Please Understand Me II

The Please Understand Me Phenomen

Keirsey and Bates's Please Understand Me, first published in 1978, sold nearly 2 million copies in its first 20 years, becoming a perennial best seller all over the world. Advertised only by word of mouth, the book became a favorite training and counseling guide in many institutions — government, church, business — and colleges across the nation adopted it as an auxiliary text in a dozen departments. Why?

Perhaps it was the user-friendly way that Please Understand Me helped people find their personality style. Perhaps it was the simple accuracy of Keirsey's portraits of temperament and character types. Or perhaps it was the book's essential message: that members of families and institutions are OK, even though they are fundamentally different from each other, and that they would all do well to appreciate their differences and give up trying to change others into copies of themselves.

Now: Please Understand Me II

For the past twenty years, Professor Keirsey has continued to investigate personality differences — to refine his theory of the four temperamnets and to define the facets of character that distinguish one from another. His findings form the basis of Please Understand Me II, an updated and greatly expanded edition of the book, far more comprehensive and coherent than the original, and yet with much of the same easy accessibility.

One major addition is Keirsey's view of how the temperaments differ in the intelligent roles they are most likely to develop. Each of us, he says, has four kinds of intelligence — tactical, logistical, diplomatic, strategic — though one of the four interests us far more than the others, and thus gets far more practice than the rest. Like four suits in a hand of cards, we each have a long suit and a short suit in what interests us and what we do well, and fortunate indeed are those whose work matches their skills.

As in the original book, Please Understand Me II begins with They Keirsey Temperament Sorter, the best selling personality inventory in the world, and the most popular on the Internet. But also included is The Keirsey FourTypes Sorter, a new short questionnaire that identifies one's basic temperament and then ranks one's second, third, and fourth choices. Share this new sorter with friends and family, and get set for a lively and fascinating discussion of personal styles.

• Chapter 1: Different Drummers
• Temperament Theory: Lost and Found
• The Keirsey Temperament Sorter II
• The 16 Combinations
• What the Myers-Briggs Letters Mean
• The Contribution of Isabel Myers
• Looking Back
• The Debt to Isabel Myers
• How to Proceed
• Chapter 2: Temperament and Character
• Myer's Four Groups
• Temperament, Character, Personality
• Historical Overview
• The Basic Dimensions of Personality
• Psychological Functions vs Intelligent Roles
• Chapter 3: Artisans
• Plato's Artisans
• The Concrete Utilitarians
• The Tactical Intellect
• The Interests of Artisans
• The Orientation of Artisans
• The Self-Image of Artisans
• The Values of Artisans
• The Social Roles Artisans Play
• Matrix of Artisan Traits
• Artisan Role Variants
• The Promoter [ESTP]
• The Crafter [ISTP]
• The Performer [ESFP]
• The Composer [ISFP]
• Chapter 4: Guardians
• Plato's Guardians
• The Concrete Cooperators
• The Logistical Intellect
• The Interests of Guardians
• The Orientation of Guarians
• The Self-Image of Guardians
• The Values of Guardians
• The Social Roles Guardians Play
• Matrix of Guardian Traits
• Guardian Role Variants
• The Supervisor [ESTJ]
• The Inspector [ISTJ]
• The Provider [ESFJ]
• The Protector [ISFJ]
• Chapter 5: Idealists
• Plato's Idealists
• The Abstract Cooperators
• The Diplomatic Intellect
• The Interests of Idealists
• The Orientation of Idealists
• The Self-Image of Idealists
• The Values of Idealists
• The Social Roles Idealists Play
• Matrix of Idealist Traits
• Idealist Role Variants
• The Teacher [ENFJ]
• The Counselor [INFJ]
• The Champion [ENFP]
• The Healer [INFP]
• Chapter 6: Rationals
• Plato's Rationals
• The Abstract Utilitarians
• The Strategic Intellect
• The Interests of Rationals
• The Orientation of Rationals
• The Self-Image of Rationals
• The Values of Rationals
• The Social Roles Rationals Play
• Matrix of Rational Traits
• Rational Role Variants
• The Fieldmarshal [ENTJ]
• The Mastermind [INTJ]
• The Inventor [ENTP]
• The Architect [INTP]
• Chapter 7: Mating
• Attraction
• Getting Along Together
• The Pygmalion Project
• The Artisan Playmate
• The Guardian Helpmate
• The Idealist Soulmate
• The Rational Mindmate
• Chapter 8: Parenting
• Maturation
• Basic Differences
• The Artisan Child
• The Guardian Child
• The Idealist Child
• The Rational Child
• Parent and Child
• The Artisan Liberator
• The Guardian Socializer
• The Idealist Harmonizer
• The Rational Individuator
• Chapter 9: Leading
• Temperament and Intelligence
• Identifying Intelligence
• Tactical Intelligence
• The Tactical Leader
• Logistical Intelligence
• The Logistical Leader
• Diplomatic Intelligence
• The Diplomatic Leader
• Strategic Intelligence
• The Strategic Leader
• Chapter 2 Notes
• The Keirsey Four Termperament Sorter

The standard work on MBTI types.

Well worth reading, even though it is a bit dry.