Psychology

The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills

The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills

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  • Create Date：2021-05-25 02:16:01
  • Update Date：2025-09-23
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  • Author：Jesse Singal
  • ISBN：0374239800
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Summary

An investigative journalist exposes the many holes in today's bestselling behavioral science， and argues that the trendy， TED-Talk-friendly psychological interventions that are so in vogue at the moment will never be enough to truly address social injustice and inequality。



With their viral TED talks， bestselling books， and counter-intuitive remedies for complicated problems， psychologists and other social scientists have become the reigning thinkers of our time。 Grit and "power posing" promised to help overcome entrenched inequalities in schools and the workplace; the Army spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a positive psychology intervention geared at preventing PTSD in its combat soldiers; and the implicit association test swept the nation on the strength of the claim that it can reveal unconscious biases and reduce racism in police departments and human resources departments。

But what if much of the science underlying these blockbuster ideas is dubious or fallacious？ What if Americans' longstanding preference for simplistic self-help platitudes is exerting a pernicious influence on the way behavioral science is communicated and even funded， leading respected academics and the media astray？

In The Quick Fix， Jesse Singal examines the most influential ideas of recent decades and the shaky science that supports them。 He begins with the California legislator who introduced self-esteem into classrooms around the country in the 1980s and the Princeton political scientist who warned of an epidemic of youthful "superpredators" in the 1990s。 In both cases， a much-touted idea had little basis in reality， but had a massive impact。 Turning toward the explosive popularity of 21st-century social psychology， Singal examines the misleading appeal of entertaining lab results and critiques the idea that subtle unconscious cues shape our behavior。 As he shows， today's popular behavioral science emphasizes repairing， improving， and optimizing individuals rather than truly understanding and confronting the larger structural forces that drive social ills。

Like Anand Giridharadas's Winners Take All， The Quick Fix is a fresh and powerful indictment of the thought leaders and influencers who cut corners as they sell the public half-baked solutions to problems that deserve more serious treatment。

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Reviews

Reilly ，

I am more of a novel reader so it took me a while to get through it， but this book was really enlightening to a topic I have no previous insight to。 Particular highlights for me included the chapters on power pissing， the super predators， and the implicit bias test。 This book is a well written and accessible read on fad psychology and I would recommend it to people with and without interest in that topic alike。

Eriche ，

I had no expectations going into this book but binged the audiobook in a day or so。 Necessary for combatting a world saturated with perpetual misinformation around every corner and sadly between many pages of books。

Jeremy ，

This is a fairly scathing takedown of a number of ideas that have become well known in the social science world。 Things like power posing， grit and social priming， all of which are mostly bunk。 Each chapter took one of these ideas， gave the history of it and really good explanations for why the studies that backed these up were poorly done or didn't replicate。 Generally speaking， psychological and social science studies need some Socratic humility。 I loved Thinking， Fast and Slow when it came ou This is a fairly scathing takedown of a number of ideas that have become well known in the social science world。 Things like power posing， grit and social priming， all of which are mostly bunk。 Each chapter took one of these ideas， gave the history of it and really good explanations for why the studies that backed these up were poorly done or didn't replicate。 Generally speaking， psychological and social science studies need some Socratic humility。 I loved Thinking， Fast and Slow when it came out。 I still think there is lots of good stuff in that book， but there is quite a lot in that book that would not make it if it was written today。 I read Duckworth's book on grit， didn't really enjoy it， but it also has been relegated to the dustbin of history。 It's so easy to get drawn in to interesting new studies and findings， but a great deal of skepticism is owed to the social sciences （not just social sciences）。 。。。more

Mark ，

The Quick Fix is remarkable in that it takes a serious， complicated issue — the proclivity of weakly-evidenced， sexy-sounding social science claims to grab attention and funding — and makes it understandable and fun。 If your eyes glaze over when you hear talk about p-values， p-hacking， the replication crisis， or bayesian probabilities， have no fear: Singal capably explains the relevant technical details in ways I immediately grasped， and that feel like they'll stick with me。 Topics that by all r The Quick Fix is remarkable in that it takes a serious， complicated issue — the proclivity of weakly-evidenced， sexy-sounding social science claims to grab attention and funding — and makes it understandable and fun。 If your eyes glaze over when you hear talk about p-values， p-hacking， the replication crisis， or bayesian probabilities， have no fear: Singal capably explains the relevant technical details in ways I immediately grasped， and that feel like they'll stick with me。 Topics that by all rights should have been dry and tedious are transformed by Singal's fun， approachable writing into something that would rate as a good conversation fodder at a beer garden。Even 70 pages in， I could feel my worldview changing。 Hardly a credulous person， I nevertheless have sometimes been seduced by TED talks claiming that "one simple trick" fixes a complicated social problem。 Because of this book， I now have at least enhanced immunity to the siren song of simple solutions to complex systemic problems。And yet， despite the sober thesis of the book — that social ills are more complicated， more nuanced， and more difficult to solve than claimed by the quick fixes that dominate the headlines — this is not a pessimistic read。 Singal offers a hopeful vision for pragmatic， scientifically sound interrogation of the world that can guide humanity in our quest to do the slow， thoughtful， rewarding work of making things better。 。。。more

Tom ，

This was a really interesting read for someone on the periphery of academia。 The author， journalist Jesse Singal， takes a critical eye looking at various fads in social psychology。 Through detailed data analysis and many conversations with experts， Singal explores topics from Grit to positive psychology to implicit association tests。 I remember reading Grit for a book club a few years ago and The Quick Fix does a great job of highlighting the appeal of many of these issues while also showing the This was a really interesting read for someone on the periphery of academia。 The author， journalist Jesse Singal， takes a critical eye looking at various fads in social psychology。 Through detailed data analysis and many conversations with experts， Singal explores topics from Grit to positive psychology to implicit association tests。 I remember reading Grit for a book club a few years ago and The Quick Fix does a great job of highlighting the appeal of many of these issues while also showing the statistical and motivational factors that skew their data and cause them to spread like wildfire despite dubious underpinnings。 It certainly will make me more critical of TED talks and other 'easy' fixes to complicated societal problems。 My one （minor） bone to pick with the book is with it's last chapter， which is about Sunstein， Thaler and their Nudge phenomenon。 In the rest of the book， Singal focuses on the dubious statistical underpinnings of these topics that cause real world problems or terrible spending。 With Nudge， the critique is not about the baseline research - that seems pretty sound - but shifts to a weird argument that Nudge-based 'fixes' focus on easy， cost-effective tweaks to policy/procedure but don't solve larger structural problems。 I guess that's true， but the rest of the book seems to show that understanding （let alone solving） large structural problems is really complicated。 I don't see why spending small amounts of money prompting people to make good decisions and do things more efficiently should be a problem， especially with the context of the rest of The Quick Fix。Overall though， this is a really well-researched book that highlights some major problems in academia and research these days。 。。。more

David Mihalyi ，

A great book discussing how a series behavioral life hacks rose to great prominence in the past decades。 They were proposed by psychology researchers at top universities and offered to solve big societal problems such as racism， sexism and PTSD。 At their peak they were turned into popular TED talks， best-selling books and an array of trainings and interventions offered to roll them out。 But lately it has become increasingly clear that the benefits of these interventions fall well short of what t A great book discussing how a series behavioral life hacks rose to great prominence in the past decades。 They were proposed by psychology researchers at top universities and offered to solve big societal problems such as racism， sexism and PTSD。 At their peak they were turned into popular TED talks， best-selling books and an array of trainings and interventions offered to roll them out。 But lately it has become increasingly clear that the benefits of these interventions fall well short of what they promised。Singal's book walks through a number of prominent examples and （in my reading） breaks down the underlying cause for their failure into two parts。First， It discusses why and how a particular group of highly influential studies which found large effects from behavioral interventions were later debunked。 Some simply failed to replicate even when closely following instructions， others were not generalizable or reported tiny effect sizes or did not have any credible underlying theory。 The stories described here are a recount of the work by other psychologists who scrutinized these initial results。 This culminated into psychology's "replication crisis" and led to major reckoning for researchers in this field 。 Having only been partially aware of the how that crisis had unfolded， I learned a lot from these （often stats heavy） insights。 Second， it discusses how these particular study results （before becoming debunked） were oversold in the marketplace of ideas。 How "grit” （self-confidence boosting） interventions offered cure to PTSD， power-posing to overcome sexism， implicit bias test to defeat racism。 Here it describes the process through which the published results of some causal link between an intervention and behavioral change in a lab setting are then blown up into much bolder claims on solutions to societal problems。 He documents how the authors， university press offices and journalists play a role in pushing such messages。 He also discusses the role of major institutions generating demand for such quick societal fixes。 Although the complexities in trying to address problems such as racism， PTSD， sexism are obvious to specialists and careful observers， but Singal recounts how leaders in the army， HR departments of major firms， politicians fell in love with these quick fixes。 In essence， they needed to deliver something that shows they care and are committed to act， but without needing to confront the complex underlying structural problems。As an economist， I felt like many of the problems in behavioral psychology research the books described are actually quite applicable to my own field as well。 There are plenty of papers in our field that don't hold up to scrutiny as well as incentives to oversell results。 There is also the tension between small scale interventions which may show promising results and the complexities in implementing policy reforms on a societal scale。 。。。more

Eric ，

A fascinating and useful review of the increasingly-ubiquitous concepts and conclusions from the growing arena of articles， books， and TED talks about pop psychology and social science - and what makes their findings so darn difficult to replicate。 Singal drills deep into some specific areas like power posing， grit， and "superpredators"， offering a retrospective play-by-play including subsequent developments that cast doubt on key findings。 Highly recommended for any readers of narrative-driven A fascinating and useful review of the increasingly-ubiquitous concepts and conclusions from the growing arena of articles， books， and TED talks about pop psychology and social science - and what makes their findings so darn difficult to replicate。 Singal drills deep into some specific areas like power posing， grit， and "superpredators"， offering a retrospective play-by-play including subsequent developments that cast doubt on key findings。 Highly recommended for any readers of narrative-driven popular psychology books and related articles。 。。。more

Nick ，

Intriguing book that shines the light on the replication issues in psychology research， which includes a good amount of the self-help/Ted talk babbles that are out there。 The author doesn’t go into enough detail to explain the tricks or issues being used in these studies， such as p-hacking; which may require a more statistical methods driven book to discuss。 Overall， as with everything， things are complex but people want a simple easy method， hack or shortcut to solve societal issues or their ow Intriguing book that shines the light on the replication issues in psychology research， which includes a good amount of the self-help/Ted talk babbles that are out there。 The author doesn’t go into enough detail to explain the tricks or issues being used in these studies， such as p-hacking; which may require a more statistical methods driven book to discuss。 Overall， as with everything， things are complex but people want a simple easy method， hack or shortcut to solve societal issues or their own personal problems and an easy solution sales。 。。。more

N ，

A good look at why social psychology books have gained attention， how many of the theories prove wrong， and why the field is experiencing credibility problems。 Very interesting discussion of replication， confirmation bias， hypothesis hacking， and many theories that were fads but have been debunked。

Catherine Holloway ，

This book was great at explaining why a lot of pop psychology has turned out to be wrong， and points out many different examples。However， at the end of every chapter it veers into political commentary that includes what I would consider "Fad Economics": matter-of-fact statements that sound true-ish without any actual evidence。 I don't know a lot about psychology but I am read enough in economics research to know that there are some things Singal states that are currently a matter of debate in ec This book was great at explaining why a lot of pop psychology has turned out to be wrong， and points out many different examples。However， at the end of every chapter it veers into political commentary that includes what I would consider "Fad Economics": matter-of-fact statements that sound true-ish without any actual evidence。 I don't know a lot about psychology but I am read enough in economics research to know that there are some things Singal states that are currently a matter of debate in economics research。 It's disappointing that the "fad psychology" sections of the book are so good and skeptical， but the commentary sections are not。 。。。more

DonkeyPopsicle ，

As well-intentioned （and perhaps correct） as this book is， it's trying to do too many things and doesn't have the space for any of them。 First （but maybe not foremost）， this book reviews some of the more popular fads to come out of academic personality and social psychology in the last twenty years and tells the tale of their downfall。 Well--it tells the tale of their downfall among a particular group of （rightly） skeptical scientists and science writers that think replication is important in ex As well-intentioned （and perhaps correct） as this book is， it's trying to do too many things and doesn't have the space for any of them。 First （but maybe not foremost）， this book reviews some of the more popular fads to come out of academic personality and social psychology in the last twenty years and tells the tale of their downfall。 Well--it tells the tale of their downfall among a particular group of （rightly） skeptical scientists and science writers that think replication is important in experimental science。 Some of the fads， like Grit， are still going strong in various business and academic cultures （along with other mumbo jumbo like the Myers-Briggs test that was never experimentally explored in the first place）。 So Singal discusses self-esteem， power posing （lol）， grit， social priming， and a few other topics， telling tales of how each have failed to live up to actual scientific rigor。 But that's the catch: these are narratives， not technical discussions。 There are a few mild explanations about p-hacking and other standard methodological tricks that should （but too often don't） embarrass psychologists today if they are caught using them， but it's never too technical。 As a result， we as a reader are basically asked to trust Person X because he's a Rigorous Skeptic。 Which is fine if you're preaching to the choir， but may not convince those who have encountered these fads in the wild and thought that they were really on to something （a middle school teacher， for example， who really latched onto the concept of Grit as something transformative）。 Why doesn't Singal go into more technical detail？ Likely， in part， because some other books do the same thing， but more significantly， because Singal himself has a meta-narrative to sell。 According to Singal， the general culture latches onto fads like grit and power posing because they offer small changes in individual behavior that can result in large structural change in society。 They are the titular quick fixes for societal problems。 Instead of reckoning with the large， often intractable causes of things that would require us to get involved in the baneful world of politics and economics， we can just have women use power poses and blammo--no more glass ceilings。 It also may not be a coincidence that many of these fads appeal to those more interested in status games between groups rather than fundamental human flourishing: the type of people who are extremely concerned with female representation among CEOs but less so with， say， childhood nutrition or employment prospects for the very low skilled。 The term "liberal" has recently been transformed into a pejorative for such people: those that just want "more women prison guards"。 Of course， while such people undoubtedly exist， they might not be the only people buying into quick fixes。 People powerless in the face of large socio-politico-economic forces might also see such things as ways to carve out a little bit of control and improve their small segment of the world， which is surely laudable to everyone but the most hardened revolutionary。 The problem， though， is that Singal offers this as an explanation， but as he presents it， it barely rises above the status of hypothesis。 The book is mostly about theories that fail to live up to rigorous tests， yet for something even more complex that psychological phenomenon， namely， sociological phenomenon， Singal doesn't offer much robust evidence。 It is true that robust evidence for causal hypotheses in sociology is extremely hard to come by， but in that case， Singal should either expand his evidentiary net （or at least lay out a plan of investigation）， or drop the hypothesis as the main framing device uniting all of the fad theories he covers in the book。 As it stands， the book offers neither a deep investigation into why these theories were accepted in academic circles and then fell apart among increased scrutiny， nor a detailed and supported theory about why they gain such traction in society at large。 Instead， we unfortunately get the worst of both worlds。 。。。more

Tim ，

In studying History of Science I have learned all about anecdotal evidence。 This is a work that points out all the anecdotal evidence in the soft sciences。 It is difficult enough to create sound experimental designs in the controlled environments of the hard sciences so it should come as no surprise that it is next to impossible in the social sciences。 It seems axiomatic that the social science should abound with uncontrolled variables。 The shortcomings of the social sciences should be apparent In studying History of Science I have learned all about anecdotal evidence。 This is a work that points out all the anecdotal evidence in the soft sciences。 It is difficult enough to create sound experimental designs in the controlled environments of the hard sciences so it should come as no surprise that it is next to impossible in the social sciences。 It seems axiomatic that the social science should abound with uncontrolled variables。 The shortcomings of the social sciences should be apparent to the educated reader。 I'm surprised that Singal has written a whole book telling us to be weary of disciplines that are inherently human and impossible to quantify。 Singal is an excellent writer。 This is an excellent example of how to communicate through the written word despite the seemingly obvious subject matter。 。。。more

Susan ，

A fun read for people who are interested in psychology and left social/economic causes。 Even when the content could have easily come across as pedantic， Singal turned it into an entertaining read。 It was particularly enjoyable for me when the chapters contained obscure academic drama unraveling in emails or Facebook posts with the researchers。 Such drama！ I read this book as someone who became disillusioned with the field of psychology and changed my career path after undergrad due to the lack o A fun read for people who are interested in psychology and left social/economic causes。 Even when the content could have easily come across as pedantic， Singal turned it into an entertaining read。 It was particularly enjoyable for me when the chapters contained obscure academic drama unraveling in emails or Facebook posts with the researchers。 Such drama！ I read this book as someone who became disillusioned with the field of psychology and changed my career path after undergrad due to the lack of integration of larger social and economic systems in what I had studied and the unwillingness of my professors to probe these things。 It felt vindicating to read， but also left me somewhat hopeful due to some of the reforms occurring in the field that the book mentions。 。。。more

Kevin Weis ，

Fun， easy read for anyone interested in psychology fads。

Matthew Boehm ，

The general message and content of this book is right up my alley， but a lot of the content of this book felt like a drive-by summary of topics I'd read about in more depth elsewhere。His punches don't seem to land as hard as I'd like。 Grit's strongly correlated with conscientiousness and may have been over-hyped by Duckworth？ Okay。 The army was really gung-ho about fully implementing positive psychology techniques before waiting for studies on its effectiveness on troops？ Color me surprised。Desp The general message and content of this book is right up my alley， but a lot of the content of this book felt like a drive-by summary of topics I'd read about in more depth elsewhere。His punches don't seem to land as hard as I'd like。 Grit's strongly correlated with conscientiousness and may have been over-hyped by Duckworth？ Okay。 The army was really gung-ho about fully implementing positive psychology techniques before waiting for studies on its effectiveness on troops？ Color me surprised。Despite this criticism， I did still pick up many interesting tidbits from the book， and the overall message resonated with me。 Singal's explains p-hacking and other phenomena that have plagued the social science world in an accessible but thorough manner。 The replication crisis rocked the psychology world pretty hard， and this book is too little and too late to be a strong push for reforming that field （which is already working on addressing these issues through pre-registration and other techniques）， but it works as a warning to the general public to take their TED talks with a grain of salt。 。。。more

JB Gibso ，

If you are looking for a view of the world with more nuance， complexity and healthy skepticism of simple solutions then this a great book。 I really appreciate the people who are out there actually asking tough questions and getting not so simple answers… since ultimately there are very few easy paths in life and when new theories and trends profess something that sounds too good to be true， they usually are。 Jesse Singal is a writer that has done a great job in this book （and other places） of no If you are looking for a view of the world with more nuance， complexity and healthy skepticism of simple solutions then this a great book。 I really appreciate the people who are out there actually asking tough questions and getting not so simple answers… since ultimately there are very few easy paths in life and when new theories and trends profess something that sounds too good to be true， they usually are。 Jesse Singal is a writer that has done a great job in this book （and other places） of not just pushing the “I believe” button and getting on with it。 This book is definitely worth the read。 Don’t read it if you are too attached to concepts like Implicit Bias Testing or teaching poor kids how to have grit… you may be disappointed。 。。。more

How ，

Singal has a talent for explaining the complex in a manner accessible by the uninitiated。 Other than a few points - his view of the economy as a zero-sum game （p281） and some of his thoughts on crime （chapter 2 on superpredators） I enjoyed reading a book which affirms my long held suspicions about social science "research。" On crime， he states that rates are declining （p 53）。 Except for murder in my hometown which has increased 65% in the last 4 years。 mostly among the young。 On the economy， he Singal has a talent for explaining the complex in a manner accessible by the uninitiated。 Other than a few points - his view of the economy as a zero-sum game （p281） and some of his thoughts on crime （chapter 2 on superpredators） I enjoyed reading a book which affirms my long held suspicions about social science "research。" On crime， he states that rates are declining （p 53）。 Except for murder in my hometown which has increased 65% in the last 4 years。 mostly among the young。 On the economy， he believes the only way to fix inequality is to be Robin Hood - take from the rich and give to the poor。 No - an expanding economy helps everyone。 。。。more

Y。S。 Stephen ，

The Quick Fix by Jesse Singal examines the impact pseudo-science masquerading as self-help has on society。 It describes why fad-psychology gains popularity and how it sometimes destroys rather than help people。WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE BOOKThe Quick Fix uses historical examples to illuminate what happens when false ideas take hold in a society。 From the ascendance "superpredator" meme in the 1980s （which falsely criminalises Black American youth） to the popularisation of the notion that our poses in The Quick Fix by Jesse Singal examines the impact pseudo-science masquerading as self-help has on society。 It describes why fad-psychology gains popularity and how it sometimes destroys rather than help people。WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE BOOKThe Quick Fix uses historical examples to illuminate what happens when false ideas take hold in a society。 From the ascendance "superpredator" meme in the 1980s （which falsely criminalises Black American youth） to the popularisation of the notion that our poses influence our behaviour， the author highlights the harm that half-baked behavioural science causes。WHO IS IT FORLovers of the self-help genre might find this helpful as it illustrates some of the dark sides of this category。Many thanks to Farrar， Straus and Giroux for review copy。 。。。more

Jamie ，

"The Quick Fix" is a handful of deep dives into various fads within social psychology over the years， with the overarching themes that the standards， methodologies， and reporting of social science needs serious improvement， and also that we should be leery of ideas that seek to enact social change through individual change。 The former is not debatable — the replication crisis alone proves that。 The latter， however， is debatable， and critics will find much to poke or quibble at with regard to Sin "The Quick Fix" is a handful of deep dives into various fads within social psychology over the years， with the overarching themes that the standards， methodologies， and reporting of social science needs serious improvement， and also that we should be leery of ideas that seek to enact social change through individual change。 The former is not debatable — the replication crisis alone proves that。 The latter， however， is debatable， and critics will find much to poke or quibble at with regard to Singal's insistence that systemic public policy is， more or less， the only game in town。Singal writes conversationally yet thoroughly — a bit too thoroughly， in my opinion。 Each chapter argued past the close， feeling longer than strictly required to demonstrate the point， at the cost of covering fewer subjects within psychology than perhaps might have been。 An informative， interesting， and enjoyable read nevertheless。 3。5/5 。。。more

Ludwig Franke Föyen ，

Perhaps it is a sign of my erudition （probably not） or that I've studied psychology for 5 years that this book didn't contain much new of anything。 If you're at all familiar to the replication crisis， pseudoscientific psychological claims and bad science this book will be mostly familiar to you。 Singal sometimes argues for sociological answers to the questions behavioral researchers have tried to answer and that does make sense - but he never acknowledges the fact that saying something conclusiv Perhaps it is a sign of my erudition （probably not） or that I've studied psychology for 5 years that this book didn't contain much new of anything。 If you're at all familiar to the replication crisis， pseudoscientific psychological claims and bad science this book will be mostly familiar to you。 Singal sometimes argues for sociological answers to the questions behavioral researchers have tried to answer and that does make sense - but he never acknowledges the fact that saying something conclusive using these methods is damn hard。 I'd say there is no need to kick a horse that has been dead for years without offering something new。 Probably a more informative read would have been https://www。goodreads。com/book/show/5。。。 。。。more

Maryam Nada ，

YES！ Finally someone taking a deeper look into the many many many common， baseless， positive psychology/ pop social good-for-nothing trends that many fall for。 There is no easy fix， no matter how many wishes u send out for the universe to hear and do。

Miguel ，

On the one hand， it’s a bit of shooting fish in a barrel to criticize the pop psychology trends of any given timeframe over the past 50 years （Singal doesn’t even mention the EST craze or the “I’m OK， You’re OK” self-help type craze， as we’re seemingly long past those phases and onto different things）。 He provides enough background on a lot of the latest pop-psychology trends to agree with him to have a healthy amount of skepticism for a range of current popular self-help trends from some cringe On the one hand， it’s a bit of shooting fish in a barrel to criticize the pop psychology trends of any given timeframe over the past 50 years （Singal doesn’t even mention the EST craze or the “I’m OK， You’re OK” self-help type craze， as we’re seemingly long past those phases and onto different things）。 He provides enough background on a lot of the latest pop-psychology trends to agree with him to have a healthy amount of skepticism for a range of current popular self-help trends from some cringe one like Duckworth’s Grit， to the more insidious like the positive thinking that was sold wholesale to the DoD to treat PTSD。 He gets into the replication crisis and also discusses some of the overhype on the behavior inspired side。 Been listening to his podcast for a little while so was already knowing what the views and style would be。 Don't agree with every point but he does make quite a few convincing arguments throughout。 。。。more

Andrew Nierenhausen ，

A great look at how pseudo science and bad self-help books can influence public policy and the cultural landscape for decades。 It's crazy to see how so many misconceptions have damaged public life for generations。 Singal also point out how some pop-psychology ideas have hurt social justice work by obscuring very real threats in favour of easy targets。 4。5/5 A great look at how pseudo science and bad self-help books can influence public policy and the cultural landscape for decades。 It's crazy to see how so many misconceptions have damaged public life for generations。 Singal also point out how some pop-psychology ideas have hurt social justice work by obscuring very real threats in favour of easy targets。 4。5/5 。。。more

Matt Garden ，

What I really appreciated about this book is that it’s not just a misanthropic attempt to dunk on people who are wrong， but to understand things better so we can make the world a better place。

Ryan Boissonneault ，

The self-improvement industry—with a projected 2022 market value of $13。2 billion—clearly has massive appeal and a wide readership。 Self-help is consistently represented in the top five nonfiction genres sold on Amazon each year， and the latest self-help bestseller often maintains its position at the top of the charts for months at a time。 The genre’s popularity is not difficult to understand; when people feel that most aspects of their lives are beyond their control， they respond positively and The self-improvement industry—with a projected 2022 market value of $13。2 billion—clearly has massive appeal and a wide readership。 Self-help is consistently represented in the top five nonfiction genres sold on Amazon each year， and the latest self-help bestseller often maintains its position at the top of the charts for months at a time。 The genre’s popularity is not difficult to understand; when people feel that most aspects of their lives are beyond their control， they respond positively and predictably to any simple， intuitive message that tells them they have more control over their lives than they had originally thought。 These messages are often highly exaggerated， simplified， and context-independent claims that， while containing some truth， are mostly misleading and sometimes even dangerous， as Jesse Singal describes in his latest book， The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can’t Cure Our Social Ills。As Singal point outs， while not all books labeled as “self-help” are pseudoscientific， the genre， overall， does not have a great track record。 The prototypical example of this is the 2006 book written by Rhonda Byrne titled The Secret， which has sold over 30 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 50 languages。 Essentially， the book tells us， based on the dubious “law of attraction，” that our positive and negative thoughts have the power to actualize positive and negative events in our lives。 This pseudoscientific idea—which tells us that thoughts control actual physical events—sold millions of copies because it presents a story that gives people a comforting sense of control in an otherwise chaotic world。 Of course， there is some truth in the claim that a positive disposition can bring positive results， as the phenomenon of the self-fulfilling prophecy does have some empirical support。 Those who are confident， optimistic， and self-assured tend to create positive opportunities for themselves and are generally more highly regarded and better treated by others， while those that are angry， depressed， or pessimistic often bring about their own negative experiences。But this is precisely the danger with fad psychology: it presents ideas that are at least partially correct， but then exaggerates those claims to reach the largest audience possible—an audience that is less interested in scientific rigor and critical analysis and more interested in gaining a greater sense of self-control or in implementing a quick fix to a complex social problem。 That’s how a reasonable idea like “positive thoughts can lead to better outcomes for certain people in certain situations” can turn into the more exaggerated claim that “positive thoughts will magically cure 100 percent of everyone’s problems。” This is how “thought leaders'' and academics can take flimsy evidence， package it into simple， intuitive ideas that promise a quick fix for complicated problems， and then can get politicians， CEOs， and government bureaucrats to adopt expensive and essentially worthless programs that ultimately produce little evidence for their effectiveness。 Singal presents several examples of this， demonstrating how the “self-esteem craze” of the 1980s failed to reduce crime and cure various other social ills; how improving one’s posture through “power posing” does not automatically lead to career advancement; how “grit” is not a better predictor of academic success than more traditional measures; how the implicit association test for racial bias does not measure what its proponents think it does; how social priming studies often fail to replicate; and how the interventions of positive psychology do not necessarily make people happier， and certainly do not prevent PTSD in military personnel， as was claimed by its advocates based on almost no empirical evidence。Nevertheless， millions of dollars and countless resources were dedicated to social programs based on these half-baked ideas， all with negligible results。 In most cases， leaders implemented these programs based on nothing more than “gut feelings”—what Singal refers to as “unskilled intuition”—without the necessary due diligence or input from experts。 In presenting the various case studies， Singal digs deep into the science and statistics， equipping readers with the critical thinking skills necessary to identify shoddy scientific claims。 Singal teaches the reader the difference between correlation and causation and how to spot inadequate sample sizes， statistical manipulation， the use of vague terminology， the overextension of research beyond its original area， replication problems， and the context-dependent nature of all psychological research （i。e。， what applies to a group of college students in a controlled laboratory setting may not translate outside of the classroom in the far messier real world）。Singal persuasively shows that， at best， these half-baked ideas of fad psychology are simply a waste of money， resources， and time， and at worst， they prevent the implementation of more effective structural reforms that could actually work to improve our social problems （which is the main message of the book）。 As Singal writes:“Sure， you can try to train a female business student to be more confident seeming [through power-posing]， or try to train a hiring manager to be less implicitly biased， but there’s good reason to believe you’ll have more success changing the former’s business school so that overconfidence isn’t unduly rewarded in the first place， and the latter’s workplace so that implicit bias doesn’t even have a chance to hijack decision-making when there’s hiring to be done。 These approaches deserve more attention than they get。 The problem， again， is that they aren’t quite as eye-catching as interventions that promise to reform individuals”Fad psychology， by diverting attention away from structural solutions， is far more socially dangerous than is commonly recognized。 For example， if we become obsessed with teaching female business students to act more stereotypically male to get ahead—thus maintaining the status quo and simply trying to work around it with individual behavioral reform—then we ignore the underlying problem altogether， which is the prioritization of overconfidence and aggression in academia and the workplace while undervaluing more considered and rational approaches to problem solving。 It’s important at this point to note that Singal is not suggesting that all psychological and behavioral science is harmful or useless。 Singal presents several areas of psychological research that have impressive empirical support， including cognitive behavioral therapy， the idea of fixed versus growth mindsets， and several established interventions of behavioral economics。 But the overall point of the book applies to these areas as well: even within the more credible research areas， individual behavioral reform still has its limits， and often only provides temporary and inadequate fixes to larger social problems requiring more extensive policy reform。 And if this applies even to the credible areas of psychology， it applies doubly so to the questionable claims of the latest self-help bestseller。 In fairness to the self-help industry—which probably gets more criticism than it should—one could argue that the problem is with the institutional overextension of self-help ideas and not necessarily with the ideas themselves。 Since the nature of self-help is to provide individual recommendations， and further， since psychological interventions are always context-specific， one would not expect to find any single intervention to be empirically effective across the board。 So if someone claims that any particular self-help book has positively influenced their lives， what sense would it make to dismiss this claim as meaningless simply because it hasn’t been shown， statistically， to work for everyone？ Sure， this puts self-help more in the category of practical philosophy than psychology， but this in itself doesn’t make self-help any less effective or meaningful at the personal （if not social） level。This is a fair point， but Singal would probably respond by saying that the psychologists and scientists spreading self-help ideas are not exactly going out of their way to prevent this institutional overextension。 The proponents of these ideas often make exaggerated claims that inevitably lead to costly and ineffective social interventions。 And there is a very specific reason for why this is the case， as summarized nicely by the social psychologist Carol Tavris。 During an interview with Singal， Tavris said:“Once you have committed yourself to a theory—and this is true of any of us—it becomes hard to accept criticisms of that theory， let alone evidence that you might be wrong about it。 Scientists are not immune to this inclination， even though the whole nature of the scientific enterprise is to put your beliefs to the test—Is this what’s going on here？—and see if the evidence supports it or not。 But if you have also taken your theory into the public forum， you are now getting thousands upon thousands of dollars to educate people in companies and the government about your test， your measure， or your hugely popular idea， you now have a vested interest， financially， emotionally， and psychologically， in its being right。 ‘Maybe I went too far？ Maybe I ignored the parts that didn’t fit？ Maybe this idea sounded appealing but has a few problems I didn’t anticipate？’ That， in terms of research and science， is the greatest danger of this TED-ification phenomenon: the impulse to oversimplify and cut around the edges。”And so the incentives are all aligned for psychologists to oversell their ideas。 Singal is hopeful， however， that things will change， and that not only will consumers of psychological research become more sophisticated （which this book will help with）， but also that researchers and journalists will become more conscientious in their reporting of research as the field of psychology reforms itself in the face of the replication crisis。 But while we’d all like to think Singal is right in this regard， if history is any indication， the market for simple， quick fixes will always exist。Follow my reviews at The Crowded Bookshelf。 。。。more

Book ，

Listen to the full review here。Growing up， my mom drank a lot of coffee。 If we were on the road， we were stopping for lunch at Starbucks。 If she hadn’t had her morning espresso and we passed a coffee shop， I was going to be late for school。 She always defended her casual addiction with blurry statistics from studies she could kinda-sorta remember。 “Coffee makes you live longer，” she would claim。 Or: “Coffee is good for your heart。” “Coffee makes you a better listener。”Wow， young me thought， why Listen to the full review here。Growing up， my mom drank a lot of coffee。 If we were on the road， we were stopping for lunch at Starbucks。 If she hadn’t had her morning espresso and we passed a coffee shop， I was going to be late for school。 She always defended her casual addiction with blurry statistics from studies she could kinda-sorta remember。 “Coffee makes you live longer，” she would claim。 Or: “Coffee is good for your heart。” “Coffee makes you a better listener。”Wow， young me thought， why doesn’t everyone drink coffee？ It sounds like a super medicine。 Someone should spread the good word about coffee。 She was， of course， justifying her love for coffee， and every time she saw a new headline， it further reinforced that belief。We all do this， to a certain extent， and it shows the problems with headline-grabbing studies that can’t be replicated and rely on flimsy data。 It’s good for news corporations because they can get clicks every few months with “updated” studies。 I just did a Google search and found this headline: “A new study found a link between listening to rap music and having strong coffee with better driving skills。”Right， sure。 And listening to indie pop makes me a better lover。 Punk rock helped me fix my motorcycle。 When my dogs listen to “Who Let the Dogs Out” they get more confident and rowdy。 The Quick Fix sets out to dissect some of the more egregious cases， especially those that have had profound impacts on our social life， education， and even military。 Singal is a careful yet engaging writer。 The language is academic only when it needs to be， accessible without flattening the complex reasoning of why each trend gripped the public。 In each chapter， he traces the roots of a particular social science movement， how it spread， and the need it filled for a certain group of people （these findings are usually positioned as curing a social ill）。 He extends every scientist the benefit of the doubt—one which most probably don’t deserve—before methodically breaking down the data manipulation， lies of omission， or counter-studies that reveal the flaws at work。Social scientists， while scientists， are still human beings。 They are not immune to the trappings of chasing headlines， presenting “groundbreaking” research before their peers can， or getting swept up in a riptide of positive press。 Call it the Ted Talk affect。 Everyone wants to be up there with a headset。 No one wants to admit they were wrong the whole time， or that they spent five years collecting data that can’t be replicated。This book blows up the #LifeHacks culture， of the daily diet trend， and the easy “self-actualization” trends that mistake surface character traits for core personality markers。 Not every study is completely invalidated， a point Singal stresses， but we should be cautious around new proclamations， especially those that spit in the face of common sense or logic。Real change requires hard work。 A simple sentiment， perhaps， but one that invalidates 99% of the social insight studies that Buzzfeed will grab for its next headline。 Now an adult， I drink a ton of coffee like my mom， I just don’t care what the health benefits are。 。。。more

Laianna ，

While at times dry and heavy on statistics， and other times overly broad and prone to generalization， The Quick Fix is a fascinating deep dive into how fad behavioral （pseudo） science left unchecked can have dangerous repercussions on almost all areas of life。 Having grown up in the “self-esteem” era of flawed fad psychology， I was genuinely shocked to learn that most of what I thought I knew about self-esteem is a myth。 I was even more dismayed to read the chapters on the military preaching “gr While at times dry and heavy on statistics， and other times overly broad and prone to generalization， The Quick Fix is a fascinating deep dive into how fad behavioral （pseudo） science left unchecked can have dangerous repercussions on almost all areas of life。 Having grown up in the “self-esteem” era of flawed fad psychology， I was genuinely shocked to learn that most of what I thought I knew about self-esteem is a myth。 I was even more dismayed to read the chapters on the military preaching “grit” as a quick-fix for PTSD， and the roll-out of the Implicit Bias Test as a quick-fix for racism。 Jesse Singal does a great job explaining how institutional and societal forces often play a bigger role in an individual’s likelihood for success （or failure） than fad psychology would lead us to believe。 When we overestimate the role of individuals based on ill-researched one-off studies， we tend to miss the huge structural obstacles that actually get in our way。 We cannot expect grit or self-esteem to cure problems that were not caused by lack of grit or lack of self-esteem。 While reading， I kept thinking of the quote from The Hunger Games， “remember who the real enemy is。” This book gave me a lot to think about。 Definitely worth the read！ 。。。more

Rebecca ，

I found this entertaining and learned a lot about psychology trends。 Listened a bit with my psych friend and she confirmed it was pretty on point。 Probably not earth shattering but not a bad read or listen

Jessica Richardson ，

Encapsulates my stinking feeling about my psych major turned minor turned now I don't mention it。1 quibble - I love Jesse on the podcast， but him as audiobook narrator took me out of it a bit！ Encapsulates my stinking feeling about my psych major turned minor turned now I don't mention it。1 quibble - I love Jesse on the podcast， but him as audiobook narrator took me out of it a bit！ 。。。more

Wilson Smith ，

I can be something of a dummy when it comes to learning about fields I have very little previous engagement with， grappling with concepts and terminology that take time for the layperson to parse and digest。 Luckily， Singal is an engaging and accessible writer on this subject （and others， if his Substack is any indication） and so I only had to read and reread sentences over and over so that they would stick in my brain a handful of times over the course of The Quick Fix。 Recommended for anyone i I can be something of a dummy when it comes to learning about fields I have very little previous engagement with， grappling with concepts and terminology that take time for the layperson to parse and digest。 Luckily， Singal is an engaging and accessible writer on this subject （and others， if his Substack is any indication） and so I only had to read and reread sentences over and over so that they would stick in my brain a handful of times over the course of The Quick Fix。 Recommended for anyone intrigued by the subject matter。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0