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    Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave
    Unavailable
    Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave
    Unavailable
    Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave
    Audiobook7 hours

    Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave

    Written by Adam Alter

    Narrated by Tristan Morris

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    An illuminating look at the way the thoughts we have and the decisions we make are influenced by forces that aren't always in our control

    Why are people named Kim, Kelly, and Ken more likely to donate to Hurricane Katrina victims than to Hurricane Rita victims? Are you really more likely to solve puzzles if you watch a light bulb illuminate? How did installing blue lights along a Japanese railway line halt rising crime and suicide rates? Can decorating your walls with the right artwork make you more honest? The human brain is fantastically complex, having engineered space travel and liberated nuclear energy, so it's no wonder that we resist the idea that we're deeply influenced by our surroundings. As profound as they are, these effects are almost impossible to detect both as they're occurring and in hindsight. Drunk Tank Pink is the first detailed exploration of how our environment shapes what we think, how we feel, and the ways we behave.

    The world is populated with words and images that prompt unexpected, unconscious decisions. We are so deeply attracted to our own initials that we give more willingly to the victims of hurricanes that match our initials: Kims and Kens donate more generously to Hurricane Katrina victims, whereas Rons and Rachels give more openly to Hurricane Rita victims. Meanwhile, an illuminated light bulb inspires creative thinking because it symbolizes insight.

    Social interactions have similar effects, as professional cyclists pedal faster when people are watching. Teachers who took tea from the break room at Newcastle University contributed 300 percent more to a cash box when a picture of two eyes hung on the wall. We're evolutionarily sensitive to human surveillance, so we behave more virtuously even if we're only watched by a photograph. The physical environment, from locations to colors, also guides our hand in unseen ways. Dimly lit interiors metaphorically imply no one's watching and encourage dishonesty and theft, while blue lights discourage violent activity because they're associated with the police. Olympic taekwondo and judo athletes are more likely to win when they wear red rather than blue, because red makes them behave aggressively and referees see them as more dominant. Drunk Tank Pink is full of revelatory facts, riveting anecdotes, and cutting-edge experiments that collectively explain how the most unexpected factors lead us to think, feel, and behave the way we do.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMar 21, 2013
    ISBN9780385363327
    Unavailable
    Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave
    Author

    Adam Alter

    Adam Alter is a professor of marketing and the Stansky Teaching Excellence Faculty Fellow at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He also holds an affiliated professorship in social psychology at NYU’s psychology department. In 2020, he was voted professor of the year by the faculty and student body at NYU’s Stern School of Business and was among the Poets and Quants 40 Best Professors Under 40 in 2017. Alter is the New York Times bestselling author of two books: Drunk Tank Pink and Irresistible.

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    Reviews for Drunk Tank Pink

    3.5/5

    58 ratings7 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A super-interesting compilation of a bunch of studies done throughout the years, mostly having to do with how colors, weather, and other factors influence people emotionally, mentally, and socially. Once you read it, I definitely think you'll start noticing tiny little things in daily life, and realizing how deeply they actually affect you.
    • 4/5
      So interesting. How subtly we are influenced by things without being aware of it. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how our brain works. Easy to read with lots of facinating incites into how our decision making can be influenced by seemingly random things.
    • 3/5
      Well collected but not very original - at least to me. Most of the stories and examples contained are ones I've been exposed to before.
    • 5/5
      Very good. Well read loads of info and the points are
    • 4/5
      Drunk Tank Pink - a wonderful title - grabbed me when I began it. I've always been fascinated about color, color theory, and the effect of color on people. The author then went on to talk about the sometimes subliminal effect of other things outside ourselves, things like temperature, weather, etc. Fascinating stuff.At the end I felt the book got a bit thin, almost like a high school student trying to stretch 8 pages of substance into a 10 page paper. A shame perhaps but hardly a critical flaw.
    • 2/5
      Drunk Tank Pink is one of those pop psychology books that's fairly slightly, doesn't provide citations in-text, and presents a lot of experimental and theoretical thought as if it's a fact. Taking it for what it is, it's an enjoyable little survey of interesting facts, written well enough to keep the interest, and not getting into technical details which might bog down and confuse the interested but uninformed reader.

      For me, since I've read a fair amount of pop psychology already, some of it rather higher standard, this had some anecdotes I hadn't heard, but mostly referenced research I already knew about, or had read about in a lot greater depth. (For example, for discussions on colour, skip this and go for Through the Language Glass, by Guy Deutscher, which has a much more thorough approach to the issues of language, labels and how we perceive colour.)

      All in all, it was okay, but probably (for me) not worth the admission fee.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I gave this book 4 stars - more for the impact that it had upon me than as a statement about the book's quality.
      Frankly, I felt that the book was longer than it needed to be and oftentimes went into detail unnecessarily.
      That said, this book is a quick, worthwhile read. If you enjoy Malcolm Gladwell, you will enjoy it very much.
      The author examines many areas of life that pass one by on a daily basis and seem trivial - the color of a room, the first letter of your child's name, common symbols you see etc. The book presents research that indicates how many of these things affect people unconsciously - often in profound ways.

      For me, one of the big takeaways was reconsidering how I set up my classroom and also being more aware of messages I may be unintentionally sending to my students. Teaching, sales, government... there are so many professions that could benefit from checking this book out.