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The Best Personality Type Books

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What's Your Type of Career?:  Find Your Perfect Career by Using Your Personality Type
By Donna Dunning

 

Michael's Comments...
Donna Dunning is an expert in both the Myers-Briggs Personality Type system, and careers.

I saw her speak once at Bay Area Association for Physiological Type (BAAPT). That's when I bought her book.

She does something few career / type books do. She uses the cognitive functions in the background, and she keeps it simple.

This book lists career which have been shown to be a good fit for each of the 16 personality types.

She also shows the Holland Code for each career. Our Career Interest Test (CiT) will show you what your Holland Code is.


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Amazon's Description...
Match Your Personality Type to Your Perfect Career-and Find Success!

The simple truth is that to be happy and successful in your work, you need a career that not only matches your interests but fits your personality type as well. In this approachable book, author Donna Dunning uses the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to introduce eight distinct ways of working.

Encouraging you to reflect on your own natural preferences-using checklists, exercises, strategies and tips-What's Your Type of Career? provides all the tools you need to discover your own natural preferences and find your ideal career. Are you a Contributor, Expeditor, Explorer or Responder? An Analyzer, Assimilator, Enhancer or Visionary? An Extrovert or an Intravert? If you identify yourself as an Extravert and a Responder, you tend to like action, scenarios that are rapidly changing and are not inclined toward a desk job. A profession as an emergency worker, a fire fighter or a police officer may be for you.
(Book-3)

Survival Games Personalities Play  
By Eve Delunas Ph.D.

 

Michael's Comments...
I just attended an all day class by Eve Delunas, author and psychotherapist. One of the things I learned which is covered in this book is that when people act out badly, such as when they are triggered, their actions follow a pattern based on their Temperament / Personality Type. So if you act out in a particular way, you can look to your Temperament for clues as to what you are doing.
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Amazon's Description...
People are most likely to engage in Survival-Game-Playing when they are stressed and finding it increasingly difficult to cope with life's challenges. Whether someone utilizes the game of Blackmail, Complain, Robot, or Masquerade, depends upon that person's personality, or temperament type. Each of these games represents a different way of protecting oneself in the face of life's adversities. Over time, as these protective behaviors escalate in frequency and intensity, they can become maladaptive and cause suffering for the individuals who are engaging in these behaviors and their family, friends, and coworkers. Using case examples from her practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist, Dr. Delunas describes the games associated with each of the four personality, or temperament types as described by Keirsey and Bates in the book, Please Understand Me--the Artisan (SP), Guardian (SJ), Rational (NT), and Idealist (NF). She explains the different reasons why each of the personalities is most likely to employ survival tactics. And, she identifies those methods that are often most effective in helping each of the four personality types to stop engaging in Survival Games at home and in the workplace.
(Book-19)

Jung's Function-Attitudes Explained  
By Henry L. Thompson

 

Michael's Comments...
One of the earliest and best books that describe the cognitive functions. Easy to understand and quick to read. The book is only 1/4 inch thick. Produced in 1990.
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Amazon's Description...
Focuses on and explains Carl Jung's theory of psychological types. The book is intended for the use of trainers and practitioners who already have a basic understanding of Jung's and Meyer's concepts of psychological Type. The growing use o f the MBTI-Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc., reports one million or more administrations a year-dictates a need for a definitive resource on the function-attitudes for the practitioner.
(Book-5)

Understanding Yourself and Others:  An Introduction to the 4 Temperaments-4.0
By Linda V. Berens

 

Michael's Comments...
I've taken several 3 day workshops with Linda Berens, and I know her personally. This book is really an 8 1/2 x 11" booklet that can be read in an hour. Linda's style is to make complex subjects accessible so they can be taught. I have about 3 copies of this book, all are marked up and underlined from my extensive use.
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Amazon's Description...
Linda V. Berens has updated Understanding Yourself and Others: An Introduction to the 4 Temperaments 3.0 to include the latest developments in Temperament theory. In this new edition of our perennial best-seller on the application of Temperament theory, Dr. Linda V. Berens introduces us to the next evolution of Temperament the four new terms: ImproviserTM, StabilizerTM, TheoristTM and CatalystTM. Dr. Berens has developed a resource used by thousands to better understand themselves and others. Engaging graphics and easy-to-read text lead readers on a journey of self-discovery. Also used widely by trainers, career professionals, coaches, managers and others to lead individuals, groups and teams through the dynamics of Temperament. Linda Berens is renowned for taking Temperament Theory, which has been used for over 2 centuries and describes the core values, motivations and needs of individuals, and translating it into practical business applications.
(Book-6)

Understanding Yourself and Others:  An Introduction to Interaction Styles 2.0
By Linda V. Berens

 

Michael's Comments...
One of Linda Beren's best works. I've taken her workshop on "Interaction Styles" twice. This is a great tool for quickly reading people so you can adjust your interpersonal style to be more compatible with them, so as to promote better interpersonal relationships. A similar system is known as "Social Styles" and has been taught to corporations around the world.
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Amazon's Description...
Are you ready to have a process to explain what an ESTJ, ENTJ, ESTP and ENFJ all have in common? It is their interaction style! Learn and use this booklet with others to see the similarities between the different personality types and how they interact and communicate by looking at the four interaction styles: In-Charge: ESTJ, ENTJ, ESTP, ENFJ Behind-the-Scenes: ISFJ, INTP, ISFP, INFP Chart-the-Course: ISTJ, INTJ, ISTP, INFJ Get-things-Going: ESFJ, ENTP, ESFP, ENFP
(Book-7)

Lectures on Jung's Typology (Seminar Series) Paperback – July 31, 1998  
By Marie-Louise Von Franz and James Hillman

 

Michael's Comments...
Marie-Louise Von Franz was a student of Carl Jung, so much of what she learned about personality type came from first hand, in person experience.

Part one of this book is her lecture on the inferior function, which is our 4th function and the gateway to the unconscious.

Von Franz describes an interesting relationship between our dominant and auxiliary functions and our 4th function.

She tells a story about a German shoe maker who was an INTJ. His passion in life was writing very deep, thoughtful works on philosophy, and theology. But he had a wife and six children to support. His wife was always after him to make more shoes to put more food on the table.

After publishing a great book, a local Baron decided to financially support the author-shoemaker so he could have more time to write great books. After this the quality and volume of his writing suffered and became mediocre.

Von Franz points out that the INTJ author needed to have the balance of the shoe making activity, which used his forth function extroverted sensing (Se). It was in making shoes and using Se, that he tapped into his unconscious which is the source of our creativity. Once he stopped accessing his Se, the creativity stopped flowing.
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Amazon's Description...
Two world-renowned psychologists give detailed accounts of C.G. Jung’s personality types.
(Book-12)

The Art of SpeedReading People:  How to Size People Up and Speak Their Language
By Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tiege

 

Amazon's Description...
In business & in life, communication is the key tto success. And, as made clear in this book, learning to use the power of Personality Type is the key to communicating more effectively.

Now in the same successful format as the bestsellers Do What You Are & Nurture by Nature, The Art of Speed Reading People offers a revolutionary new tool for sizing up people & speaking their language.

A salesperson pitching a customer. A manager trying to motivate an employee. A teacher attempting to make a point with a student. In any of these situations, the power to "read" another person can be a powerful advantage.

Drawing on the same scientifically validated Personality Type model that many Fortune 500 companies use, this book shows how anyone can quickly identify key personality characteristics through a person's appearance, vocabulary, body language, occupation, education, & interests. The Art of SpeedReading People is the ultimate communication resource - the next best thing to having X-ray vision.
(Book-2)