Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence

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  I know this is going to sound cliche, but this book literally changed my life as well as the way I perceive myself and others. This is a very difficult book to review because the material is so complex and it's hard to break down to someone who doesn't know a lot about psychological personality types.

  Psychologist David Keirsey breaks down personalities into four temperaments, not unlike (but different from) the ancient temperaments of sanguine, melancholic, choleric, and phlegmatic. Keirs... (show more)

  I know this is going to sound cliche, but this book literally changed my life as well as the way I perceive myself and others. This is a very difficult book to review because the material is so complex and it's hard to break down to someone who doesn't know a lot about psychological personality types.

  Psychologist David Keirsey breaks down personalities into four temperaments, not unlike (but different from) the ancient temperaments of sanguine, melancholic, choleric, and phlegmatic. Keirsey identifies the four temperaments as the Guardians (~45% of the population), Artisans (~35% of the population), Idealists (~10% of the population), and Rationals (~10% of the population). People in each of these four temperaments have very different needs, values, learning styles, and natural talents.

  For each temperament Keirsey associates four personality types for a total of sixteen personality types. Many may recognize these personality types from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, of which Keirsey's work is a derivative (Myers-Briggs is ultimately based on Carl Jung's work). While the sixteen personality types are interesting in and of themselves, they cannot be fully understood without understanding the four temperaments, which is what I view as the real meat of the book.

  Each of these sixteen types is the "foundation" of one's personality which everything else is built upon. This would include our experiences in life which makes everybody different, however two people of the same personality type will have certain core characteristics in common. These core characteristics are what the book focuses on. He identifies sixteen types based on four functions of personality he examines, each with its own dichotomy: Introversion/Extroversion (how we get our energy), Intuitive/Sensing (how we gather information), Thinking/Feeling (how we make decisions), and Perceiving/Judging (our outlook on the world).

  Okay, if I've thoroughly confused you...

  This book is a sort of "cheat code" to understanding others and ourselves. With knowing just a little bit about someone you can use this book to learn a lot about how that person's mind works. It gives keen insight into why it's easier to form close friendships and relationships with some people rather than others. Reading a section of the book with specific people in mind can give a deeper understanding of why certain people do or prefer things a certain way, such as why some people have trouble focusing on details while it comes easier to others. Or why some people enjoy meeting and being around people while others are content to stay home and read a book.

  I found it useful to treat it as a reference book and skip around a lot rather than read straight through. This is not really a self help book and those who are uncomfortable with theory may not enjoy it.

  One section I really enjoyed and I think others will enjoy as well is the chapter on parent-child and spousal relationships. It goes into detail about what one can expect in these sort of relationships with different temperament combinations and I found it to be startlingly similar to my own experience.

  The one disappointment with this book is with the personality test itself. It doesn't seem to give consistently accurate results, as I've discovered many people don't know how to take the test and don't understand what a lot of the questions are really asking. I've had much more success with simply trying to figure out someone's type and then asking that person to read the description to confirm or deny it.

  I cannot recommend this book highly enough. (show less)

   

   

  by David DeMar on Aug 02, 2009 at 10:29PM

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  when i happened upon the MBTI a while ago, i was fascinated by how well my temperament and type described me. i devoured everything i could on the subject, including PUM II, which is easily the most thorough and accessible guide to temperament i've come across so far. despite this reality, it gets five out of five not so much for content but for the impact it's had on the way i see myself and the way i see other people.

  as a person who, in caring deeply for other people, often tries to &q... (show more)

  when i happened upon the MBTI a while ago, i was fascinated by how well my temperament and type described me. i devoured everything i could on the subject, including PUM II, which is easily the most thorough and accessible guide to temperament i've come across so far. despite this reality, it gets five out of five not so much for content but for the impact it's had on the way i see myself and the way i see other people.

  as a person who, in caring deeply for other people, often tries to "fix" them in the process, and also as someone who feels different [and sometimes alienated] from other people, this book explained more than i would've thought possible about the behavior patterns that systematically create discord and unhappiness. if you are really willing to, as kiersey puts it, "abandon the pygmalion project," there's a lot to be learned here about the way other people function, the strengths and weaknesses of each temperament, and how to function in concert with others. i found the sections on relationships and parenting particularly interesting.

  it sounds like such an informercial testimonial, but it's true - or at least it was for me. i'm an NF though, so i like this sort of thing and it's possible that predisposition colors my perception of how great it is. some people will find it useless; others will find ti restricting - the challenge put to us all by this book is to be okay with that, and to find our best way forward in spite of it.

  [just a side note: if you're wondering about the predecessor to this book, this is not a sequel so much as an overhaul and expansion of the first volume, which frankly kind of sucks - it's incredibly dated, and kiersey's research in the intervening years actually contradicts a lot of what he wrote in the PUM I. don't bother with it.] (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook-användare on Aug 23, 2009 at 07:32PM

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