#45 (2013/CBR5) "Click" by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman

Click: The Magic of Instant Connections (2010) by Ori and Rom Brafman is one of those books that I noticed somewhere (probably on Amazon?) a long time ago and finally got around to reading. I'm a big fan of these fun, little pop psychological books. They allow me a glimpse into how our minds work and how we deal with relationships without being text-book heavy or self-help-book annoying. Click was also another audio book, but unlike some other audio books I've picked up, the interesting stories and conversational language made listening to this one much less of a chore.

Click really focuses on how we engage with people. And really, a lot of the book is common sense. After all, I bet everyone has experienced the sensation of "clicking" with someone, so we know that it makes us happy and we work better with people we "click" with. Despite this, Click is still worth reading because of the interesting anecdotes, and the sometimes surprising psychological studies that have been done on this subject.

In addition to giving real life examples of couples and partners who "clicked" and achieved great results, the Brafman brothers split the book up into five factors that accelerate or help people "click." These are: vulnerability, proximity, resonance, similarity, and shared adversity. These factors were illustrated by some pretty interesting (to me, at least) psych experiments. The one that sticks most in my mind involved sending a research assistant into a large, college lecture hall. The assistant could not speak or interact with anyone. She would simply walk to the front of the class and sit down.They varied the experiment by changing the number of classes the research assistant attended. Then they showed the students in the class a picture of the research assistant. Most students did not recognize her, or even if students said she looked familiar they didn't know where they had seen her. However, these students rated her higher on scales of: attractiveness, friendliness, and likability than students who had shared no classes with her. I was surprised to learn that some kind of subconscious familiarity with people would change your perception of them so strongly.

Click also mentions that some people are just better at reading and getting along with others, and they'll "click" with almost anyone they meet. I'm impressed by this talent, probably even more so because I don't have it. This one kept my interest and is worth the read if you have an interest in the subject.