one must wade through to get to the good points. The authors, quite apparently, are woefully un-self-ware their own biases. Garage book, IMO.