Customer Reviews

Please Understand Me II: Temperment, Character, Intelligence

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

it can be used to stereotype as well as to understand.

As an NT, I am particularly irritated by this because I am not happy in the hard sciences, which I tried and found I did not like. According to this theory, I "should" thrive there, but I'm not interested. I'm tired of NT's being described as though we all were engineers, scientists, or "techies."

And that's just the example of nonapplication of the theory I'm familiar with from my own life.

I found that in this book, lip service is given to individual differences, but actually each type is portrayed in relatively simplistic, cookie-cutter fashion. People are more complicated than this and there are many traits that are not adequately explained by this theory. Compassion is one, and a sense of humor is another.

This book is interesting in that it explains quite a bit about people, but it can be abused. I found it did not adequately account for factors such as recall bias, in which people can recollect events from their past very differently depending on how they understand their lives today.

The strengths of this approach are that it gives permission for people to differ, and it describes people with enough detail so that readers can see themselves reflected here and get to know themselves well enough to understand why they do what they do.

But as with all psychological theories of human behavior, it oversimplifies as much as it illuminates and if any other reader finds, as I have done, that he or she bases behavior on what "should" be done because he "is" a certain type, the theory has been taken too far in my opinion.

I first took the temperament test in college and found I was INTJ, which is supposedly a rare occurence. While it was interesting to have an explanation and some quantitative data on how I function the way I do, it was not practical knowledge. I took the test again this year and am still in that marginal INTJ group. I find it really interesting that these researchers fall into the pitfall of speculating on temperaments of people dead before the first edition of this book came out, such as Ayn Rand. For something so meticulously researched and designed to suddenly jump into the realm of speculation and bad science makes me question the aim of this book and put it back on the shelf. I question the validity of the temperament compatibilities (which reads suspiciously like astrology), as well as the attempt by the authors to place temperaments into career pathways and interests. Some people may find this all very elucidating and helpful, but not many, and I can only see this book being important to clinical psychologists trying to help patients figure out who the heck they are and how.

Wow. Where does one even begin with this masterpiece? To say that this is a good book is a real understatement. It is a virtually perfect diamond in the rough. Properly accepted and applied, it just may do to psychology what The Origin of Species did to biology and what The Wealth of Nations did to economics.

Legions of books have been written about the fundamental function of human minds. So why this one, you ask? Because it is dead-on and has something for everyone. Keirsey combines the cutting-edge research of Myers and Briggs with the time-tested philosophy that people's personality falls into one of four basic groups: the Guardians, the Artisans, the Idealists, and the Rationals. He then goes on to describe the basic worldviews of the four temperaments. They are astonishingly accurate. You will often experiences sheer exhilaration when you let this book show you who you really are. The feeling of having words given to aspects of your personality that you already knew but could not tangibly state, is indescribable. But this is only the beginning. You will find the answers to an incredible array of life's dilemmas compacted in this marvel of literature:

--So many personality differences and stereotypes between men and women are summarized in one page of this one book, in the form of the Thinking/Feeling preference.
--Extending on this thought, gone are the ways of attempting to stereotype people based on race, religion, or sex. Now we have the tools to type people according to who they really are. This book is applicable in any culture and any time.
--Many other mysteries of life will be answered. For example, why does your boss seem so insistent on being the BOSS as opposed to simply hearing out a logical point-of-view? (Hint: Guardians and Rationals are opposites.) Or why, those of you who believe that the spirit is good and the flesh is evil, do so many people sell out to fleshy desires? (Hint: Artisans and Idealists are opposites.) Or why do some of your subordinates at work demand an answer for every single explanation you make and act downright anti-establishment in the process? (See hint #1.)
--The chapter on childhood and parenting alone is worth the price of the entire book. So much family dysfunctionality would be healed if parents would understand its principles.
--Finally, we have a guide to choosing a mate that works! This section is also, by itself, worth the entire price of the book.

The lone weakness of this book is that Keirsey, a Rational, allowed substantial personal bias into his work. This partiality is especially notable in the section on mating, where he goes to great lengths to defend the weaknesses of a Rational's style of romance. The irony is that Rationals are, according to Keirsey, the most impartial and the most self-critical of the styles. Why he failed to apply himself here is unclear.

Simply put, this glitch reduces the book from six stars to five. Take the bias tongue-in-cheek and buy this book. Now. And make its message a staple of your life. Hint: it is so powerful that you probably won't have to try. It will set in on its own and give you freedom in dealing with people as you have probably never had before.

The major difference between the original and version II is that the author and his followers have turned the subject matter into a kind of religion in version II. Like all religions, it needs to have many layers and become more mysterious and require interpretation from its clergy. Feh. The first book was clear and to the point. This new and improved version is needlessly complex and bulky. Mr. Kiersey, next time, just change the color of the cover and use bigger type font if you need more pages. I rate the original with 4.5 stars...this version gets a 2.

I have loved reading this book. I was stuck home for while and found an old battered copy of the first 'Please Understand me" - I was hooked. It is filled with nuggets of insight and has changed how I perceive the behavior of others. It has been great to be able to rethink people's behavior that bothered/upset/hurt me as operating with a different set of priorities and tendencies. It has also helped me manage how I relate to different people, minimizing some tensions (at least on my part).

I am encouraging everyone to buy the book.

This sequel deals mainly how the 16 different Myers Brigg psychological types behave and perform at work. It shows natural inclination and aptitudes associated with each type.

If the first book (Please Understand Me) made for an excellent shrink in your pocket, this sequel makes for a first class career counselor in your pocket.

The tests within each books are excellent and most revealing of your own personality and aptitude. The Myers Brigg foundation underlying these books is excellent. I think it is far more accurate than many other alternative psychological classification systems such as the Enneagram and others.

I loved Keirsey's earlier Please Understand Me, although ...e.g., he said INFPs lie about their experiences.

So I was relieved to see that his Please Understand Me II was considerably mellowed out toward these types.

And I really appreciated his abandonment of the Greek mythological overlay on the data (calling types Dionesian, etc.)

However, the spiritual dimension of human character, temperament and intelligence is STILL MISSING. And now that Keirsey's work is so much more profound and clear, the oversight is all the more distressing.

Keirsey, although now allowing for an ESP dimension, does not allow for a moral spiritual sense involving choice, so--for example-- he over and over asserts that all SPs are HEDONISTS, and that is that.

If there were no spiritually-developed SPs, I could understand that he hadn't experienced any, so how could he write of them.

But I know MANY, and in fact SPs are one of the types most open to spiritual development, because THEY LISTEN TO THEIR HEARTS.

And--as far as sales go--believe me, EVOLVED SPs will NOT want to share this book with anyone!

Yet, to Keirsey, SPs are just sex machines looking for the next gratification. Maybe he is fixed on this aspect of SPs because he is fascinated by the animalistic SPs, as different from his typs as they are from moral SPs? I don't know.

Whatever its cause, the lack of consideration of the effect of moral choice on human character, intelligence, and temperament makes this work a grave disappointment to those who had hoped that time would have led Keirsey to a greater understanding of the types than just the material, psychological, and emotional.

And, for morally-developed people, it degrades this book into a humiliating list of character assassinations. slanders, libels, and defamations of character.

The next edition of this otherwise-helpful book would benefit from Keirsey (or one of his associates) adding a section on The Types When Spiritually Developed, or some such heading.

David Keirsey's original Please Understand Me was probably the culprit which built up the high expectation I had had for Please Understand Me II. While I find the original book extremely enlightening, the "sequel" is unfortunately disappointing. I can only attribute the deterioration in quality to Keirsey's focusing on two traits out of the original four from Myers-Briggs in an attempt to explain categorical temperaments. Unfortunately, in my opinion, this approach strips the MBTI of its relatively versatile coverage of the elements that constitute personhood and robs the four fundamental temperaments as portrayed by Keirsay of dimension. Having said that, it is still an interesting book to read but I cannot help questioning its practical value.

This book takes a more in-depth look on MBTI. There are easier reads out there on this subject, such as TypeTalk by Otto Kroeger, so definitely read that one first before diving into this one. PUM I and II are more technical in language and abstract in concept and will bore you to death if you are not already familiar with this subject. And for the same reason, don't try to read these books from cover to cover either.

This book covers almost everything that can be found in PUM I. New concepts in PUM II include learning style, social roles, and much more. Also included in PUM II is his overhauled model on ideal mating types. Keirsey now recommends that people with abstract preference should pair up with other abstract types and concretes with other concretes, rather than cross-type pairing. I personally find this model a lot more agreeable.

Furthermore, I think in both editions, Keirsey likes to guess the types of (to me anyway) unfamiliar celebrities and fictional characters, which adds a cheesy touch to an otherwise professional book. But that's pretty minor.

Overall, PUM II is a must have if you wish to gain an in-depth knowledge on MBTI. And you probably don't need PUM I if you are getting this one as mentioned above.

This is a great book. It is written in easy-to-understand language. It not only will help you to get an understanding of how you work, but also provide insight as to how you interact with friend(s),lover(s), family member(s), colleague(s), and other associates. The concepts in this book can help you to recognize problem areas where your personality TYPE might be in conflict with those you associate with. By becoming aware of yourself as well as the personality Types of those you associate with, you will be able to avoid many conflicts, and recognize them if/when they do occur. The concepts here can help you to recognize the inherent differences in personalities in order to help you communicate better with those who don't see things quite the same. You will also gain an understanding of why people may react better depending on how you communicate with them. As an ESTJ myself - I can tell you that the value of this book is well worth it's cost.