The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias

An inspiring and accessible guide from an award-winning social psychologist on how to confront difficult issues, including sexism, racism, inequality, and injustice, so that you can make the world (and yourself) better

Many of us believe in equality, diversity, and inclusion. But how do we stand up for those values in our turbulent world? The Person You Mean to Be is the smart, “semi-bold” person’s guide to fighting for what you believe in.

Dolly Chugh, a social psychologist and professor at the New York University Stern School of Business, reveals the surprising causes of inequality, grounded in the “psychology of good people.” Using her research findings in unconscious bias as well as work across psychology, sociology, economics, political science, and other disciplines, she offers practical tools to respectfully and effectively talk politics with family, to be a better colleague to people who don’t look like you, and to avoid being a well-intentioned barrier to equality. Becoming the person we mean to be starts with a look at ourselves.

She argues that the only way to be on the right side of history is to be a good-ish — rather than good — person. Good-ish people are always growing. Her science-based approach is a method that any of us can put to use in all parts of our life.

Whether you are a longtime activist or new to the fight, you can start from where you are. We are guided, through the compelling stories Dolly shares and the surprising science she reports, to being the person we mean to be.