A classic. The book to read if you want to really learn more about personality types.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2322 in Books
• Published on: 1998-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 350 pages

From the Back Cover
Phenomenon: Keirsey and Bates's Please Understand Me, first published in 1978, sold nearly 2 million copies in its first 20 years, becoming a perennial best seller all over the world. Advertised only by word of mouth, the book became a favorite training and counseling guide in many institutions -- government, church, business -- and colleges across the nation adopted it as an auxiliary text in a dozen different departments. Why? Perhaps it was the user-friendly way that Please Understand Me helped people find their personality style. Perhaps it was the simple accuracy of Keirsey's portraits of temperament and character types. Or perhaps it was the book's essential message: that members of families and institutions are OK, even though they are fundamentally different from each other, and that they would all do well to appreciate their differences and give up trying to change others into copies of themselves.

Now: Please Understand Me II

For the past twenty years Keirsey has continued to investigate personality differences -- to refine his theory of the four temperaments and to define the facets of character that distinguish one from another. His findings form the basis of Please Understand Me II, an updated and greatly expanded edition of the book, far more comprehensive and coherent than the original, and yet with much of the same easy accessibility. One major addition is Keirsey's view of how the temperaments differ in the intelligent roles they are most likely to develop. Each of us, he says, has four kinds of intelligence -- tactical, logistical, diplomatic, strategic -- though one of the four interests us far more than the others, and thus gets far more practice than the rest. Like four suits in a hand of cards, we each have a long suit and a short suit in what interests us and what we do well, and fortunate indeed are those whose work matches their skills. As in the original book, Please Understand Me II begins with The Keirsey Temperament Sorter, the most used personality inventory in the world. But also included is The Keirsey Four-Types Sorter, a new short questionnaire that identifies one's basic temperament and then ranks one's second, third, and fourth choices. Share this new sorter with friends and family, and get set for a lively and fascinating discussion of personal styles.

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Customer Reviews

excellent follow-on once you've mastered MBTI basics
I have owned this book for some time and had made three or four attempts to read it without success. It was not until after I had brushed up on Myers-Briggs (MBTI) basics and felt like I had a clear understanding of the sixteen MBTI types that I was able to read through, learn from, and thoroughly enjoy this text. Once I gained a basic mastery of MBTI, Kiersey's grouping and analysis of temperaments became much more accessible and meaningful.

I always thought that the differences between Introverts and Extroverts were most profound and defining, and I had difficulty distinguishing between Ns and S's. After coming to understand the N/S distinction a little better (still plenty more to learn -- I don't claim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination), I learned that the most significant source of difficulty in communications is between Intuitive Ns and Sensing S's -- which explains why Ns are grouped together and why S's are grouped together in the temperaments.

Kiersey groups persons into four different temparements -- SP Artisans (playmates, liberators), SJ Guardians (helpers, socializers), NT Rationals (mindmates, individuators), and NF Idealists (soulmates, harmonizers). SP Artisans include ESTP Promoters, ISTP Crafters, ESFP Performers, and ISFP Composers. SJ Guardians include ESTJ Supervisors, ISTJ Inspectors, ESFJ Providers, and ISFJ Protectors. NF Idealists include ENFJ Teachers, INFJ Counselors, ENFP Champions, and INFP Healers. Rationals include ENTJ Field Marshalls, INTJ Masterminds, ENTP Inventors, and INTP Architects.

Kiersey discusses each of the temperaments at length and provides specific information on each of the four MBTI types found in each temparement. The text also discusses how the temparements impact mating, parenting, and leadership styles. The book is chock-full of real-world examples and references to famous personalities. Particularly interesting is the discussion of how each of the temperaments interact with the other temperaments in parenting and social relationships. Kiersey explains why Ns are most successful partnering with other Ns, while SJs and SPs can make a good team. Very interesting.

This book is desnsely-packed with information. I think it would be difficult for anyone without a solid fundamental understanding of MBTI. I would not recommend it as a starting point for MBTI study, but it is an excellent next step for anyone who has conquered the basics and wants to learn more.

Excellent book, very practical for the business professional
I teach organizational behavior classes where we review Myers Briggs and DISC assessments. This book covers Myers Briggs individual types in a straight forward and easy to digest format. It's review of 4 groups of personalities, the Guardians (SJ), Artisans (SP), Rationals (NT), and Idealists (NF), will help on both a professional and personal level. He defines their many traits of temperament and character, including their roles where they perform best in.

For those who enjoy the personal analysis too, he actually covers relationships from dating to parenting too.

Flawed
This book is based on the MBTI system and please understand that this system has serious flaws. The only effective system to personality typing is used by Rod Novichkov in his book How to Find Yourself and Your Best Match Socionics. Eventhough the book sounds like a matchmaking book it is infact written with the purpose of explaining the different personality types and goes further to explain morphology and intertype relationships between people. Read Socionics and inspire your professors to look at this type theory before you seek answers from MBTI; you will be impressed.