41 - Vanessa Bohns: You Have More Influence Than You Think

Eric chats with Vanessa Bohns, social psychologist and Professor of Organizational Behavior at Cornell University. Vanessa studies how people influence one another, and how they can underestimate how much influence they really have. Vanessa has been a Visiting Scholar at the NYU Stern School of Business and has taught at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review.

In this episode, Eric and Vanessa chat about Vanessa’s first book You Have More Influence Than You Think, published in September 2021. Vanessa discusses why people are often blind to how much of an impact they have on others. Are there occasions where people overestimate their influence? Does influence come with responsibility? Are there gender effects? Vanessa also mentions her related line of research on underestimating the kindness of strangers. Why are people often kinder than we expect? Finally, Vanessa shares her experience with writing a book as an academic and gives advice for others who consider writing a book.

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Links:

Vanessa's book
Vanessa's Twitter @profbohns

Eric's website
Eric's Twitter @EricNeumannPsy

Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPod

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