Customer Reviews

Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type

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If you are at all interested in the Myers-Briggs personality typing system, this book should be number one on your reading list. Unlike 95% of the books on the subject, this one is not a bunch of pop pyschology fluff. This is one of the only books on the subject with any depth at all to it. And it's a good thing it does, seeing as it was written by the co-creator of the MBTI herself, Isabel Myers. Unlike other "Please Understand Me" or "Type Talk", this book actually deals with the Jungian basis of personality, and not just the four letters associated with each type. The Jungian personality typing system is based on the concept of dominant functions. ENFPs and ENTPs for instance are both "Extraverted Intuitives", which is what defines the way they think more than anything. (And ENFJ, on the other hand is an "Extraverted Feeler"). You won't be taught these concepts in most other books on the subject. Isabel also eloquently explains why the MB system is different, especially concerning introverts, from Jung's original system.

If you're interested in MB personality types and actually wish to read a book by some one who knows what they are talking about and isn't just writing to sell pop psyschology best seller, read this book. This is also a must read if you have been trying to reconcile Jung with the MBTI and have had trouble doing so.

This book gives an overview of the history and theory behind the widely used Myers-Briggs personality type inventory, and briefly but thoroughly summarizes the characteristics of each personality type as well as the "groups" of related types. This is straight from the horse's mouth: Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine Briggs, developed the inventory based on Jung's theory of psychological types, and tested it extensively before it became widely used. The book is generally well organized, easy to read, and clearly written, with occasional touches of humor. But it won't help you identify your type if you don't already know it -- I recommend Kiersey's "Please Understand Me" for that. Still, it's a good resource if you already know your type and want to find out more about it. (Incidentally, you don't have to swallow Jung's psychological theories whole in order to find the Myers-Briggs useful!)

Written with exqusite care, Gifts Differing is one of those rare books to be pondered and reread. I first read it in 1980 when it first came out, and my copy is dog-eared and much underlined. It is not for casual reading, or a quick approach to finding out about one's personality type. Wanting to get Carl Jung's ideas of the psychological types out of the psychiatrist's office into general use, she wrote Gifts Differing to lay out the theory for general readers, with care and in detail. It is a classic, will never be "out of date," and I strongly recommend it for anyone who has been affected by her instrument, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and wants to go deeper into the ingenious theory she fleshed out from Jung's work.

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.

This book reveals much about the birth of the Myers Briggs personality theory. First, readers can see that the theory has very practical origins. It was born out of observing personalities of MANY people. It was meant to be used in a very hands-on way. It was not designed to be a tool for psychologists only. It was meant to be used by anyone who wants to understand self and others.

Another key point that emerges from this book is that differences are good. The theory does not treat personality traits as pathological, needing repair. On the contrary, the authors recognize that the varied types of personalities add unique, valuable qualities to the world.

There are other sources that explore this topic in a more detailed, scholarly way. However, this book sets the context for the origin and the intended use of the theory. Therefore, it is a must read for any student of personality.

_Gifts Differing_ sets out to explain the theory behind the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). I was looking forward to reading this book, because I hoped that it would expand my knowledge and understanding of type theory. I wanted a deeper understanding so I could bring my knowledge of type theory to bear in even more contexts than I do already.

I anticipated an eloquently written and stimulating outline of Type theory, but was discouraged by what I found in the book. The writing was dry and bland, and I often found myself reading several paragraphs before I realized that I didn't remember one thing that I had read.

Also, the book's target audience seemed to be inconsistent. At times the authors seemed to be writing for someone who had never before studied the MBTI, and at other times they seemed to be writing for people who were already expert at the system. For example, they frequently wrote of effect introverted and extraverted forms of a process have on a personality, yet they never explained what the differences were between the introverted and extraverted forms of a function.

The last part of the book contains several chapters which try to relate common experiences to type theory. There's a chapter on marriage, choice of occupation, early childhood learning, and a couple others. These chapters were all duds without exception, and the chapter on childhood was the most irrelevant. They made a brief mention of the cognitive processes at work in early childhood, and spent the rest of the chapter proselyzing on how to raise our children, how we should accept them for whatever type they are, etc..

Overall, this book contained a few nuggets of useful information, but the rest was poorly explained, poorly organized, and poorly written. Not recommended.

I've studied type for years, I am a qualified practitioner of type, and I teach type at the college level. Type exists in its current practical, useable form because of the work of Isabel Briggs Myers, summarized by her in this fine book. Please do not take the advice of the reviewer who recommended Keirsey's book for assessing your own type. Find a qualified practitioner and take the MBTI; discuss your results; and validate your type with an expert. And read and enjoy this wonderful book which is just filled with insightful and useful information about type.

Gifts Differing is an excellent book resource for people who want a further understanding of the Meyers Briggs Type Preferences. I suggest this book for someone who has at least basic knowledge of MBTI. I actually gave this as a gift. For anyone interested/involved in MBTI, this is a book one should have.

In this book, Isabel Myers explains, in clear language and a gentle, lyrical voice, the personality type theory to which she devoted the second half of her life. Her aim in developing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was simple: to help "normal everyday people with normal everyday problems."

Though some of the concepts it contains are complex, this book is certainly accessible to a lay audience. Myers was not an academician, and she doesn't write like one. Her prose is lovely and full of imagery (she was a fiction writer, after all). It's a book to be savored, not skimmed.

The main advantage of this book over the others is that it presents Myers's theory unfiltered. It's not an interpretation; it's the real deal. Myers focuses much attention on the role of psychological functions, a topic that David Keirsey doesn't address in "Please Understand Me II." Psychological functions are a key component of the MBTI.

While this book doesn't contain an assessment for determining individual personality type, it does contain tables comparing the two orientations for each of the four preferences. Readers ought to be able to gain at least some idea of what type they fall into.

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.