Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You
by Sam Gosling (Goodreads author!)
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Read in August, 2008
This is one of those popularized-psychology books and is quite interesting but not the best I've ever read. Gosling's premise is that the number, variety and arrangement of our possessions can give observers a good indication of our personalities, but that most people interpret such information wrongly. His favored personality "test" is the OCEAN one -- rating people on their Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (this is also known as The Big Five)...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone interested in learning more about those around them without having to ask
I wanted to LOVE this book, but instead I really liked it. I learned a lot from reading it about psychological theory, and got the names of lots of other books I want to read next, both from the praise on the back of the book jacket, and various authors he quotes throughout the book. Because the information in the book is so dense, sometimes it felt like more effort than the book billed itself as. and I wished there were more concrete examples throughout, demonstrating what he was talking about...more
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oh, sam gosling, how i wish i could run into you on campus. this book reminded me why i like psychology so much; the fact that he's a funny brit helped, i'm sure. i actually laughed out loud at his witty comments about certain personalities; the ones that got good chuckles were the ones that matched me to a T. snoop ignited many conversations between my aunt and i on our tour bus in mexico; she studied psychology at duke (but now is a computer programmer at ut) and we got completely caught up in...more
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Read in July, 2008
I heard about this book from an author talk on NPR. It sounded very interesting. It goes over personality types and basic motivation in order that one can become a "snooper". It is intended to develop the awareness of psychological aspects which manifest themselves in the physicality of the environment one inhabits.
Although there were some interesting tidbits (i.e. "robocop" as a personality type, and the significance of tattoo placement), there really wasn't a whole...more
Although there were some interesting tidbits (i.e. "robocop" as a personality type, and the significance of tattoo placement), there really wasn't a whole...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommended to Cindy by:
BOMC, I thinkrecommends it for: some lucky person on Craigslist
The reviews said if I loved Blink and Freakonomics, and I did, that I would love Snoop, too. Well, not so much. This book was not a fun read and by all accounts it should have been. I trudged through charts, graphs and multiple repetitions and interpretations of said charts, graphs, etc. Dr. Gosling appeared to not want to offend anyone by revealing too much. Makes for a very dull book.
If you are a psych student, you might find some of this interesting, or a lot like required reading . ...more
If you are a psych student, you might find some of this interesting, or a lot like required reading . ...more
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Addition: - A wonderful pastiche review from John Crace at The Guardian U.K.) that is irresistible.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/book...
Starting his book by auditioning via a video conference call with a TV producer considering him as an 'expert' for his new reality show didn't make me trust Psychologist Sam Gosling as a reliable academic. In fact, the more he touts his hard research ...more
http://www.guardian.co.uk/book...
Starting his book by auditioning via a video conference call with a TV producer considering him as an 'expert' for his new reality show didn't make me trust Psychologist Sam Gosling as a reliable academic. In fact, the more he touts his hard research ...more
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Read in August, 2008
Interesting research on how your stuff (or the arrangement of it) reflects your personality. There's useful information on which facets of your environment reflect which personality traits (there are some surprises here about what doesn't correlate), but overall there are no big shockers (your public spaces tend to reflect how you want to be seen whereas your private spaces tend to reflect your true personality, etc.). Worth a read, but not on my list of must-reads.
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Read in August, 2008
Learned what the Big Five framework of grouping personality traits.
OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism
Also learned a little bit about seeing a person's environment and clues they leave behind on telling each level of the Big Five they belong to.
Good overall read. You can go here to take a personality test.
OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism
Also learned a little bit about seeing a person's environment and clues they leave behind on telling each level of the Big Five they belong to.
Good overall read. You can go here to take a personality test.
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
people who are interested in other people and their environments.
I love this book. Gosling shows that it is possible to have something interesting to say, base it on real research and be a great storyteller at the same time.
Oh yeah--the content. The book is about how "behavioral residue"--the stuff we leave behind--can tell us a lot about a person's personality. Seems obvious, but his story provides lots of nuance and unexpected findings. You'll never look at a person's office/house/room the same way again.
Oh yeah--the content. The book is about how "behavioral residue"--the stuff we leave behind--can tell us a lot about a person's personality. Seems obvious, but his story provides lots of nuance and unexpected findings. You'll never look at a person's office/house/room the same way again.
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Read in July, 2008
This reads like a psychology text book. The premise of the book is intriguing. I got a little bogged down by the academic nature of the book, though. Still, I find myself taking in my own surroundings more, wondering what DOES "my stuff" say about me? I haven't actually been drawn to snooping at anyone else's house, though, so you can all breathe a sigh of relief (I didn't totally buy all of it anyway and the other half was pretty much common sense).
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Read in July, 2008
Good, easy, interesting read. Thought-provoking, but much of it was more statement of the obvious than anything else. Also was not as much about what one might expect from the title. Did make me think about what my own stuff says about me. Biggest takeaway is that one must use a holistic, contextual approach when deriving truth from the artifacts others surround themselves with. Some interesting personality profile information.
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Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
nosy people
In Snoop Sam Gosling explores what our "stuff" says about our personalities and what kind of person we are. It was a little overly scientific for me, but overall it was interesting. There is a fun section where he lists some people (grad student, police officer, etc.) and their e-mail signature quotes to see if you can match the quote to the person. Overall, a little too scientific, but very thorough and interesting.
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Read in August, 2008
I was hoping Gosling would read my piles of junk like tea leaves, but he stops many yards short of any true revelations. The beginning and end of the book have entertaining case studies, but the bulk of the book is devoted to analyzing personality types apart from "stuff." The bad news is that (according to Gosling) truly organized people are hard-wired that way; the rest of us are doomed to repeatedly clean up the mess.
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Read in August, 2008
Like so many nf books, I think this one could have been an article, or maybe a couple of articles, rather than a full-length book. The premise, title and cover drew me in (come on, who isn't a snoop?) but didn't deliver the goods for a snoop who wants to do a thorough psycho-analysis based on colleague's work spaces, friends' bookshelves or your host's choice of lotions.
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Read in July, 2008
Picked this up after hearing the author on NPR. It's much more theoretical/academic than I'd hoped, and the real-life anecdotes are almost exclusively drawn from the author's academic life -- so unless you are looking for lots of rumination about dorm rooms and admissions interviews, this may not be the book for you.
Also, I can't remember the last time I felt an author LOVING himself as much Dr. Gosling does here. He really does think he's the shiz. If I ever discovered a guy texting the con...more
Also, I can't remember the last time I felt an author LOVING himself as much Dr. Gosling does here. He really does think he's the shiz. If I ever discovered a guy texting the con...more
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Well, as I've been reading Science News for over a decade, many of the referenced studies I'd heard of--so I didn't learn much that was new. What I loved was Sam's wonderful story telling, the book brought things into perspective and was highly entertaining! It is a lot of fun, and educational esp., if you don't have a background in evolutionary psychology ;-)
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Read in September, 2008
Highly recommended if you have even a passing interest in psychology. It is by no means a codebook for 'snooping' but more of a guide. Gosling's research is based on the Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) and how certain indicators can help determine personality traits.
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Read in September, 2008
It's a book of personal snooping anecdotes. The problem with anecdotal books is that they're never really organized satisfactorily. They tend to wander and you never are really sure what the point was. There's a bit of history about various psychological methods used prior to the advent of Snoopology, but nothing very compelling.
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Read in August, 2008
Well written, and analytically quite strong. I enjoyed his approach to seeing the everyday things of people, and analyzing what he thinks it all means. It appears he's done significant studies, and he is a true academic. Enlightening book, even though somethings may seem "obvious". Regardless, it was a good read, and I enjoyed it
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Read in September, 2008
Very interesting read about what your stuff and it's placement at the home and office says about your personality. It's not necessarily what seems most obvious. Subscribes to the Big Five personality model. Funny and quick read, you'll definitely look at your friends and colleagues offices and homes the same again.
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