Why subscribe?
This is a newsletter for people who want to get smarter about groups and make groups smarter.
Our goal is to help people harness their shared identities to improve performance, increase cooperation, and promote social harmony by sharing cutting-edge science and practical advice. We will also share videos and educational materials for people who want to use and teach these ideas.
Join our community of over 4,000 subscribers (and over 250,000 readers), as we discuss the role of social identity, group dynamics, and collective behavior in organizations and society, highlight new research and books by experts on collective behavior, and update you about our award-winning book “Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony.”
Our newsletter goes well beyond our book, applying lessons of identity to new topics, sharing cutting-edge studies, and connecting members of our community. To give you a sample of what you’ll be reading, past newsletters have explained:
How to keep your New Year’s Resolutions
Why people are obsessed with dubious personality tests
The secrets to living a long life
Lessons for avoiding groupthink in teams
The science of building solidarity across difference
A survival guide for polarized family gatherings
What motivates bystanders to intervene in an attack
A free course syllabus on the power of shared identity
Join Us!
We are building a community of people interested in group psychology and collective behavior, and will seek your ideas, insights, and input as we explore the world through the lens of identity. We have also offered virtual book club meetings, free educational materials, book giveaways, interactive quizzes, and plan to offer many more such activities in the near future.
Subscribers will also be the first to hear about cutting-edge research, new books, and various talks, podcasts, media spots, etc. We aim to curate the very best research and thinking in this area.
And if you enjoy the letter, please share it with at least one friend or colleague who might be interested or post it on social media. If you want to support us, please subscribe. Your support makes this newsletter possible.
About Us
Dr. Jay Van Bavel is a Professor of Psychology and Neural Science and Director of the Center for Conflict and Cooperation at New York University.
Dr. Dominic Packer is a Professor of Psychology and Associate Vice Provost for Research at Lehigh University.
The two of us have been conducting award-winning research on the science of group identity, team performance, cooperation, bias, solidarity, health, and leadership for over 20 years and published several hundred scientific articles in top academic journals. Our Amazon best-selling book—THE POWER OF US—won the APA William James Book Award and has been translated into 9 languages. We have written for the New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, BBC, Guardian, and other outlets. We both received our PhDs from the University of Toronto, where we bonded in a shared sub-basement office.
Yvonne Phan is a science communicator who contributes to the writing and editing of this newsletter.
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