Unexplained Mysteries of Everyday Human Behavior

Delving into enigmatic facets of everyday human life, the text probes puzzling behaviors—from contagious yawning and unexpected voting to curious expressions of affection, prejudice, and conflict. Supported by solid evidence, it challenges assumptions and unravels the intricacies of our shared nature.

In Unexplained Mysteries of Everyday Human Behavior, bestselling author, social science researcher, and noted psychologist Jeffrey Kottler helps readers to explore some of the most interesting aspects of the human experience that have yet to be fully explained, providing solid evidence to help settle controversial debates and provide working hypotheses for making sense of the mysteries that confound us.

The book begins by discussing what it is about mysteries that perplex and delight us, followed by a discussion of how and why humans are singularly unique among living creatures, as well as how we share more than we might admit with other species. Each chapter that follows explores the nature of a particular behavioral mystery that appears somewhat puzzling: Why do people vote in elections against their own best interests? Why do people close their eyes when they kiss? Why is yawning contagious? Why is racism, prejudice, and oppression so common among all cultures, and why is our species so prone to violence, conflict, and war?

In response to each question, the text explores the functions and meaning of these behaviors, reviews some of the most popular theories, and then settles on some tentative conclusions. The final chapter wraps things up by embracing mystery, uncertainty, confusion, and not-knowing as the default position for most of what we think we understand.