Book Analysis

By: Matthew Barton

Date: 9/3/2015

For my fourth and final non-fiction book analysis, I have read Please Understand Me, a
psychological analysis book written by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates, published in
1984. This volume was the debut of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, Keirseys own
modified take on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, that had been invented 41
years earlier. A sequel, Please Understand Me II, was released in 1998. Today,
Keirseys Temperament Sorter is one of the most widely used personality inventories in
the world.

Keirsey kicks off his book by introducing his theory that changing a person is a
pygmalion project: an experiment that is impossible to complete. After elaborating on
the views of several psychologists before him, (including who influenced his research,
such as Carl Jung, Hippocrates, Kretschmer and Adler) Keirsey presents the reader
with his seventy question Temperament Sorter. Upon its completion, Keirsey directs the
reader to where in the book they can find their corresponding temperament type,
including those who possess a mixed type.

After establishing temperament type, Keirsey goes on to explain the four pairs of
preferences; the functional preferences template. Here he elucidates on the
fundamental elements of every persons temperament type (Extraversion vs
Introversion, Intuition vs Sensation, etc.), while also touching on several facets of each
preference that can cause misunderstanding with the other. Many other strands of
Keirsey research is detailed in the book, such as which types match up well as romantic
partners.