Journal of Behavioral Decision Making

J. Behav. Dec. Making, 23: 330–333 (2010)

Book Reviews

PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL: THE HIDDEN FORCES THAT SHAPE OUR DECISIONS. By Dan Ariely,
HarperCollins: New York, 2008. $25.95 (hardcover). ISBN 978-0-06-135323-9

Reviewed by Russell Cropanzano, Department of Management and Organizations, Eller College of Business, University
of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0108, USA.

In Predictably Irrational the author, Dan Ariely, examines sundry foibles in human decision-making. His key point,
which will be familiar to readers of this journal, is that people do not always make economically optimal choices.
However, our frequent departures from the ideal of a rational person are not random errors. Illogical though we may
sometimes be, our decisions are also lawful and predictable. Though Ariely demonstrates the point with a number of
empirical examples, this book is targeted toward the general reader. Predictably Irrational is quite good, though it is
difficult to compare to other books because of its unique structure.
Predictably Irrational carries the reader through a series of personalized research adventures: After considering a
subscription to the Economist (Chapter 1), we find Dan Ariely selling chocolates (Chapter 3), studying masturbating
college students (the appendix that ends Chapter 5 is worth the price of the book), solving the problem of student
procrastination (Chapter 6), having his Coca Cola stolen (Chapter 12), and waiting tables (Chapter 13). Dan Ariely is the
Indiana Jones of behavioral economics. I venture that in the sequel we will find him pulling an idol from a temple just
before a boulder chases him through a cave.
The very personal nature of this book is unusual. When decision-making books are written for the general reader they
tend to be built around a scholarly topic (e.g., Gerd Gigerenzer’s Gut Feelings), a practical problem (e.g., Robyn Dawes’s
House of Cards), or both (Malhotra and Bazerman’s Negotiation Genius). Ariely’s book is different. His innovative
composition suits Predictably Irrational, though I daresay that few writers could pull it off. Here are the three major
advantages. . .
First, Predictably Irrational covers a lot of territory so the author needs a strong narrative structure to hold the pieces
together. Much of the subject matter is not well known to the general reader, and the topics discussed in Predictably
Irrational add up to a diverse compilation. Here is a quick summary of the book—Reference points (Chapter 1),
anchoring (Chapter 2), the biasing effects of zero costs (Chapter 3), social norms (Chapter 4), arousal and decision-
making (Chapter 5), procrastination (Chapter 6), the endowment effect (Chapter 7), the problem of too many options
(Chapter 8), two chapters on expectations (Chapters 9 and 10), two chapters on ethical decision-making (Chapters 11 and 12),
and interpersonal inconsistency (Chapter 13). By recounting each of these topics through the lens of his research experiences
Ariely provides the reader with a compelling storyline that coherently organizes the different findings and concepts.
Second, because Ariely treats each chapter in a personal way the reader has a sense of learning alongside him. To
illustrate, let us examine Chapter 9, which investigates expectation effects. The story begins with Ariely walking to MIT,
wondering why friends would argue about a football official’s call. Soon we are in one of MIT’s pubs (apparently there are
two) watching people drink beers. Sometimes Ariely’s team adds vinegar to the brew (no, I didn’t make that up). We
progress to wineglasses, soda, and ethnic stereotypes. At each step, we learn a bit more about the phenomenon, carefully
drawing conclusions from new research studies. It is, one supposes, the second best thing to actually working in Ariely’s
research lab. Since the knowledge unfolds as the book progresses, the reader is given a sense of personal discovery. This
makes the ideas more exciting and easier to grasp.
Third, Predictably Irrational has a subtext, which I believe I can sum it up in a single sentence—Decision-making
research is really, really cool! To be sure, Predictably Irrational holds a good deal of interesting content, but the process
of scientific discovery becomes the star of the book. Ariely succeeds in explaining how scholarly knowledge is created,
and he does so by pulling the reader into the narrative. I mean this quite literally, in fact. Near the end of the book he even
invites the reader to enroll in some of his studies (p. 244). On pages 249–254, Ariely provides biographies of
17 collaborators.

Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Book Reviews Book Reviews 331

There is an opportunity cost to Predictably Irrational’s personalized approach. The book is not, nor does it pretend to
be, a comprehensive academic overview. For that reason, research taking different perspectives gets short shrift. Consider
Chapter 4, ‘‘The Cost of Social Norms.’’ Ariely makes a compelling case that we live in two worlds—A world of social
norms, whereby we do favors for others and for the community, and a world of market norms, whereby we seek payment
in kind. Though this was my favorite chapter, I would have enjoyed learning Ariely’s views on other interesting
possibilities. For example, in Structures of Social Life Fiske argues there may be four sets of norms (Fiske calls them
‘‘forms of human relations’’), not two. Ariely is aware of this; he even mentions Fiske (p. 68) and lists his work under
‘‘Related Readings’’ (p. 262). For all that, Chapter 4 tends to emphasize the duality between social and market norms,
with less attention to complementary frameworks.
In a book targeted toward a general audience these sorts of omissions are not troubling, but they are worth keeping in
mind since all readers will not have the same goals. Predictably Irrational probably has less to teach serious decision-
making researchers, though they may enjoy reading this volume for the sheer fun of it. The book will probably be better
appreciated by those who are new to the discipline, such as students and young scholars. Because Predictably Irrational
does an interesting job of discussing scientific research, I would also recommend using it as a class supplement. If nothing
else, I plan to borrow some of Ariely’s examples the next time I teach on these topics.

Published online in Wiley InterScience

(www.interscience.wiley.com)
DOI: 10.1002/bdm.673

OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS (309pp., $27.99). By Malcolm Gladwell. New York: Little Brown, 2008.
Review by Terry Connolly, The Eller College, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
A staple topic for conversations at professional society board meetings, as well as at the convention bar, is our own version
of the complaint that we don’t get no respect: We don’t get enough applications. We’ve toiled to discover all these
wonderful things, and we’d like to see our hard-won scientific knowledge applied in the ‘‘real world’’ to cure disease,
extend understanding, reduce waste (and waists) and generally help make people happier. But not much of this translation
actually happens, or not as much as we would like. What can we do?
A common answer is that we need more translations of our scientific literature into readable, application-flavored
summaries. We understand that reading our journals is pretty hard going, even for insiders, and that the average technical
journal is unlikely to appeal to many lay readers, even with a substantially discounted subscription. What we are looking
for is not dumbed-down popularization, over-simplified and over-claiming, just something readable, and spelling out
implications of the scientific findings for the thoughtful non-scientific reader. Indeed, isn’t it a civic duty for those of us
who take public research funds to give back to the public the results of our work?
Some of this actually happens, and is very good. Einstein on relativity, Schank on mind or Stigler on statistics are
worth anyone’s reading time on grounds of general intellectual curiosity alone, but surely not on the expectation that the
general reader will rush to build a particle accelerator, start running functional Magnetic Resonance Images (fMRIs) or
propose a new statistical test. But the concern here is not with scientists explaining ‘‘Here’s what I’ve discovered’’. It’s
with the second part: ‘‘. . . and here’s what it means to you’’ (where ‘‘you’’ may be an ordinary citizen, a policy maker, an
investor, a parent or a working manager—someone looking for scientific help in conducting his or her trade or personal
life). Here the pickings are generally dismal, as a glance through any airport bookstand will confirm. There are ‘‘how to’’
books by the dozen, but few seem to be connected in any serious way to the scientific literature. They may cite a study or
two, but (at least in the few areas in which I am competent to judge) the citations are more for decoration than substance.
One obvious exception to the ‘‘generally dismal’’ rule is Malcolm Gladwell, author of a torrent of beautifully-written
articles in The New Yorker and of three best-selling books: The Tipping Point (2000), Blink (2005), and now Outliers
(2008). His work seems to fit ideally the requirements for connecting our basic scientific literature to the world of
application and implication. First, of course, he is a wonderfully readable writer who combines a lively, engaging style
with careful and accurate description of what, exactly, a particular study did and found. Would that our journals were such
a pleasure to read! Second, he reads broadly and manages to find terrific source material from the scientific literature to
weave together with real-world cases and vivid examples of people he knows or has interviewed. And, finally, he is not
shy about following out his lines of argument to give advice and point out practical implications. This seems to be exactly
what we’ve been urging one another to do all this time, and carried out at a level of skill and breadth we can only envy.
So why do I find myself resisting this juggernaut of popularization, which is bringing large chunks of the best
psychological research into the public view? Stated bluntly, I am concerned that the implications and applications that

Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 23, 330–333 (2010)
DOI: 10.1002/bdm