Psychologists and allied social scientists have become leading thinkers of our time. But what if much of the science underlying their blockbuster ideas is dubious or fallacious? What if Americans’ long-standing preference for simplistic self-help platitudes is exerting a pernicious influence on the way behavioral science is communicated and even funded, leading respected academics and the media astray? In The Quick Fix, Jesse Singal examines the most influential ideas of recent decades and the shaky science that supports them. He begins with the California legislator who introduced self-esteem into the nation’s classrooms in the 1980s and the Princeton political scientist who warned of an epidemic of youthful “superpredators” in the 1990s. Both much-touted ideas had little basis in reality, but a massive impact. As he shows, today’s popular behavioral science emphasizes repairing, improving, and optimizing individuals rather than understanding and confronting the larger structural forces that drive social ills. The Quick Fix is a fresh and powerful indictment of the thought leaders and influencers who cut corners as they sell the public half-baked solutions to problems that deserve more serious treatment. -- Adapted from back cover.