{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Book","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/","name":"Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions","shortTitle":"Predictably Irrational","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Ariely"},"isbn":"9780061353246","numberOfPages":13,"wordCount":5686,"timeRequired":"PT22.5M","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","publisher":{"@id":"https://readstacks.com/#organization","@type":"Organization","name":"Read Stacks"},"workExample":[{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-1-the-truth-about-relativity/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-1-the-truth-about-relativity/","name":"The Truth About Relativity","position":1,"wordCount":446,"timeRequired":"PT2M","abstract":"Ariely opens with the observation that human valuations are not absolute. They are relative — formed by comparison to whatever reference points happen to be available at the moment of decision. The chapter's anchor experiment is the famous Economist subscription pricing case.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-2-the-fallacy-of-supply-and-demand/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-2-the-fallacy-of-supply-and-demand/","name":"The Fallacy of Supply and Demand","position":2,"wordCount":407,"timeRequired":"PT1.5M","abstract":"Standard economics assumes that prices reflect the underlying value of goods, determined by supply and demand in a market. Ariely's chapter argues that price is far more arbitrary than this picture suggests. Prices are anchored — set by reference points that often have nothing to…","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-3-the-cost-of-zero-cost/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-3-the-cost-of-zero-cost/","name":"The Cost of Zero Cost","position":3,"wordCount":423,"timeRequired":"PT1.5M","abstract":"The chapter examines the asymmetric power of the word free. Reducing a price from $1 to $0.10 changes behavior modestly; reducing it further from $0.10 to $0 changes behavior dramatically. The shift across the zero boundary is not the same kind of price change as any other.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-4-the-cost-of-social-norms/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-4-the-cost-of-social-norms/","name":"The Cost of Social Norms","position":4,"wordCount":440,"timeRequired":"PT2M","abstract":"Humans operate in two distinct economic modes. Market norms are about money, contracts, and explicit exchange. Social norms are about relationships, favors, and unspoken reciprocity. The chapter's central argument is that mixing the two is destructive — once money enters a social transaction, the social mode is hard to recover.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-5-the-influence-of-arousal/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-5-the-influence-of-arousal/","name":"The Influence of Arousal","position":5,"wordCount":433,"timeRequired":"PT1.5M","abstract":"The chapter examines a finding that most people resist: their values, preferences, and decision rules shift substantially under emotional or sexual arousal. The shift is large enough that decisions made when calm cannot be relied upon to predict decisions made when aroused.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-6-procrastination-and-self-control/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-6-procrastination-and-self-control/","name":"The Problem of Procrastination and Self-Control","position":6,"wordCount":414,"timeRequired":"PT1.5M","abstract":"The chapter examines why people who genuinely want to do beneficial things in the future routinely fail to do them when the future arrives. Ariely's argument is that procrastination is not a willpower failure but a structural feature of how humans discount future rewards relative to immediate costs.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-7-the-high-price-of-ownership/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-7-the-high-price-of-ownership/","name":"The High Price of Ownership","position":7,"wordCount":474,"timeRequired":"PT2M","abstract":"The endowment effect — the documented tendency for people to value things they own at substantially more than identical things they do not own — is the chapter's subject. The effect is consistent, well-replicated, and contradicts the rational-agent assumption that the value of an item…","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-8-keeping-doors-open/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-8-keeping-doors-open/","name":"Keeping Doors Open","position":8,"wordCount":461,"timeRequired":"PT2M","abstract":"Humans display a consistent reluctance to close options, even when the closed option is clearly inferior and keeping it open is costly. The chapter's argument is that optionality has a psychological pull beyond its rational value, and the pull leads to chronic overinvestment in maintaining…","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-9-the-effect-of-expectations/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-9-the-effect-of-expectations/","name":"The Effect of Expectations","position":9,"wordCount":423,"timeRequired":"PT1.5M","abstract":"Expectations shape experience to a degree that the rational-agent model does not predict. The chapter argues that what you expect to experience often becomes what you do experience, even when the underlying stimulus is identical to one labeled differently.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-10-the-power-of-price/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-10-the-power-of-price/","name":"The Power of Price","position":10,"wordCount":427,"timeRequired":"PT1.5M","abstract":"Price is widely understood as a measure of value. The chapter argues that price is also a determinant of value — paying more for something makes the buyer experience it as better, independent of whether it actually is.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-11-context-of-character-part-one/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-11-context-of-character-part-one/","name":"The Context of Our Character, Part I","position":11,"wordCount":429,"timeRequired":"PT1.5M","abstract":"The chapter examines small-stakes dishonesty — the kind of cheating most people do casually without considering themselves dishonest. Ariely's research, conducted across cultures and demographics, suggests that almost everyone cheats a little, and the amount they cheat is predictably shaped by environmental cues rather than…","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-12-context-of-character-part-two/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-12-context-of-character-part-two/","name":"The Context of Our Character, Part II","position":12,"wordCount":428,"timeRequired":"PT1.5M","abstract":"The follow-up chapter extends the small-stakes cheating findings to one specific dimension: distance from cash. Ariely's experiments show that cheating with one step of indirection between the cheater and the money is dramatically higher than cheating directly with money.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-13-beer-and-free-lunches/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/predictably-irrational-dan-ariely/chapter-13-beer-and-free-lunches/","name":"Beer and Free Lunches","position":13,"wordCount":481,"timeRequired":"PT2M","abstract":"The book closes with a chapter on social conformity and how the order in which choices are revealed shapes what gets chosen. The lab experiment had groups of friends order drinks at a bar in two conditions: one group ordered openly in sequence (each person…","datePublished":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T21:00:00Z"}]}