Book Review: Flipnosis Dr Kevin Dutton

Dr Kevin Dutton, the author of Flipnosis is a lecturer in social psychology at the University of Cambridge, in this his first books he provides numerous examples of the ways in which experts – either through experience, training or sheer luck have managed to change people’s perspectives.  

From his opening introduction to the final chapter personal stories are interweaved into the book providing numerous examples of the delicate art of persuasion. This provides the book with a very human perspective, we can see how it was done, and so we too can go and do it. This does, however, at times come at the cost of Dr Dutton getting his point across. Chapters can move past you with great “did you know” or “have you heard” stories to tell down the pub, but with no greater insight into how the magic actually happens. These stories might also be slightly diminished if you’re sharing a pint with anyone who has read books of a similar vein as the stories; although original have a familiar ring.

The book covers a wide range of scenarios from the highly personal of the Job Centre worker who disarmed his angry clients by sitting on his hands on a low chair – and so did not receive any of the abusive behaviour metered out to his co-workers. To the academic of Solomon Asch’s 1955 identical line study where 76% of people were able to be convinced by peer pressure alone that two lines of identical length weren’t in fact identical. Through these stories and case studies Dr Dutton presents the ways in which we are influenced by those around us.  He showcases the various biases at work in human behaviour from confirmation bias to the more complex and intriguing work of Serge Moscovici’s dual process model. The stories make these biases easy to see and quick to understand, however, at times they do lack some detail, with the author flitting quickly from one bias to the next.  At its heart this is an entertaining read, a book designed to be a jumping point for further investigation.

As an introduction to the fascinating world of human behaviour this makes a great read, if you’ve read similar titles and are looking for more depth you might be better off elsewhere. Nonetheless, as a casual and easy read this is a great starting point.