Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type

Obviously, Gifts Differing is the original and authoritative work on the Myres-Briggs Personality Type theory. The original works are not always easy to read or very comprehensive, but this book is both. The central crux of the book is that differences between people can be explained and understood and no one is "better" than anyone else. Everyone has one of 16 viewpoints that encompass how they view themselves and the external and by understanding them you can not only learn how others think, but even clarify how you think and learn your own strengths and weaknesses better. I think that most of the ideas from the book can be found online for free in various essays and such, but, IMO, the original book is far more clear, concise, and complete. I had read on Myres-Briggs for over a year before getting the book and the book provided a lot of useful insight. This would serve as a good introduction to the theory and as a good reference for anyone. The book overviews the theory by first analyzing each of the four dichotomies (I/E, N/S, T/F, P/J) and how they work with an internal or external viewpoint. They then cover each of the 16 types. That is the crux of the theory and takes up about half of the book. Coming off of that there are a few chapters that address specific details of how the personalities act in life, such as education. The material is presented concisely; the authors have specific points to make and they make them well. There are many tables that compare and contrast various personality attributes, so it's easy to consult and read on a whim. The authors compiled are a lot of statistics related to types, many (most?) of which are education oriented. However, some of their statistics have been contested and newer results exist. In specific, this book claims that the extrovert to introvert ratio in the world is about 2:1 (aka, 66% extroverted, 34% introverted). Recent results peg that closer to 50/50, maybe 55/45. The writing style and vocabulary is digestible by just about anyone -- it's formal, but doesn't have the academic style that annoys or intimidates casual readers. The content (aka, the actual MB theory) itself has a bit of complexity to it. There's a decent amount to digest, but it's not overly difficult to learn with a little diligence. But you need to pay attention to what they say, don't skim. For someone being introduced to MBTI, I would offer a bit of advice for reading this book: 1) They use their own definitions for certain words, like "intuition". When you see these kinds of words, leave your own definition at the door and accept theirs. You'll have a hard time understanding the material and you'll over-complicate matters if you don't use their vocabulary. Doing so is a standard practice to do when you need to use clear definitions repeatedly. 2) Myres-Briggs is only about preferences. They never say anything about what one is bound by nature do or what one cannot do, they only speak of what one prefers to do. It is all about preferences, and preferences lead to patterns in behavior. It is vital that you understand that. 3) They are a little blunt about strengths and weaknesses. They talk about what strengths and weaknesses are enjoyed or struggled with by various types, and the address how to use them and how to counter them (respectively). They point out common faults that people can be blind to. On that note, they're not "politically correct". They aren't anti-PC either, they just call it, gently but firmly, as they see it. Overall: The Myres-Briggs theory (regardless of this book) is a great theory and very helpful for daily life. This book does a terrific job of explaining it.

This is the second book I read on the MBTI after Keirsey's "Please Understand Me II." Overall, I liked this one much better because it didn't completely focus on the four temperaments. The book is split into four sections: Theory, Effects of the Preferences on Personality, Practical Implications of Type, and Dynamics of Type development. The theory part is good for anyone who wants to know the theoretical grounding for the MBTI and the linkage to Jung's theories. It's definitely more geared towards people unfamiliar with the MBTI, because it more or less tries to give validity to the theories by referring to Jung, who is much more respected and well-known. The second part, Effects of the Preferences on Personality, goes through the effects of each of the preferences: E/I, S/N, T/F, and J/P. The descriptions of each of the types themselves are really nothing special; you can find them online anywhere. However, the book includes a fascinating statistical analysis on the effects of type on career choice. For example, people who study law are overwhelmingly T, while science students are overwhelming N. I personally found the descriptions of the cognitive functions themselves to be fairly good, although I have heard that Beren's books are more specialized in that topic. The third part, Practical Implications of Type, talks about the implications of type on marriage, learning styles, child development, all the while emphasizing the need for people of different types to work together to balance each other's weaknesses. Most of this information you can find on the internet nowadays, but Myers' analysis goes a little bit deeper than what you would find online. The last part, Dynamics of Type Development, really just emphasizes one important concept: healthy personal development requires the development of an auxiliary function. Most of this section shows you the negative implications for not developing a strong auxiliary. The MBTI is really not everybody's cup of tea. As someone who types ISTJ, I have always been highly skeptical that "personality tests" have any validity at all. The MBTI is really no different: there's no real empirical evidence to prove that the theoretical portions are valid. However, I cannot deny the positive impact studying these theories have had on my attitudes toward people. I would approach all these theories (MBTI, Big 5, Socionics, etc) with a healthy dose of skepticism, but I have learned that it also pays to be open-minded to the possibilities these theories offer.

Did a great job adding additional context about personality types. Would recommend to someone who is interested in learning about the different personally types.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I finally read it, after letting it sit on my shelf for more than a year. I wish I had read it sooner, and frankly I wish I had read it ten years ago; it would have saved me a lot of grief. On the other hand, would I have understood it ten years ago? I'm not so sure. I absolutely loved the writing style, and another reviewer despised it. I turned out to be the same TYPE as one of the authors, so I wonder if that makes a difference. See? Already I am trying to apply the type theory to the problem of differing points of view. I do agree that the book is very difficult reading, and that the authors did talk very early about some things as if we understood it already, however I was very lucky. I stayed with it and at some point I had an a-ha moment about part of the theory that I didn't quite get. I re-read some of the earlier parts, and all of a sudden they made perfect sense. The theory really is very beautiful, and consistent with itself, and other theories. I really credit the good writing with getting the theory across in a very accessible way, if you stick with it and are open-minded. Finally I want to mention that I started reading "Do What You Are" by Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger first, before reading this book. I do like that book very much, but one thing I couldn't do with that book was properly figure out my type. I could narrow it down, but not very well, because other close types seemed so attractive. Reading the first sections of Gifts Differing helped me figure out my own type much more quickly and confidently, and by the end of the book I was absolutely sure. It was amazing. Now I've gone back to reading the other book, and I am getting a lot more out of it since I can focus on my proper type. I love it.

"A person can be a failure at the wrong job and outstanding at the right one." Written by the pioneer of the MBTI, Isabel Briggs Meyers, along with her son, Peter B. Meyers, this book offers information about the development of the instrument and about the 16 personality types. I found the information on how the instrument was developed by Isabel and her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, very interesting too. They took an interest in Jung's Psychological Types and developed an instrument to help women, who were entering the workplace for the first time, to replace the men who were off fighting WWII. Though neither had formal training in psychology, statistics, or test construction, they felt that women, and later men, would benefit from some self-awareness and guidance in choosing among the available jobs. Of course they met resistance along the way from the academics who said they couldn't possibly develop a valid instrument without the required training. Undaunted, they worked for most of their lives developing the Meyer's-Briggs Type Indicator which is now taken by two-and-a-half million people each year. Additionally, the authors explain the effects of preference on personality as well as Practical Implications of Type including Marriage, Early Learning, Learning Styles, and Occupation. They also provide useful examples to illustrate the various types. This book is an excellent companion to Please Understand Me II.

I was initially interested in this book because I was interested in learning the theory behind the MBTI Personality Indicator. This book, written by the creator of the Myers-Briggs Indicator, was exellent in explaining the theory behind it. It gives descriptions of each type, as well as other interesting studies that were done in education, career, and relationships and how they correlated with personality type. I'm a great believer of this personality typing, and really believe that this book helps greatly in understanding people and seeing thier strengths as well as understanding thier weaknesses and how to deal with them effectively. This book will help you in all aspects of your life, your personal relationships, family relationships, co-workers, school, and every part of your life that deals with people. It will greatly enlighten your understanding of the sources of conflict and how to be able to harmonize, even with essential differences. This book is also engaging and I was stuck all the way through. She writes to keep you interested, and it is wonderful. I would recommend this book to anyone!

This book was so insightful and so helpful in understanding the MBTI and I can't believe I hadn't read it until now. I thought I had a good grasp on the theory already, but this book has really helped in completely understanding personality typing. I didn't only learn about the personality types, but who they are in marriage, as children, how they learn, the careers they gravitate towards, and the functions and methods of judging/perceiving. The information is not biased. It isn't about stereotyping. It is well written and easy to understand and encourages you to grow and appreciate yourself and others. Isabel Briggs Myers allowed me to see how much I appreciate all the personality types for who they are and furthered my understanding of myself and others. Seriously, if you are into the Myers Briggs Personality theory you need to buy this book immediately. Stop reading the online garbage that I had been reading for so long and read what the founder of the entire theory has to say. This book is so important.

I bought this book after attempting to read the megalithic, meandering "Psychological Types" by C.G. Jung (on which the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is based), and giving up. Of course, if you're interested in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), then reading "Gifts Differing," penned by Isabel Myers herself, means you're going straight to half of the source of this widely popular personality self-assessment. It's a shame that I read this book after reading several different treatments of the MBTI, because I was expecting so much more depth and analysis from Myers, herself. But as I understand it, her aim was to make a test that people could take to ascertain which career or vocation would be suitable to their unique talents, from a Jungian cognitive theory perspective. So, keep this in mind as you read and understand that she was simply laying the groundwork to legitimize her self-assessment tool and demonstrate its usefulness. This is easy to read, and if you aren't interested in delving deep within the theory of cognition and cognitive functions, then this will probably be a satisfying read for you. However, I found the definitions of cognitive functions limiting and too general, and at times I could not tell if Myers valued preferences more or functions more. In fact, there were several instances in which she makes the distinction between, for example, those with extraverted sensing and introverted sensing (cognitive functions), but then goes on to refer to merely those who scored higher on "sensing" (preference), as if there is no difference between the extraverted or introverted sensing type, and thus no difference between function and preference. As well, I found the pages and pages of tables showing how each of the 16 types scored on several different job categories to be pretty tedious, to the point that I skipped over this section. But I did find the definitions of cognitive functions, however simplistic, clear and thought-provoking. Better than that, I think this book helped to clearly conclude for me which of the 16 types I most closely resemble, which is more than I can say for all of the type assessments out there online, including the "official" MBTI you can purchase. So, all in all, I would say, if you're a fan of MBTI, then you need to read Myers' book.