Tina Rosenberg

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author of Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World

The Power of Positive Peer Pressure to Change the World

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Pulitzer Prize-winner Tina Rosenberg believes that peer pressure--so often viewed as a negative force--may hold the "social cure" to many of the world's most intractable problems. This counterintuitive position is the central tenet of her latest book, Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World. In the New York Times Book Review, Jeffrey Sachs wrote, "At a time when America is grappling with a decline in trust, and when cooperation across nations and cultures is extremely difficult, Rosenberg's book is timely, thoughtful and important." In the book, Rosenberg shows us the enormous potential that peer pressure holds for helping to enact social change, improve education, oust dictators, curb smoking--the list is nearly endless.

Tina Rosenberg has received a MacArthur Fellowship and is the author of two previous books: Children of Cain, about Latin America, and The Haunted Land, about post-Communist Eastern Europe, which was awarded both The Pulitzer Prize and The National Book Award. She writes "Fixes", an online column on solutions to social problems, at the New York Times. Commenting on why she started writing about peer pressure, Rosenberg says, "Problems were in endless supply. But it was starting to seem more interesting and valuable to write about solutions--to find the places where these problems were being solved." Her speeches challenge audiences to question their ingrained perceptions that peer pressure--the intense influence of a group you wish to belong to--can only lead to negative outcomes. She offers, instead, a bright new way of changing the world for the better through carefully applied peer pressure--call it "The Social Cure."

Tina Rosenberg Speech Topics

The Power of Positive Peer Pressure to Change the World

We are used to thinking of peer pressure as entirely negative, something that gets us in to trouble, whether we are kids tempted by forbidden behaviors or adults looking with envy at the neighbor's car. But something powerful enough to draw us into bad behavior is also powerful enough to help us do right. Peer pressure, Tina Rosenberg argues, is a powerful force that can be used for good. In fact, it can be the most effective antidote to many of the ills that we and our children suffer. In this customizable talk, Rosenberg shows us the effects of applying positive peer pressure--"The Social Cure"--to several areas. After discussing a variety of real world examples that highlight the power of social interaction and community building, Rosenberg closes her talk with specific steps you can use to harness this effective force to accomplish your own behavioral goal.

Peer Pressure: The Secret Weapon for Saving Americans' Health

Health in America is becoming a self-inflicted catastrophe. Poor patient adherence--failure to take prescribed medicine and to do things like quit smoking, exercise and eat healthy foods--causes an overwhelming amount of disease in America. When health systems pay attention to the issue of adherence at all, it is usually with ineffective measures. In this eye-opening talk, Tina Rosenberg looks at the powerful ways that peer pressure has been proven to solve this problem. Offering a way to cut health care costs and help Americans to live more healthfully, this is a must-see talk, unlike any other health-related keynote today.

The Calculus Club: Riding the Power of Peers to Academic Success

Minority students often do poorly in college calculus--even well-prepared students who may have already done well in calculus in high school. This matters because calculus is the gateway to any career in the sciences, engineering, or math. In this education-focused talk, Tina Rosenberg describes a revolutionary program using peers--students work together and teach each other--that has allowed black and Latino students to excel in calculus, outperforming their white and Asian counterparts at dozens of universities across the country. The solution can be adapted to learning at all levels and will appeal to anyone interested in increasing academic achievement, especially minority achievement. A timely talk for anyone involved in our country's education system.

BOOKS

Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World

The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism

Children of Cain: Violence and the Violent in Latin America

ARTICLES

Can Social Networking Cure Social Ills? - The New York Times Sunday Book Review

Everyone Speaks Text Message - The New York Times

All Speakers > Tina Rosenberg

SUSAN CAIN at TED 2012

"When it comes to creativity and to leadership," Susan Cain said at TED 2012, "we need introverts doing what they do best." Her talk received a standing ovation. Cain's instant bestseller, Quiet, is a manifesto for the one-third to one-half of the population who are introverts—and who have been told, all their life, that their natural personality is flawed, that behaving like an extrovert is the only path to success. Most of our institutions, from schools to workplaces, are heavily biased toward extroverts. A self-identified introvert, Cain is working to change this and to radically transform the way we develop leaders, manage teams, make smart hires, and stimulate innovation.