Nicholas Epley – ‘A Little More Social’

Nicholas Epley – ‘A Little More Social’

Nicholas Epley will discuss his new book A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection. A Q&A and book signing will follow the discussion.

At the Co-op

RSVP HERE

About the Book: We know that social connection enriches our lives–so why do we hesitate to connect?

“A Little More Social explores the power and promise of the human connections that most of us never make–but could make so easily if we just opened our eyes. This is the eye-opener. Insightful, engaging, scientifically grounded and beautifully written, A Little More Social is one of those rare books that might actually change your life.” –Daniel Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Stumbling on Happiness

There is a fundamental paradox at the core of human life. We are a highly social species uniquely equipped to connect with other people and doing so is better for us. Yet we so often choose to be unsocial. We avoid talking to the stranger who sits next to us. We struggle to move beyond small talk with an acquaintance. We are reluctant to express our gratitude to people we appreciate. Every day, we avoid opportunities to connect with strangers, neighbors, colleagues, friends, and family. By missing those moments, we miss out on all the benefits of a more social life–one that is happier and healthier for everyone.

University of Chicago psychologist and author of Mindwise, Nicholas Epley has spent his career studying the way we connect, and he has found that our social fears often keep us from reaching out. But bridging the gap between two people is easier than we think–and success is more likely than we imagine. We just have to be a little more social. Epley shows us how to seize the small moments with insights such as:

• Social connection is a choice we make based on expectations about how others will respond to us–expectations that tend to be overly pessimistic.
• Introverts and extroverts alike benefit from choosing to be a little more social.
• Mistaken expectations can cause us to avoid interacting in ways that create strong connections–such as having a conversation–in favor of less satisfying interactions–such as social media or texting.
• While many books promise one big fix, making a habit of small connections is much more likely to improve your life.
• The habits and practices that Epley advocates are approachable. The beauty of this book is that small acts have an outsized impact on the most important parts of our lives.

Epley draws on decades of research, his own experiences, and the stories of everyday people to deliver groundbreaking conclusions about the psychology behind our social decisions. A Little More Social shows how we can put science into practice and change our lives, one small choice at a time.

About the Author: Nicholas Epley is the John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavior Science and Director of the Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He studies social cognition—how thinking people think about other thinking people—to understand why well-meaning people so routinely misunderstand each other.  He teaches an ethics and wellbeing course to MBA students called Designing a Good Life. His research has been featured by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Wired, and National Public Radio, among many others, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Templeton Foundation. He has been awarded the 2008 Theoretical Innovation Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the 2011 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology from the American Psychological Association, the 2015 Book Prize for the Promotion of Social and Personality Science, and the 2018 Career Trajectory Award from the Society for Experimental Social Psychology.  Epley was named a “professor to watch” by the Financial Times, one of the “World’s Best 40 under 40 Business School Professors” by Poets and Quants, and one of the 100 Most Influential in Business Ethics by Ethisphere.  He is the author of Mindwise: How We Understand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want (2014), and A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection (2026).