The best psychology books, according to hackers
9 psychology books were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one. None of them earns the Hacker Approved badge yet.
All 9 psychology books, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tied 1 | The Courage to Be Dislikedby Ichirō Kishimi and Fumitake Koga | 7 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | — |
| Tied 1 | Influenceby Robert B. Cialdini | 7 | 1 | 88% | 5 | — | — |
| 3 | The Inner Game of Tennisby W. Timothy Gallwey | 4 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 4 | The Happiness Hypothesisby Jonathan Haidt | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 4 | Stumbling on Happinessby Daniel T. Gilbert | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 4 | The Authoritariansby Bob Altemeyer and John W. Dean | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 4 | Don't Shoot the Dog! The New Art of Teaching and Trainingby Karen Pryor | 3 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 8 | Aionby Carl Gustav Jung and Gerhard Adler and R. F.C. Hull | 2 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 8 | Games People Playby Eric Berne | 2 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same psychology book in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to psychology books that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.