Groundbreaking and timely, Naturally Selected unravels the mystery of leadership—why some lead, why some follow, and why it matters to every one of us. Evolutionary psychologist Mark van Vugt and science journalist Anjana Ahuja upend the accepted wisdom about leadership and, following in the tradition of Jim Collins’ Good to Great and Noel Tichy’s The Leadership Engine, deliver a book with the power to change ordinary lives. Naturally Selected teaches leaders to ...

A groundbreaking, evolutionary science-based exploration of the history of leadership that explains how and why some men and women evolve into good or great leaders, and some do not.We are all leaders or followers — or both. We can recognise leadership in almost every area of life: in the workplace, among friends, within families, in politics and religion. But what makes a good or bad leader, and what makes an outstanding one? Selected examines how and why leadership has evolved ov...

Our brains evolved to solve the survival problems of our Stone Age ancestors, so when faced with modern day situations that are less extreme, they often encounter a mismatch. Our primitive brains put us on the wrong foot by responding to stimuli that - in prehistoric times - would have prompted behaviour that was beneficial. If you've ever felt an anxious fight or flight response to a presenting at a board meeting, equivalent to facing imminent death by sabre-toothed tiger, then you have e...

Are you hoping to apply what you’ve learnt in your studies to real world problems? Are you wondering how your work might make a difference?This book offers a model to ensure that your application of theoretical social psychology stands the best chance of success. Follow the PATHS model help you develop your intervention, test it, action it, and evaluate it.Each chapter focuses on a step in the model and is built around a real world example. Full of practical advice, each ch...

Why do so many people volunteer to help others in need in society today? What makes people give up the convenience of driving their car to benefit a better environment? And why are citizens, in general, quite prepared to pay taxes to ensure adequate health care, and support for the elderly and unemployed? These are examples of a more fundamental question addressed in this book: why do people cooperate for the welfare of their community, state, or organization?Cooperation in Mode...

Our brains evolved to solve the survival problems of our Stone Age ancestors, so when faced with modern day situations that are less extreme, they often encounter a mismatch. Our primitive brains put us on the wrong foot by responding to stimuli that - in prehistoric times - would have prompted behaviour that was beneficial. If you've ever felt an anxious fight or flight response to a presenting at a board meeting, equivalent to facing imminent death by sabre-toothed tiger, then you have e...

The incredible true story of a woman who risked everything to put her brother, a murderous psychopath and one of the world's most infamous crime bosses, behind bars.Astrid Holleeder is in hiding because she had the courage to write this book. Her brother Willem Holleeder, best known for his involvement in the 1983 kidnapping of the CEO and chairman of Heineken brewing company, is one of the most notorious criminals in contemporary history. For decades, Wim ruled ov...

In his National Book Award–winning novel Augustus, John Williams uncovered the secrets of ancient Rome. With Butcher's Crossing, his fiercely intelligent, beautifully written western, Williams dismantles the myths of modern America.It is the 1870s, and Will Andrews, fired up by Emerson to seek "an original relation to nature," drops out of Harvard and heads west. He washes up in Butcher's Crossing, a small Kansas town on the outskirts of nowhere. Butcher's Crossin...

A practical, inspirational, revolutionary guide to social innovationMany of us have a deep desire to make the world around us a better place. But often our good intentions are undermined by the fear that we are so insignificant in the big scheme of things that nothing we can do will actually help feed the world’s hungry, fix the damage of a Hurricane Katrina or even get a healthy lunch program up and running in the local school. We tend to think that great social c...

The revolutionary study of how the place where we grew up shapes the way we think, feel, and act-- with new dimensions and perspectivesBased on research conducted in more than seventy countries over a forty-year span, Cultures and Organizations examines what drives people apart—when cooperation is so clearly in everyone’s interest. With major new contributions from Michael Minkov’s analysis of data from the World Values Survey, as well as an account of the...

Social policy shapes the daily lives of every Canadian citizen and should reflect the beliefs of a majority of Canadians on just approaches to the promotion of health, safety, and well-being. Too often, those on the front lines—social workers, nurses, and teachers—observe that policies do not work well for the most vulnerable groups in society. In the first part of this new edition of Canadian Social Policy, Westhues and Wharf argue that service deliverers have discretion in how p...

According to current thinking, anyone who fails to succeed must have something wrong with them. The pressure to achieve and be happy is taking a heavy toll, resulting in a warped view of the self, disorientation, and despair. People are lonelier than ever before. Today’s pay-for-performance mentality is turning institutions such as schools, universities, and hospitals into businesses — even individuals are being made to think of themselves as one-person enterprises. Love is increasingly ha...