INTERVIEW: Selfless with Brian Lowery

Issue 71: Brian Lowery shares his thought processes when writing his new book, SELFLESS: The Social Creation of You

This week, we feature Brian Lowery, a social psychologist and Stanford professor whose new book, Selfless: The Social Creation of You presents a provocative, powerful theory of identity, arguing that there is no essential "self"—our selves are social creations of those with whom we interact —exploring what that means for who we can be and who we allow others to be.

Jay actually spoke to Brian about his book when we were also in the early stages of writing our own book. We were having a drink together at a tenure party in New York and got talking about our book proposals. It was striking how similar our core ideas were—with a focus on the social construction of identity! So it is exciting to see Brian’s book hit the shelves.

Brian has long been a leader in research on group dynamics and intergroup bias. His current research investigates individuals’ experiences of inequality and fairness — how people perceive inequality and the steps they take, if any, to reduce it. His work sheds light …