Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type 2nd ed. Edition

by Isabel Briggs Myers (Author), Peter B. Myers (Author)

100 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0891060741

ISBN-10: 089106074X

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Like a thumbprint, personality type provides an instant snapshot of a person's uniqueness. Drawing on concepts originated by Carl Jung, this book distinguishes four categories of personality styles and shows how these qualities determine the way you perceive the world and come to conclusions about what you've seen. It then explains what they mean for your success in school, at a job, in a career and in your personal relationships.

For more than 60 years, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) tool has been the most widely used instrument in the world for determining personality type, and for more than 25 years, Gifts Differing has been the preeminent source for understanding it.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Ringing with practical implications, Gifts Differing both educates and inspires.―Judy Waterman, Principal, Career Management Group

About the Author

The late Isabel Briggs Myers devoted her life to the observation, study, and measurement of personality. With her mother, Katharine Briggs, she authored the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® personality inventory. Peter B. Myers, Ph.D., continues research work on the development and application of personality type. Former staff director of the National Academy of Science, he is currently extending the use of the MBTI® instrument worldwide.

Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: CPP; 2nd ed. edition (January 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 089106074X
ISBN-13: 978-0891060741
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 100 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #91 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Applied Psychology
- #94 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Psychology
- #108 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Personality

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Debra Jacobs

110% A Must Read

April 28, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

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.

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Wiredforhire

Going straight to the source for MBTI

September 26, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

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.

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Jan

Decades of research

May 9, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book should be required reading for us all, Over the years I have purchased and passed on 4 copies of this easy to understand, well documented book, So many people are frustrated because they lack understanding of why our personalities are so different. We need to stop trying to make each other measure up to our our own personal standards, there are reasons we see the world and ourselves the way we do. This book clarifies how we can all benefit as a society, by acknowledging and embracing our preferences .

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David Mai

Good Overview of the Theory

February 7, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

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.

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Most recent customer reviews

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Useful primer for a Type development

If one wants to learn the basics of Type development of their conscious functions then this is the place to start, though John Beebe will be the place to look at the value of...Read more

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SZ essie

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Very through look at personality types from the persons that did the research. Valuable resource.

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Dan Wilder

The original source for MBTI

A fantastic book about MBTI for the horses mouth so to speak. This book is from the creator of MBTI. It's nice not to be reading others interpretations.

Published 7 months ago

Gabriel Andersson

Love it

Love it. Filled with good stuff if you want to deepen your MBTI knowledge.

Published 8 months ago

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