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Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us about Spreading Social Change
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Should anti-war protesters use graphic images to get public support for their cause, or will such images turn the public off? In encouraging the public to adopt sustainable behaviors, should environmental organizations ask for small changes like using fluorescent light bulbs or big changes like giving up cars? Why do most Americans say they oppose the cruel practices of fa
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Paperback, 220 pages
Published
December 1st 2010
by Lantern Books
(first published September 20th 2010)
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Start your review of Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us about Spreading Social Change

Very interesting book and well worth reading, however, I found a number of the suggestions skeezy at best, downright unethical at worst. Looking up local people on Facebook and choosing who to develop a friendship with in real life based upon who has the most friends so you can effect more people through that person seems duplicitous and manipulative. Using people is not a good way to enact change, even if it works. Just because something is effective doesn't necessiarily mean it's something one
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this review reprinted from Vegan.com
It’s easy to do animal advocacy that will save large numbers of animals from harm; easier still if you get a little reading under your belt.
Nick Cooney’s new book, Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change, is the most impressive book on animal advocacy tactics I’ve yet encountered. But it’s not the first book on the subject I’d read. Consider Cooney’s book a graduate level course, one that has a few prerequisites.
I’d start
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An absolutely amazing book.
It connects psychology and activism by bringing various researches that show how people are more likely to respond to change and what is the best way to achieve it. It answers different questions like "Why are about 95% against factory farming and yet the great majority of them does nothing?", talks about the influence of social norms, benefits of social networking and brings up many different techniques that can be used by activists.
A great thing this book talks abou ...more
It connects psychology and activism by bringing various researches that show how people are more likely to respond to change and what is the best way to achieve it. It answers different questions like "Why are about 95% against factory farming and yet the great majority of them does nothing?", talks about the influence of social norms, benefits of social networking and brings up many different techniques that can be used by activists.
A great thing this book talks abou ...more

“Change of Heart” is easily among the Top 3 books on advocacy that I have ever read.
Author Nick Cooney, who is a skilled and experienced advocate himself, presents a broad array of psychological research in this book and explains the implications for advocacy work. He has performed a real service by compiling so much research and presenting it in digestible form for the social-change community.
Admittedly, the more you learn about psychology, the more you despair of the human condition.
And peopl ...more
Author Nick Cooney, who is a skilled and experienced advocate himself, presents a broad array of psychological research in this book and explains the implications for advocacy work. He has performed a real service by compiling so much research and presenting it in digestible form for the social-change community.
Admittedly, the more you learn about psychology, the more you despair of the human condition.
And peopl ...more

Despite an endorsement from Dena Fleno of AFSCME, this book seems more relevant for chuggers than union organizers. At first I was a bit annoyed that much of the book is a literature review of the kinds of social psychology articles that are discussed in books like Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, and Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. So, like, one of those for chuggers, basically. But then I go
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I will say first of all that this is a book that needed to be written. I've spent many years feeling rather frustrated that activists don't generally use the vast amount of information on behaviour change to inform their work, or even recognise that the act of behaviour change is at the heart of most of their work. That said, I think this book could have been better executed and having a) a good editor and b) an expert reviewer could have helped this book enormously.
This book is a good crash co ...more
This book is a good crash co ...more

I think this book is amazing just because it finally brings some practicality to activism. It presents itself essentially as a meta-study of relevant activist assumptions and techniques. It really will change at least some aspect of how you approach changing people's minds.
Fortunately, it seems that many of these methods are now being employed, but often they are not. I hope everyone trying to affect positive change in the world reads this book. ...more
Fortunately, it seems that many of these methods are now being employed, but often they are not. I hope everyone trying to affect positive change in the world reads this book. ...more

Read this two years ago, and I'm not sure why I never rated or reviewed it. I still refer back to this book often; it's essential reading for any activist, and especially animal activists.
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This book is great for skimming - I spent too much time going beyond that when I didn't need to.
Some of the ideas in this book are great (although a better book for the psychology of choice in people would be Kahnemann's "Thinking Fast and Slow"). Some of the ideas in this book are not so great. Perhaps what stuck out most to me was that, looking at the difference in political situations from 2011 to today, some of Cooney's ideas or theories he shared clearly don't hold up anymore - when we look ...more
Some of the ideas in this book are great (although a better book for the psychology of choice in people would be Kahnemann's "Thinking Fast and Slow"). Some of the ideas in this book are not so great. Perhaps what stuck out most to me was that, looking at the difference in political situations from 2011 to today, some of Cooney's ideas or theories he shared clearly don't hold up anymore - when we look ...more

When making a decision, we're usually inclined to use our intuition and common sense, but that can sometimes lead to the opposite effect of what we want. This book explains a lot about how humans think and behave and it can be of help when it comes to human interaction. It gives many examples and studies that confirm certain strategies and methods of communication.
This is one of the best books you can read as an activist if you want to work efficiently towards your goal. It's packed full of prac ...more
This is one of the best books you can read as an activist if you want to work efficiently towards your goal. It's packed full of prac ...more

While I think Change of Heart has some really good observations and some ideas I can definitely use in my activism, the author also admits to be single-issue orientated which I am definitely not and hopefully never will be. And since my activism is not purely single-issue I also advocate other types of activism that is not just about behavioral change but definitely also, if not even moreso, about mental change (like queer-feminism is for me rather about changing peoples mindset, than their beha
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Would be one of the best books on effective altruism style ideas to give to somone who was conventionally involved with activism. Goes over a lot of ground, infact too much - a but more discrimination would have helped in refining the message. In addition, some of the academic results are speculative at best and some skepticism of the papers presented in places is definatley justified. But a good resource book.
Would also have benefited with more engagement with commerical advertising and messagi ...more
Would also have benefited with more engagement with commerical advertising and messagi ...more

Vegan Book Club 2nd selection
This book explores what makes people change. I didn't realize there was so much thought and money that went into research by activists in order to promote their ideas. Behavioral changes involve much more from people than traditional advertising for material goods purchasing. This book gives lots of advice on how activists can be more effective in promoting social change. Of course getting laws passed is the fastest way to get changes made. ...more
This book explores what makes people change. I didn't realize there was so much thought and money that went into research by activists in order to promote their ideas. Behavioral changes involve much more from people than traditional advertising for material goods purchasing. This book gives lots of advice on how activists can be more effective in promoting social change. Of course getting laws passed is the fastest way to get changes made. ...more

I found this book difficult to rate... Unfortunately the author and I seem to have read a lot of the same books. I was familiar with about 70% of the research Cooney mentioned in his book.
That being said, I think for the vast majority of activists this will be an extremely helpful book and an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. I did enjoy the parts of the book with ideas and information that were new to me.
That being said, I think for the vast majority of activists this will be an extremely helpful book and an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. I did enjoy the parts of the book with ideas and information that were new to me.

This field manual highlights not only the many psychological and social obstacles to creating change – which are plentiful – but also opportunities, based on science from the same fields. It leaves you with a feeling that there is a lot of work to be done and many challenges to overcome but I’m now also more armed than ever to meet these head-on.
Well worth a read and I’d recommend it to anyone who is serious about creating a better world!
Well worth a read and I’d recommend it to anyone who is serious about creating a better world!

It’s essential for advocates to understand why people make the choices they do, what influences them, and what kinds of strategies can inspire positive change. This book distills decades of research to help changemakers become more effective, and offers specific ideas for how to implement the research in their activism.

People are not robots but much of what we do to spread good behaviors is based on that assumption. This short, accessible book goes over the psychology research explaining what works better and that is very valuable information. The examples are heavy on animal rights, but the reader can generalize to other issues.

I'm only at Chapter Two and I LOVE this book! It combines my studies in Community Organizing and Advocacy with my love of animals. Nick's radically different way of approaching activism is enlightening!
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Feb 16, 2011
Sarah
marked it as considering
Recommended by Civil Eats

I've read this book twice and found it very useful. If you are an activist or advocate of any cause I highly recommend Change of Heart.
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Comment on the blurb | 1 | 7 | Jan 18, 2011 09:30AM |
Nick Cooney is an investor and advocate in the alternative protein industry. He has spent almost twenty years working in the food and beverage industry, initially working on the policy and consulting side and more recently from the venture capital investment side.
Currently, Nick works as managing partner at Lever VC, an early stage venture capital fund that Cooney founded in 2018. Lever VC invests ...more
Currently, Nick works as managing partner at Lever VC, an early stage venture capital fund that Cooney founded in 2018. Lever VC invests ...more
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