What market forces give rise to parenting books that appeal to a parent’s fears and inadequacies ....?

[Fanaticalson673]

What market forces give rise to parenting books that appeal to a parent’s fears and inadequacies rather than books which present an objective and evenhanded articulation of the state-of-the-science of good parenting?

[Tim]

I believe that is also a question that can be asked of social media in general.

But I digress.

I think there are two major reasons. The first is that more edgy things just sell better, because they can catch people's attention when they are on the shelf at a book store.

The second reason is that people do not like theories that are too long, or complicated. They like bite sized pieces. However, with a majority of the issues you face in child rearing, they are never really bite sized.