Who doesn't want to be more popular? Surely a person's popularity, be it at school, work or socially, is the best predictor of how happy and successful they will be? The truth is actually much more complex and is based on millennia of human evolution. This impeccably researched and highly entertaining book presents two very distinct types of popularity and shows how only one of them will get you what you want. Professor of Psychology and popularity expert Mitch Prinstein has based his book Popular on two decades of research into the human psyche and genetic make-up. He investigates the science of what popularity is, why we care about it so much - even if we don't think we do - and if we can still become popular, even if we were outcasts when we were younger. He investigates social media phenomena, including Facebook friends, Instagram likes and Twitter followers, and explores how they tap into our basic need to survive. He also examines the correlation between popularity, health and lifespan, and offers important insights into parenting for popularity, explaining why supporting children in the right way will help them cultivate the right kind of popularity and shape them positively as adults in the future. An enlightening read on a topic that has fascinated us for centuries, Popular will provide insight into your own popularity and how it influences your life in unexpected ways.