David DeSteno

Update: This event has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience, and we hope to reschedule.

Harvard Book Store welcomes pioneering psychologist and Northeastern University professor DAVID DESTENO for a discussion of his latest book, Emotional Success: The Power of Gratitude, Compassion, and Pride.

About Emotional Success

A string of bestsellers has alerted us to the importance of grit—an ability to persevere and control one’s impulses that is so closely associated with greatness. But no book yet has charted the most accessible and powerful path to grit: our prosocial emotions. These feelings—gratitude, compassion, and pride—are easier to generate than the willpower and self-denial that underpin traditional approaches to grit. And, while willpower is quickly depleted, prosocial emotions actually become stronger the more we use them. These emotions have another crucial advantage: they’re contagious. Those around us become more likely to apply them when we do.

As this myth-shattering book explains, prosocial emotions evolved specifically to help us resist immediate temptations in favor of long-term gains. Originally, they enabled us to build lasting relationships with other people, and they still do that brilliantly. But they can also be adapted to strengthen our bonds with our own future selves—who will benefit most from the grit we need to succeed in life. No matter what our goals are, Emotional Success can help us achieve them with greater ease and deeper satisfaction than we would have thought possible.

Praise

“Emotional Success is as inspiring as it is practical. DeSteno shows us how to use our feelings of gratitude, compassion, and authentic pride to improve our lives—and the world.” —Arianna Huffington, author of Thrive and The Sleep Revolution

"Are high achievers simply blessed with more willpower than the rest of us? DeSteno's provocative argument is that the science of success is, in fact, very much the science of social emotions like gratitude and compassion. I, for one, am convinced!" —Angela Duckworth, author of Grit

“One of the leading psychologists of our time has discovered the keys to success: our emotions. They give us strength, they help us stick to our goals, they make us better friends and better people. DeSteno shows how gratitude, compassion, and—surprisingly—pride are essential to the good life. Emotional Success is a beautifully written and very important book.” —Paul Bloom, professor of Psychology at Yale University and author of Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion

“If you think the key to self-control is overriding your emotions, think again. Moral emotions can strengthen your willpower—and this fascinating book uses the latest social science to explain how.” —Adam Grant, author of Give and Take, Originals, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg