Irresistible

Alter's core claim is that addiction has expanded beyond drugs and alcohol into behavior itself: our relationship with phones, games, social feeds, and even email increasingly resembles textbook addiction, complete with cravings, withdrawal, and loss of control. This isn't an accident of weak individual willpower — it's the predictable output of products deliberately engineered, using proven behavioral-psychology techniques, to maximize the time and attention users hand over.

Why it matters: unlike drug addiction, behavioral addiction hides in plain sight inside products marketed as harmless or even beneficial — games, apps, social platforms — used by children and adults alike, with far less regulation or social awareness than substances receive. Alter argues that understanding the specific design mechanics at work is the first step toward resisting them, both personally and as a society deciding how these products should be built and governed.

Who should read it

Parents worried about their kids' screen time, anyone who has felt an app pull them back against their own intentions, and product designers or executives who want to understand — or reconsider — the psychological levers their industry pulls. It's also valuable for anyone skeptical that "addiction" applies to something as ordinary as checking a phone.

About the author

Adam Alter is a professor of marketing and psychology at New York University's Stern School of Business, where his research focuses on judgment, decision-making, and behavioral addiction. Irresistible was a New York Times bestseller.