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1-Page Summary of The Social Animal

Overview

Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking, Fast and Slow explains his contributions to our current understanding of psychology. He shares the decades of research that led to him winning a Nobel Prize in Economics. His work has significantly contributed to our understanding of human behavior and decision making. We now have a better idea how decisions are made, why certain judgment errors are so common, and how we can improve ourselves.

Next time you go to the supermarket, try listening closely. You’ll hear jungle sounds in the fruit section and waves at the fish counter. Research has shown that these sounds make customers buy more because they slow them down.

It may sound strange, but it’s true. You’re not as in control of your behavior as you think. Research has shown that everything from the way you walk to how much wine you drink is controlled by forces beyond your awareness.

In this passage, you’ll learn that love is closer than we think; judges should eat more often; and it takes a lot to resist a marshmallow.

Big Idea #1: We choose mates who look like us and conform to certain physical criteria.

Ask any 15-year old boy what his dream girl is like, and he’ll give you a list of traits she should have. However, when he grows up and falls in love with someone who doesn’t exactly fit his criteria, he will still be attracted to her. So why do we fall in love?

It turns out that we’re attracted to people who look like us. We tend to be more attracted to people with similar facial features, such as having a nose of the same breadth and eyes spaced in the same way.

Furthermore, we’re drawn to people who are similar to us. A study found that more than half of the couples who applied for marriage in Columbus, Ohio lived within 16 blocks of each other when they started dating. Furthermore, 37% lived within 5 blocks!

Generally speaking, we tend to fall in love with people who are like us. We also gravitate toward people who have certain physical traits that we find attractive.

For example, it’s no surprise that women are more attracted to taller men with symmetrical facial features. But did you know that researchers have also found out that women are more sexually attracted to men who have larger pupils?

Heterosexual men like women who have a hip-to-waist ratio of roughly 0.7, according to a study conducted across the globe.

Although the most important thing is hip-to-waist ratio, men also prefer full lips and clear skin.

Big Idea #2: Choosing Our Choices

We like to think that we control our behavior, but it’s not really true. Small factors can influence us greatly in unexpected ways. For instance, when people read words associated with being old (such as “bingo”, “Florida” and “ancient”), they walk more slowly after leaving the room than before entering it.

Another study had people read words related to rudeness. Accordingly, the subjects started interrupting others more frequently.

We also have a tendency to judge things based on how they’re presented. For example, if a $30 bottle of wine is placed beside cheaper bottles, we’ll assume it’s more expensive than the others. However, if the same $30 bottle of wine is placed beside much more expensive wines, we’ll think that it’s cheap by comparison. This actually happens in stores like Walmart and Target where they place very expensive items next to less-expensive ones so that customers will buy them thinking that they’re getting a great deal.

When it comes to prognosis, the minor details also play a major role. For instance, if you have an 85% success rate and a 15% failure rate, the patient is more likely to choose the option that focuses on your successful outcomes rather than failures.