Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior

by Ori Brafman (Goodreads author), Rom Brafman

book data

473 ratings, 3.58 average rating, 167 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		15%
4		37%
3		38%
2		6%
1		1%

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published

June 3rd 2008 by Currency

binding

Hardcover, 224 pages

isbn

0385524382 (isbn13: 9780385524384)

description

Why are we more susceptible to falling in love when we feel we are in danger?

How was a Harvard Business School professor able to convince a student to...more

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03/19/09

Trevor rated it:

First you need to find yourself an interesting verb – Sway in this case, obviously, but Snoop is also good, as is Stick. It doesn’t have to start with ‘s’ – there’s Blink as well, of course. Then you need some really good stories about people at the end of their tether. Plane accidents are particularly good for this. Both Outliers and Sway both have plane crashes and both have you at the edge of your seat waiting for the inevitable.

Then you need ‘get-out-of-here’ ...more First you need to find yourself an interesting verb – Sway in this case, obviously, but Snoop is also good, as is Stick. It doesn’t have to start with ‘s’ – there’s Blink as well, of course. Then you need some really good stories about people at the end of their tether. Plane accidents are particularly good for this. Both Outliers and Sway both have plane crashes and both have you at the edge of your seat waiting for the inevitable.

Then you need ‘get-out-of-here’ psychology tests – honestly, who comes up with the ideas for these things and why, WHY, are they still allowed to out on the streets? Clearly these people are a danger to themselves, their families and the rest of the community. I mean, who would think to test how much more attractive you find a woman after crossing a rickety bridge? What sort of sociopath would you need to be for that to present itself as something that you might like to test?

If you do want to write one of these books it also seems to help if you are from Israel. I’m not going to pretend I understand this final connection – but that has been true of both this one and Predictably Irrational. Oh, and you might want to write the book with your brother. Not sure how this works either, but it does seem to. Made to Stick was also written by a pair of brothers.

I have read so many of these books lately and I’m currently also struggling my way through another called Nudge (again written by two people, but this time not brothers, or even related – although both male). Even if I feel I’m overdosing on this stuff, this one was a particularly fine example of the genre.

This was good not so much because all of the examples were new, but because they put an interesting twist on the interpretation of what these odd behaviours might ‘mean’.

I’m not going to go into the explanation of why the chief pilot in charge of safety for an airline might end up causing the worst plane crash of all time – although, this would be as good a reason to read this book as any other I can think of, nor any of the other seemingly endless examples of human irrational behaviour. But I do mean to talk about who wants to be a millionaire, because this has really made me think.

I really love the French. I know people don’t like them for some reason or other, generally involving some talk of arrogance, but I love their sense of humour and I love their sense of style. That whole stuff-the-rest-of-you-we’re-French thing or the, if we want to blast the b’Jesus out of some atoll in the South Pacific, well, it is our atoll. And if you want to stop drinking our wine to protest – what can we say, but you will only be punishing yourselves. I would love to have that level of self-confidence.

I was talking to someone the other week about the whole ‘Freedom Fries’ thing – but I had forgotten some of the details of this story. This is retold here in full and is probably worth the price of the book for that alone. I had missed the French reply to the proposal to change the name of French Fries to Freedom Fries simply because the French had the audacity to say that it might be dumb to invade Iraq. I hadn’t realised they had responded by saying something to the effect of, “This is much more important than potatoes”. Given that most rational people in the world would now agree with France probably means we should change the name again to Fickle Fries.

But I distract myself. The best bit of this book is the description of the French version of who wants to be a millionaire when the contestant turned to ask the audience the answer to what ought to have been a simple question of astronomy – what revolves around the earth and the audience effectively said ‘stuff you’. The Wisdom of Crowds points out that if you ever end up on this show and find yourself in difficulty you should rely on the answer given by the audience, as in the US the audience gets the right answer over 90% of the time. But in France or Russia this is not quite so simple a choice. In France if the audience thinks you are too thick to deserve to win they are just as likely on mass to give you the wrong answer. In Russia if they think you are stepping too far out of line they are also as likely to give you the wrong answer. Imagine that! Imagine that there are cultures that will decide whether to help you or not based on whether they think you deserve to win or not. This discussion really fascinated me.

I really liked that this one started each chapter with a whole series of what were virtually headlines and it was only as you got into the chapter that you began to understand that “We don’t even know where the tunnel is” might refer to LBJ.

But the bit of this book that will stay with me for months is the random attribution of ‘gradings’ to soldiers and how this got the soldiers to live up to how they were graded. If you ever needed some proof about why you should encourage your kids – this is it.

This is a wonderfully well written book and one that really could not fail to amuse. Yet another of the long line of books on the troublesome boarder between economics and psychology that have been providing me with so much joy lately.
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05/28/08

Lena rated it:

bookshelves: how-the-brain-works, non-fiction

I was not at all in the mood for another non-fiction book about human behavior when my husband asked if I wanted to read this one before he returned it to the library. I half-heartedly decided to scan a few pages before saying no, but I was quickly sucked in to a fictionalized re-creation of the last few hours in the cockpit of the KLM flight responsible for the 1977 Tenerife crash that claimed the lives of 583 people.

Though this book looks at research from social psychology, behavi...more

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04/28/08

Lisa Vegan rated it:

bookshelves: advance-copy, gr-authors, non-fiction, psychology, reviewed

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: everyone - except those who never read nonfiction, but maybe they’d appreciate this one

This book is very readable and entertaining, and so engaging that I just kept reading and didn’t read the notes until after I’d finished the book, which is unusual for me. It’s fascinating knowlege for anyone who has an interest in universal human nature and/or group dynamics.

The authors take a bunch of existing studies and do a tremendous job of presenting a cogent thesis about why human beings can exhibit such irrational behaviors. I was familiar with many of the studies cite...more This book is very readable and entertaining, and so engaging that I just kept reading and didn’t read the notes until after I’d finished the book, which is unusual for me. It’s fascinating knowlege for anyone who has an interest in universal human nature and/or group dynamics.

The authors take a bunch of existing studies and do a tremendous job of presenting a cogent thesis about why human beings can exhibit such irrational behaviors. I was familiar with many of the studies cited in the book; I was even a participant in a friend's version of the “different lengths of lines” study described.

I recommend this book to everyone, because it shows that even if we believe we’re logical and independent thinkers and reasonable in our decision making, and assume that we possess impeccable common sense, that there are factors at work that often make our assumptions not so. You may be surprised by the findings presented here re loss aversion, pull of commitment, value attribution, diagnostic bias, etc. Even if these concepts are not new to you, the way the information is presented here will make you think. Now that I’ve read this book, I’m confident that remembering the material presented will help me think before I act. I do think of myself as someone who thinks and makes decisions in a logical manner, although even though before I read this, I was very aware of my own aversion to loss, and also my tendency to be influenced by value attribution; the latter is something I’ve actually tried to work on with some success.

I’d like to see this book assigned as an adjunct text for many psychology, sociology, economics, business, and education classes. I also hope that it’s read by every person who is in a position of power, especially our elected officials and those such as airplane pilots and others in similarly responsible jobs. Also finding it helpful would be those who work with others, including HR people (although preferably not those who will interview me for jobs since historically I do “very well” in job interviews, even though I’ve always thought they’ve had limitations.)

My favorite portions of the book were the part that described the brain centers of altruism vs. pleasure, because that research was brand new information for me, and also the part where Stephen Breyer describes his process doing his work as a Supreme Court Justice, just because I found his explanation so fascinating. I also was extremely entertained by the $20 bill story, and I assume that all readers will find this story enjoyable, unless they were ever one of the final two participants in this or a similar activity.

I appreciate that, while this is not a self-help book, reading the book isn’t an exercise in futility; having this information actually gives the readers tools to empower themselves.

The formatting of the chapter headings is very clever too, as it ties into the sway/pull theme of the book.
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05/27/08

Otis Chandler rated it:

bookshelves: business, nonfiction, selfhelp

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in August, 2008

recommended to Otis by: kareem

Great book. Quick read, and you learn about about psychology that you can apply to life or business.

A few notes:
- All about first impressions. First impressions can sway our opinion of something for years to come regardless of subsequent performance.
- Labels matter. If you label someone as a higher performer, top of class, leader, having command potential, etc - it will translate into them actually having it. My high school motto was Principes Non Homines (leaders not me...more

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11/23/08

Brian rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction

Quick read - 181 pages. I banged it out over two days. Sway is a social economic book from the same vein as Freakonomics and The Tipping Point. The authors descibe psychological forces that can "sway" people into irrational decision making. Several well stated examples are given to support the authors theories throughout.

Overall, Sway is entertaining. It falls short on meaningful substance, and some areas are fluff laden. However, there are several interesting points ...more

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08/11/08

Jonathan rated it:

Read in July, 2008

Very entertaining. It feels like the authors have just kind of thrown a lot of material together, but the material is fascinating. Roughly speaking, the book is about how people's behavior and decisions are driven by psychological factors they aren't aware of.

Just to give an example, there was a study dealing with the impact of first impressions in which a class of college students were told they would have a substitute instructor for that day's lecture. Bios of the lecturer were ha...more

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08/03/08

Jackie "the Librarian" rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in August, 2008

recommended to Jackie "the Librarian" by: Lisa Vegan
recommends it for: If you enjoy books such as Freakonomics

That street musician might just be a musical genius - you never know! Beware of making assumptions about the value of something based on superficial appearances, or you may miss out on a masterpiece, like the stolen painting in a cheap frame, left out with the trash, and found on the streets of New York by a woman with a discerning eye.
Give yourself permission to go against the crowd, and question authority when you have legitimate questions. In other words, don't let yourself fall prey t...more

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04/12/09

Mazola1 rated it:

Sway is a light but thought provoking little book which attempts to shed some light on why people believe and stubbornly continue to act upon irrational beliefs. Why did Lyndon Johnson and George Bush get stuck in paths of action which viewed rationally could be seen to be mistakes? For the same reasons investors don't dump stocks even after it's obvious they're headed for the celler -- because it's very hard to take a loss. Why would people pass up an opportunity to receive a significant amount...more

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04/16/09

Moxmedia rated it:

Read in April, 2009

recommends it for: sociology

great subject. it discusses how we go into so many situations already armed and biased a certain way. The ol'- if Bush said it you'd think "A" but if Obama said it you'd think "B." It is pretty unavoidable and recognizing it, I find extremely important. I love this subject though and I didn't love the book. Its still a good book. The best part for me was this section where it discuss what the author's call the 'altruistic brain' and the 'pleasure center'. i can tell this best...more

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01/24/09

Brendan rated it:

bookshelves: 2009, book-club, non-fiction

Read in February, 2009

Sway is an amazingly good book. It's got lots of great reports about human psychological studies that help illuminate the reasons we act as we do. It reminds me a lot of Freakonomics, so if you liked that book, this is definitely up your alley. The Brafmans identify several forces, or "sways," that affect our behavior and decision-making a lot more than rational thinking says they should. Here's a snapshot:

* aversion to loss - people perceive a loss as very bad, despite...more Sway is an amazingly good book. It's got lots of great reports about human psychological studies that help illuminate the reasons we act as we do. It reminds me a lot of Freakonomics, so if you liked that book, this is definitely up your alley. The Brafmans identify several forces, or "sways," that affect our behavior and decision-making a lot more than rational thinking says they should. Here's a snapshot:

* aversion to loss - people perceive a loss as very bad, despite its size. Thus, when the price of eggs drops a little, people buy a little more eggs. But when the price rises a bit, they buy half as many eggs as they did before. This explains why food companies reduce the size of products rather than raising the price; people are less likely to notice that they're getting 18oz of peanut butter instead of 20.
* commitment - once we're on a path, we have trouble changing paths. The Brafmans illustrate this through the anecdote of a business professor who holds an auction at the beginning of his class for a $20 bill. The catch is that both the top bidder and the second bidder have to pay their bids, but only the top bidder gets the money. He regularly gets bids that go past $20, his record was $204. It also explains why LBJ stayed in Vietnam and why it will be hard to get out of Iraq.
* value attribution - we tend to assume things are worth what we originally judge them to be worth. The thrilling example here is the story of the discovery of Homo erectus, ignored for 50 years because it was found by a relatively obscure anthropologist in Java. Also, they tell the story of a famous violinist who played some ridiculously difficult music on his Stradivarius in the New York subway, and to which no one stopped and listened.
* diagnosis bias - has to do with how we judge things. It's the reason that the ten most common job interview questions are all basically worthless. They do nothing to predict future success, but rather work more about personality. The strategy used by academic search committees actually fits the ideal model for interviewing: the personal conversation stuff happens late, when all the candidates are likely qualified and you're picking based on personality and "fit."
* chameleon effect - people are strongly swayed by the people around them. When given a simple multiple choice question and polled aloud, people who are at the end of the poll are very unlikely to contradict a unanimous group, even if they're pretty sure the group is wrong. One dissenter, though, is enough to let loose other dissents.
* fairness is relative - this was the most fascinating element for me. People are often likely to act against their best interests if they perceive the deal to be unfair. One test went like this: two strangers, communicating not face-to-face, were given a deal whereby one of them proposed a split of money (the test was tried between $10 and $160) and the other had the option of accepting the split or refusing it. If they accepted, each got the money proposed. If they refused, no one got any money. Despite the fact that it cost them money, all Americans who were offered less than a 50/50 split rejected the offer because it was unfair.
* reward vs altruism - toward the end of the book, The Brafmans discussed a study that showed two separate parts of the brain acting to evaluate the values of an activity. The pleasure center, which reacts to thrills such as monetary risk, and what they call the altruism center, which reacts when contemplating altruistic activity. Oddly, these two cannot work at the same time, so when an altruistic activity is connected to something from the pleasure center, it often short-circuits the altruistic reward. For example, when swiss officials were looking for a place to store nuclear waste, they asked one town if they could build a storage facility there, playing on the altruistic motives of helping the country. Something like 55% of the people were okay with it. To try and persuade the rest, the gvt offered a $2500/year stipend for every resident of the town, paid for from tax dollars; approval dropped into the 25% range. Once the risk/pleasure center was activated, the altruism motive lost its sway.

Overall, a fascinating book and well worth reading if you like books like Freakonomics or The Tipping Point(less)

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07/01/08

Colin rated it:

This was a great read about a subject area I had not given much consideration to. It was very thorough and well written. All of the counter-arguments or counter-theories I could think while I was reading it were addressed and I thought that was pretty impressive. Along the same vein as Freakonomics but much better written in my opinion.

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02/15/09

jcg rated it:

Fun, quick read. The authors assume that irrational behaviour is bad and that we want to correct it to live more rationally. The examples they give to support their analysis are interesting, but they also give a lot of made-up examples, "Suppose you went on a date...", to prove their points which are not convincing - they should stick to the facts. The authors are so desperate to be right that they will invent examples when they don't have any factual evidence and thus fall into the ir...more

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01/19/09

John rated it:

Read in January, 2009

Sway is written by brothers, one an organizational behavior scholar and the other a clinical psychologist. Their goal is to show the reader why people, even those with expertise who should not be swayed, make irrational decisions. The key point is that we are wired (or socialize each other; I wasn't quite sure) to try to avoid losses rather than maximize wins. However, these losses include a loss of our reputations, so we see a highly trained pilot make a poor decision that costs hundreds of liv...more

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11/30/08

Todd rated it:

Read in November, 2008

Sway is a quick read that fits nicely into the growing pop literature on the irrational ways people make decisions. Interestingly, both the Brafman brothers and Malcolm Gladwell (see Outliers) use examples from sports (NBA for the Brafmans - NHL for Gladwell) and airline crashes caused by human error to make their points. In both books, the sports examples are used to illustrate how preliminary evaluations made by supposedly unbiased individuals can have lasting effects. Sway doesn't really c...more

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05/17/08

kareem rated it:

Read in May, 2008

i wish my psychology textbooks read like this back in the day! sway explains many of the reasons we act irrationally. it uses entertaining case studies to do so, and is written in an incredibly accessible manner. highly recommended if you want to be more aware of your own irrational behavior, and thus make better decisions.

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02/20/09

Patrick rated it:

I work across town in Chattanooga, 15 miles (20 minutes) away. One bookstore in each side of town has this book in stock. Next to my work, Books-a-Million. Close to home, a local store called Rock Point Books. Since I buy my books used online, and for cheap, and since this book is new and so is not cheap or used online, and since this book is rather short and a pop-sociology book, I decided to read it in these two stores.

After about two months I finished it. Very Malcolm Gladwel...more

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01/06/09

Anne Ruthmann rated it:

bookshelves: business

Read in November, 2008

This book is a pretty quick read - I picked it up at the airport on my way to Jamaica and finished it poolside on a Sunday after a wedding. It's an interesting and easy to understand look at the neurological research behind persuasion and motivation. I wished that there was a little more depth to the studies and the various factors that went into testing the findings, but I'm sure most people aren't interested in the actual research as much as the generalized findings. I would recommend this ...more

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01/05/09

Kent rated it:

Read in January, 2009

An entertaining and at times insightful read. The content of Sway is very similar to both Outliers and Predictably Irrational, yet somehow not as satisfying. While it may simply be no fault of the authors, and only because I read those books first, Sway's tales struck me as twice told rather than fresh.

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05/15/09

Todd rated it:

Read in June, 2009

One reviewer is right, this is a single idea book. It fleshes out the idea of what sways our decisions, specifically how we are swayed to make irrational decisions.

The authors define irrational as being out of line with well reasoned and logical choices. These are those cases where the pilot takes off without clearance, the woman is tempted to go around a car stopped at a light into oncoming traffic and more.

Explored are a handful of factors that do the swaying. The boo...more

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12/16/08

Brian Sison rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction, psychology---economics

Read in December, 2008

This book seems highly inspired by Predictably Irrational (PI); the authors, in fact, reference studies done by that author Dan Ariely (DA) in one section. Sway seems like a watered down version of its predecessor. Where DA was long-winded and technical, the Brafmans were concise and direct; this could be construed as a positive or a negative. PI went into much greater detail in the case studies presented. But Sway was much better organized and seemed to flow more fluidly. I felt that Sway...more

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