10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People

by David Yeager

Acclaimed developmental psychologist David Yeager reveals the new science of motivating young people in this groundbreaking book. It is a must-read for parents, educators and mentors.
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‘Required reading for anyone who aspires to be a wise influence on the young people they care about.’ Angela Duckworth

‘One of the most fascinating and important books of the past decade . . . It will change millions of lives.’ Carol Dweck

‘This book is life-changing . . . a must-read for anyone who works with young people.’
Laurie Santos, Professor of Psychology at Yale University and host of The Happiness Lab podcast
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In 10 to 25, David Yeager explains the emerging science of adolescent and young adult brains to reveal how we can engage, teach and support the young people in our lives. Neuroscientists have discovered that around age ten, changes in the brain spur young people to crave socially rewarding experiences, such as pride, admiration, and respect, and to become highly averse to social pain. This sensitivity to status and respect continues into the mid-twenties. 10 to 25 helps adults to use this science to learn how to encourage young people and avoid frustrating patterns of miscommunication and conflict.

Yeager explains how to adopt the mentor mindset – a leadership style that’s attuned to young people’s need for status and respect – by following a few highly effective and easy-to-learn practices. These include validating young people’s perspectives (rather than dismissing them), asking them questions (rather than telling them what to do), and holding them to high standards (rather than coddling them). Yeager’s scientific experiments have shown these practices reduce a wide variety of behaviour problems, including mental health issues, unhealthy eating, stress and purposelessness.

Young people in this age group are poised to learn, grow, and accomplish incredible things – if only we can tap into the basic neurobiological systems that drive their motivation and behaviour. 10 to 25 offers long-term strategies to help nurture well-adjusted, independent, accomplished young adults, and is necessary reading for all parents, educators and mentors.

446 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 8, 2024

Reviews

[Lovebell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for all parents and anyone who work with young people. In fact, many of the lessons are applicable to working with adults too so anyone who has to lead or mentor others, regardless of age, ought to read this book.

Some of the teachings will be familiar but the book does provide useful structures - and it comes with exercises for each of the chapters (I didn’t know this before I started on it so I’ll probably circle back to the exercises later) to help you grasp and internalise the ideas more.

Pick it up to read it - it may just help you to see what you are doing wrong all this while and how you can do over and start to get others to do what you want them to do.

[Tim Schwamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic read about understanding teens and young adults, how we interact with them, and what motivates them. I would consider it a must-read for anyone with kids, anyone working with kids/teens, or anyone working with young adults — so basically most people. It can be a little clinical at times, but it’s not bad, and the evidence provided gives much weight to his conclusions, which might surprise you. Additionally, the stories and examples given help putting the ideas presented into practice much easier. There is much to digest here. I know I missed a fair amount. You could read this book several times and continue getting more and more out of it each time.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super practical | Took lots of screenshots of charts | Will reference often

[Mikaela Sibley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. Great insight into the mind of young people and very helpful for anyone who serves as a mentor in any way. Lots of good examples.