Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type - The original book behind the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test

I chose to read this as I didn't fancy spending the rest of the year ploughing through 600'odd pages of Jungs' Psychological Types to arrive at the same conclusions.In comparison I presumed this to be a more accessible extension of type theory,written by authors who where engaged in a life long study in this particular area,and who tested their theories on thousands of subjects to arrive at the MBTI test,in what I understand to be a more empirical approach than Jungs'. To me the book seemed to be divided into two sections.The first half deals with breaking down the personality into 8 components comprising of four sets of two,which are then assembled into the 16 basic types according to preferences of use.The theory is verified by extensive testing and the results presented in tables. The second section of the book leans more towards the practical implications of the theory,such as employment,how and why the differing personalities can come into conflict and suggests how type development may overcome unbalanced areas in the personality.This second section is more speculative and strays into areas where the authors have less authority from a psychological standpoint and I felt that other authors I'd read, particularly; M L,von Franz and Jung, covered in a more comprehensive fashion with deeper insight. On the whole,the book is understandable and written in an 'accessible to all' manner without betraying its academic qualities.If you are at all interested in human behaviour and interaction and wonder why certain people seem to operate from a totally different standpoint which you conflict with, then this book will be a valuable tool to aid your understanding of human nature.

Brilliant original work on MBTI personality type. Lots of clear explanations on the different personality type and an introduction to strengths, weaknesses and compatibility and working preferences. Really excellent book; can't praise it enough. Should be essential reading for all managers, educators etc and to be perfectly honest, for anyone who can read. Great book for helping you to understand more about yourself and the people you love (or conversely who drive you up the wall at times!) Will instil in you a little (or a lot) more love for all your fellow human beings...and that has to be a good thing! If only everyone would read this book.

I recommend this book as the first book to read for people who need to understand what type theory is *really* about. Many of the popular books treat type theory as a flat space of 16 static types. Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers understood and developed Jung's theoretical framework, and the dynamical theory is very clearly explained in Chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 3 outlines the original MBTI empirical research, showing the impact of type on chosen occupations - this is still striking. Part 2 of the book is a systematic examination of the four dimensions of type theory, and includes familiar portraits of the 16 types. Parts III and IV of the book are what you might call 'applications of type theory'. Other reviewers have dismissed these as an eclectic collection of dull chapters: I can only say that I found them an illuminating example of the power of type theory to shed light on many areas of life which appear at first sight to lack unifying features. If you read this book first, it is then worth looking at David Keirsey's "Please Understand me II" for the encyclopedic number of insights he documents. Hower, with Keirsey you get the empiricist rejection of the Jungian paradigm as somehow "unscientific". (Keirsey's approach seems reminiscent of the view from physics: a computer science or AI approach has considerably fewer conceptual qualms with the kind of internal personality "architecture" presupposed by the Jungian paradigm). Beyond Keirsey there is "Personality Type : An Owner's Manual" by Lenore Thomson. This is like the post-grad version of "Gifts Differing", and additionally includes a Jungian critique of Keirsey's work and Temperament Theory. After the obligatory low-powered introductory chapters, it's hard going, but essential.

Very interesting and useful.

This is a very easy style of writing and once you start you will finish the book. Gifts Differing will help you understand why people do what they do in a work environment, why your partner gets annoyed with you and you with them and why you do things in a certain way which perplexes even you and there are so many people out there who do exactly the same thing. This book made me happier with myself and understand life a bit more. I am ENFP, I live on deadlines and flying by the seat of my pants and proud of it.

I read this book right after a nebulous 'soul fulfilment' type book. I immediately felt on more solid ground. This book is unique and special as it is based on a mountain of psychological insight and knowledge by the excellent Swiss Psychiatrist Dr. Carl Jung. I really wish everyone would read it.

About half way through this but find the tables hard going. Its quite factual so easy to lose the basics but quite interesting.

Good stuff

Genial y en buen estado

Sehr gutes Buch für MBTI interessierte Menschen, die sich schon auskennen, aber noch mehr lernen wollen. Und auch für welche, die sich das Konzept erstmal anschauen wollen.

In mijn pakket : product zoals omschreven. Nog niet gelezen.

O tipo de livro para quem gosta de Jung e é intuitivo, sobre o próximo passo na tipologia Junguiana.

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.