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Aug 4
1h 10m

Why You Say Yes When You Shouldn't — And...

10% Happier
About this episode

A conversation with a Cornell professor who is attempting to rebrand the concept of defiance.

Dr. Sunita Sah started her career as a physician but then switched over to organizational psychology. At Cornell, she conducts research on influence, authority, compliance, and defiance. She is the author of Defy: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes.

In this episode we talk about:

  • How Dr. Sah defines defiance 
  • The costs of compliance 
  • The five stages of defiance
  • How to make defiance a practice
  • The upside of tension 
  • The importance of knowing your values — how to articulate them, and how this relates to our biology, specifically our hormones 
  • The gender components of defiance 

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