The best psychology books to understand people and human behavior—right here.

Creating this list of psychology books was both exciting and challenging.
Psychology is vast, and choosing the very best takes careful consideration.

This isn’t just any list.
It’s a carefully curated, constantly updated collection for anyone serious about understanding people and excelling in life.

Let’s dive in:

8. Evil

By Roy Baumeister
Summary | Kindle

Why do people act evil?
And how do otherwise good people end up acting evil?
Can people “get used” to evil and commit more and more of it, as in a slippery slope?

These are only a few of the questions that Evil provides an answer to.

It’s similar to The Lucifer Effect, but broader.

Busting the low self-esteem myth

The pop-psychology interpretation suggests low self-esteem makes people lash out against ego threats.

Baumeister explains that it’s instead people with high but fragile self-esteem who react violently to perceived ego threats.

People will settle for any vaguely plausible argument when they want badly enough to believe that their hurtful actions are justified.

7. The Psychology of Social Status

By Joey T. Cheng, Jessica L. Tracy, et al.
Summary | Amazon

Theoretically more of a social psychology book.

However, as social animals, the demarcation line between social psychology and psychology is blurred.

Plus, it’s truly enlightening to understand people, how our minds work, and why we do what we do.

It replaces a spot previously held by The Status Game because it’s more empirically sound.

human hierarchies are the product of our species’ evolved tendency to submit to those who wield force and intimidation, and to follow and learn from those who garner respect and admiration.

6. The Oxford Handbook of Evo Psych & Romantic Relationships

by Justin K. Mogilski, Todd K. Shackelford, et al.
Summary | Amazon

Combines the latest evolutionary psychology research, plus relationships.

Survival, reproduction, and… Love.
This trio defines life, and the latter is what many believe makes life worth living.

And, from a learning perspective, The Oxford Handbook is on par with both the best evolutionary texts, and the best relationship books.
So you kill two birds with one stone.

As with any evolutionary texts, expect some amoral deep dive into human nature and psychology.
BUT there is also plenty to be optimistic for, including what this quote represents:

Despite the often too prevalent perception of a war between the sexes in the social sciences (see special issue of Sex Roles, e.g., Vandermassen, 2011), to a large degree interdependent reproduction promotes cooperation rather than confict (Buss, 2017; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007)

5. The New Psychology of Leadership

By Alexander Haslam
Summary | Amazon

The New Psychology of Leadership is not “just” about the psychology of leadership.

It goes deep into social identities, group dynamics, and inter-group dynamics.

All the wisdom it shares is backed by hundreds of studies and research.
And that makes it great both for the average readers who are going to learn more than with any other leadership book, and for the academic who wants to dig deeper into the research.

Leadership that is grounded in shared identity will always win out over that which is grounded in ego.

4. The Dark Triad of Personality in Everyday Life

by Minna Lions
Summary | Amazon

You could probably find a better book on narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.

And to understand human psychology you need to understand the dark triad.

What earns The Dark Triad of Personality a spot on this list is that it combines all three, in one single book.

Plus, all backed by research.
What could you ask for more?
A good quote maybe. But handbooks aren’t famous for great quotes 😀. Here’s me trying:

The interpersonal damage caused by dark personalities could imply that individuals high on these traits are not “mad” (i.e. , mentally ill, needing some kind of interventions), but simply “bad”

3. The Social Animal

by Elliot Aronson
Summary | Print

The Social Animal is in between a book and a university textbook.

And I have rarely seen anything so densely packed with research-backed, eye-opening information on people and human psychology.

The Social Animal is the quickest way to gain an overview of decades of research on social psychology.

“People who do crazy things are not necessarily crazy.” 

2. The WEIRdest People In The World

by Joseph Henrich
Summary | Amazon

This book will transform how you view psychology while offering the best explanation of the past millennium of Western history and progress.

It beautifully connected the dots between individual psychology, social psychology, and cultural psychology.
And explains societal progress and innovation -or lack thereof- along the way.

That makes it a must-read not only for anyone interested in psychology but also for policymakers the all world over.

I’d also recommend it to anyone invested in humanity’s progress and well-being.
As one of those people, I found Henrich’s insights invaluable also for refining this website’s values and philosophy.

The result is that textbooks that now purport to be about “Psychology” or “Social Psychology” need to be retitled something like “The Cultural Psychology of Late 20th-Century Americans.”

1. Evolutionary Psychology

by David Buss
Summary 6th edition / 7th edition | Amazon

All books in this list are fundamental pieces of the human mind puzzle.

And no puzzle is complete without all the pieces.

But I agree with David Buss that evolutionary psychology is the meta-discipline that glues all the other branches of psychology together.
Or, at least, helps make sense of all the psychology branches.

Even positive psychologist Martin Seligman agrees when he says “natural selection reframes almost everything, and it has pervaded my thinking about psychology since (Seligman, 2018)”.

Take the popular fascination for “human biases“, for example.
In “How the Mind Works” Steven Pinker argues that humans aren’t as irrational as cognitive psychology might lead you to believe. You can understand how those ‘irrationalities’ made sense when you look at it through the lens of evolution.

Finally, evolutionary psychology, allows you to understand people across and beyond cultures, going at the shared roots that make everyone similar.

Only when you look at psychology through evolutionary psychology you can connect the dots.
I doubt anyone can fully understand dating, relationships, and human behavior without first understanding the basics of evolutionary psychology.

“We are built to be effective animals, not happy ones” 

Great Psychology Books

Outside the top list, but also insightful:

• I’m OK – You’re OK to understand interpersonal emotional dynamics and ‘judge power dynamics‘
• Machiavellianism – The Psychology of Manipulation for Machiavellianism, manipulation and political manipulation. The original work by Christie & Geis’ also superb
• Will I Ever Be Good Enough should be mandatory reading for mothers and children of narcissistic parents
• The Highly Sensitive Person: the Bible of high-sensitivity, helped me better understand myself
• I Hate You Don’t Leave Me: the best book on the psychology of BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder)
• Quiet: best book on introversion
• Emotional Vampires: the layman’s introduction to personality disorders, including their positive impact on society
• Eliminating Passive-Aggressiveness: to learn, deal, and cure your passive-aggressive tendencies
• Behave: an interdisciplinary overview of why we do what we do

Best For Psychology Students

These books are the best psychology books for psychology students and researchers, as well as professors and academics:

1. The Hope Circuit: With tips on how to get published, and strategies good academic careers. Read between the lines, and you’ll learn how Martin Seligman was so successful
2. Learned Optimism: A crash course on Academia’s power dynamics. Read between the lines, and you’ll see how the author’s ambition, and not just intellectual pursuits, also shaped his moves and choices
3. Misbehaving: The story of how psychology -and psychologists- fought their way into a different turf discipline: economics. And, of course, of how economists tried to fight psychologists off.
4. The Undoing Project: The ‘behind the scenes’ of how science advances.
   Plus, how psychologists sometimes fail to apply psychology in their lives. Ie.: Kahneman and Tversky won the Nobel and still couldn’t manage to keep their friendship.
   Maybe they should learn power dynamics as well :)

Best Applied Psychology Books

This list focuses on books that translate psychological theories and concepts into practical tools and actionable advice.

5. Red Flags

by Wendy Patrick
Summary | Audiobook

What could be more helpful than psychological insights on how to read people?

Especially how to read and avoid the toxic people that can ruin lives?

Wendy Patrick is one of the best authors for this task, with both scientific and first-hand experience.
And Red Flags stands as one of the best books I’ve read on how to read and recognize (bad) people.

“What do you want?” we sometimes joke when someone gives us a big compliment. Actually, that is a very good question. 

4. Learned Optimism

by Martin Seligman
Summary | Audiobook

Let me come clean first:

I’m not the biggest fan of Martin Seligman.
He strikes me as self-absorbed, narcissistic, conservative, and even blindly patriotic and militarist.
Not good for a scientist.

Now, let’s differentiate the man from the work.

And this entry can be one of the most life-changing books on this list.

In “Learned Optimism” you will pardon the cacophony, and learn how to be happier and more optimistic.
And, incidentally, also how to achieve more, enjoy better relationships, and, if you’re interested, how to be elected in office -no kidding, optimistic politicians clean it at the polls-.

“Learned Optimism” is one the first books in the field that has come to be known as “Positive Psychology“.
And, in the years, there has been a proliferation of “Positive Psychology” books.

But I still recommend “Learned Optimism” over all other Positive Psychology books I have read, including Seligman’s Own “Authentic Happiness” and “Flourish“.
“Learned Optimism” is deeper, scientifically accurate, and puts everything into perspective.

Albert Ellis’s books are equally good when it comes to self-development and becoming happier, more empowered people. But he is less about general psychology and more about drilling on specific techniques (REBT).

What we want is not blind optimism but flexible optimism—optimism with its eyes open.

3. Influence

By Robert Cialdini
Summary | Audiobook

The psychology of persuading and selling had never been systematically researched in the world of academic psychology.

Until Cialdini burst into the scene with “Influence” in 1984.

It was long overdue for psychology to get scientific into persuasion, influence, and manipulation.
And “Influence” became an instant classic -and deservedly so-.

Even today, 35 years later, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better book on influence and persuasion.

When we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason.
People simply like to have reasons for what they do

2. In Sheep’s Clothing

Summary | Audiobook

This is a big darling of The Power Moves.

Why?

Because it provides much backing for this website’s philosophy and mission.
George Simon says that people in power have a tendency to be more abusive, more insensitive to others and more dangerous than most people are.

And even if you refuse to believe that this book still has truckloads of wisdom to teach.
It delves deep into the psychology of manipulators and power-hungry individuals.

Finally, it’s a much-needed slap in the face to a really annoying tendency of some psychologists.
The tendency to look for the “deep reasons for abusive behavior”, which often seem dangerously close to turning victimizers into victims.

No, it’s not always about childhood trauma or deep insecurities. Sometimes an a**hole is just an a**hole.

Highly recommended.

Power by itself doesn’t have the ability to corrupt a person’s character. 
It’s the character flaws already present in people’s character that lead people to pursue power and abuse it once they have it.

1. Power University

By Lucio Buffalmano
Overview | Reviews

Power University is a one-of-a-kind course that transforms psychological insights into practical strategies for real-world success.

This program integrates psychological insights with a focus on mastering relationships, social influence, and achieving goals.

It’s all actionable advice designed to help you:

• Build genuine self-confidence
• Understand and read people effectively
• Navigate social dynamics to achieve goals
• Boost your social status and influence
• Develop attraction and relationship skills

With its comprehensive system, Power University goes beyond individual skills to offer a complete framework for thriving in life’s most important arenas. Whether you aim to improve relationships, excel professionally, or increase personal power, this course equips you with the tools to succeed.

This isn’t just learning—it’s transformation.

Change Log

Removed:

• Nudge: politics and political ideology more than psychology. And some question marks, including potentially misrepresented studies
• The Art of Seduction, formerly a representative of “dark psychology” connected to dating. But it’s too light on evidence to make the list, and we have Seduction University that better covers these topics
• Attached, formerly here as an overview on attachment styles. But The Oxford Handbook provides a better evolutionary-informed framework to understand attachment styles, including their connection with life-history strategies
• Mindset: Psychology of Success (11.08.2024), While it introduced the growth mindset concept, more comprehensive resources can provide a better overview, including the advantages of a fixed mindset with positive self-views.
• Thinking Fast and Slow (29.06.2025) is on most psychology books lists for good reason, but we removed it to avoid a “trees before forest” approach. The dual-process model wasn’t a new concept, and together with many cognitive “biases” make more sense when first seen through an evolutionary lens.

Added:

• The WEIRDest People in the World (28.12.2014)

Rank-changes:

• The WEIRDest People in the World moved to #2 as it helps you develop a foundational understanding of how cultures develop so you can ‘understand cultures cross-culturally’