Book Resources

[Decaf]

So I appreciated when someone pointed me in the direction of some good non-internet resources, so I'll pass them on. Trust me... the book resources are where the really interesting and solid theory is at.

LifeTypes - A great introduction to individual types and type theory in general.
Was That Really Me? - Deals with inferior functions, how stress affects us and type maturity. I recommend this for anyone who has ever done something they regretted when they were stressed out (basically everyone).
The Character of Organizations - Great guide on personality types as culture and the benefits of different perspectives in business.
Character and Personality Type - This book gives four examples of each type that really help expand your understanding of how each type can exhibit the traits that are common to their letters.
Psychological Types - The definitive work of Carl Jung. Its a tougher read, but it is of fundamental importance and I believe it is very useful for understanding MB's later theory.
The 16 Personality Types - This is a thin booklet that I use to convert people. Each type has two pages to read and decide whether or not that it them. Very handy for casual conversation.
MBTI Manual - I know it only has one review and its bad, but I think that's because this is the old version (mine is 4th edition I think). Plus the negative review tries to sell a competing theory, so you can bet its biased. I don't think you should buy this one, but look for a 4th edition if you feel up to it. The manual covers a lot of research, validity trials, fundamental premises, etc... that are vital to MBTI. This is one of the books I had to read to get my MBTI qualifcation certificate.

 

[zxc]

I think I've read everything there is to read online about INTPs (and I'm always looking for more), but books... well if they somehow appeared on my doorstep, then sure I'll read it!

 

[Auburn]

Why did this thread die so quickly?
These sound like really great books, I really wish I could get these somehow...

Can any of these be obtained at a Barnes & Noble? or Borders?

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

Why did this thread die so quickly?
These sound like really great books, I really wish I could get these somehow...

Can any of these be obtained at a Barnes & Noble? or Borders?

I got LifeTypes on Decaf's recommendation. I Like It! I ordered it online through Barnes & Noble and just clicked the section for used books. I got it for $1.99 plus $3.95 shipping. It came out cheaper than buying it new and I got it in 3 days.

Since I live 30 miles from the nearest bookstore that isn't a religious bookstore, I get all my books now via this method. It's fast and pretty cheap compared to buying new. Libraries can't always be trusted to have copies and I always have 3 or 4 books going at once and may take a couple months to finish a book depending on how engrossing it is. Libraries frown upon me keeping their books that long.

 

[Decaf]

Why did this thread die so quickly?
These sound like really great books, I really wish I could get these somehow...

Can any of these be obtained at a Barnes & Noble? or Borders?

Not sure. I do all my book buying on Amazon. Oh, and here's the latest MBTI books I've been reading:

Building Blocks of Personality Type - A guide on how to use Jung's eight functions. I'm only a quarter the way through it, but it may be the best MBTI book I've read yet. Actually its kind of depressing because its almost exactly the kind of book I wish I could write.
Ideas and Evidence, Critical Reflections on MBTI Theory and Practice - An expository guide to how MBTI is practiced and can be taught to individuals and groups. Its an excellent reference for anyone who wants to look at MBTI professionally, which doesn't include many here, so its not a must read.

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

I've been keeping track of book suggestions I find from this forum. There's a lot so far, and I don't have any to add, but keep up the good work!

 

[Auburn]

I've been keeping track of book suggestions I find from this forum. There's a lot so far...

Do you think you could list them here?

I can't seem to find them all...

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

Sure. I haven't read any of these books, but other members have!

The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-What-Happens-Emotion-Consciousness/dp/0156010755 (Book recommended by Decaf)

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
http://www.amazon.com/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316010669

Body Language Secrets
http://www.amazon.com/Body-Language-Secrets-During-Courtship/dp/0962067164

Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_2/103-8928675-7925439?v=glance&s=books

The Alphabet and the Goddess http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...4746071/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-7342963-9687926

"I Am a Strange Loop" by Douglas Hofstadter
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Strange-Loop-Douglas-Hofstadter/dp/0465030785

"Weekend Novelist"
http://www.amazon.com/Weekend-Novel...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224276102&sr=1-1

This book wasn't recommended by anyone, it just simply looks fascinating and is MBTI-related. You'll notice that I've been linking to articles by Benziger.
Thriving in Mind by Benziger http://www.amazon.com/Thriving-Mind-Science-Using-Whole/dp/1880931117

One of my close INFP friends has been unhappy for a long time, and read a lot of self-help books during that time. She said that these were the two best, that actually made changes for her.

1. Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins
http://www.amazon.com/Another-Roadside-Attraction-Tom-Robbins/dp/0553349481
2. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
http://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Down-Nick-Hornby/dp/1573223026

 

[loveofreason]

Stickied!

 

[grey matters]

decaf what is a MBTI qualification certificate.

I found all my MBTI books on Amazon. All of the bookstores I looked at in my area (Barns and Noble being one of them) didn't have any MBTI books that were not career orientated.

If any one here is a mother may I recommend the book "mother Styles" Using Personality Type to Discover Your Parenting Strengths by Janet P. Penley. The book talks about the strengths each MBTI type has, how to make the most of it, and how to get around weaknesses. And yes, INTP's actually have parenting strengths. Being that INTP's "mother" in a way that is different from the way the leagion of other mothers "mother" it really helped me with accepting the differences that I had.

 

[Decaf]

decaf what is a MBTI qualification certificate.

A while back it was decided that in order to differentiate between people who use MBTI in their work ethically and those who abuse it the Myers & Briggs Foundation would set up a program to teach ethical use of the instrument. This was primarily in order to keep abusers from giving the MBTI a bad name (which happens rampantly anyway as not all corporations bother to check their consultants credentials thoroughly). After all, a self-report style does not work if the subject does not trust the test or the test giver.

I got mine through a CAPT course. My instructor ended up being the president of APTi actually, and she was excellent. She reminded me why I like to teach and why I like Type theory.

 

[Auburn]

I'm looking to learn more about the inner working of the Dominant, Auxiliary, Tertiary, and Inferior function. Does anyone have a specific book they'd recommend? Like, to begin with? I've never read any MBTI books before.

I'd really appreciate it.

 

[Decaf]

I'm actually looking for that too, so I'll let you know if I find a good one.

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

"What We Believe But Cannot Prove: Today's leading thinkers on science in the age of certainty." edited by John Brockman. http://www.amazon.com/What-Believe-but-Cannot-Prove/dp/0060841818

This book came out last holiday season so there should be plenty used ones floating around. It has 100+ experiments in different subjects who respond to the prompt: "What do you believe but cannot prove?"

This book is INTP food.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

I just read this and I think it deserves a quick mention.
http://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html

A metaphorical story about death.

 

[Gorgrim]

I'm glad all of you listed some books you thought were good. I definitely wanna get into reading some more in the upcoming months. Shame shipping is abit harder when you live in denmark though..

offtopic: gonna be buying a guitar first, though...

 

[Decaf]

offtopic: gonna be buying a guitar first, though...

Good decision. As much as I love my books, my guitar has brought me more satisfaction on a cost to enjoyment scale. Or at least my first guitar was... my new one would be worth an awful lot of books...

 

[Gorgrim]

Sounds good.Im actually to hear that, I love playing guitars, it brings out other sides of me that I want to spend more time on.

On the subject of books, I found two really good ones in my school library, afraid I havnt been able to loan them yet. So i've sneaked one out to read inbetween classes for a day.
That one was Resnick - Hallidays Physics textbook part I.

I like it, but since im not entirely so much into physics, i've read some of the easier chapters.


Then, there is this book, also from the library, which I found worth a look: It describes alot of things, from what I read so far, it both has interesting qoutes and abundance of information...Some better than other, but it was still interesting.... anybody seen it before by any chance?
http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Knowledge-IB-Diploma/dp/0521542987

 

[wadlez]

www.betterworld.com
Best book store in the world, second hand books, ships internationaly.
If you live in america you can clean up here, if you live in aus you can save allot of money still

 

[Mud~Eye]

Just Your Type by Tieger and Barron-Tieger
Relationships. New and long-term. Finding a partner or working with the one you've already got. I've only glanced through it, but it's got some interesting stuff.
http://www.personalitytype.com/store.html

 

[Logic]

Please Understand Me 1 and 2, from David Keirsey. I think they deserve some mention and they are great for the beginner, but then again a lot of what they say in these books is already on the Internet,

 

[Fukyo]

Please Understand Me 1 and 2, from David Keirsey. I think they deserve some mention and they are great for the beginner, but then again a lot of what they say in these books is already on the Internet,

Spoiler

Personally, I find Keirsey useful for on the spot, quick typing of behavior, not necessarily what I would consider personality. To me, personality encompasses psychological motivations and tendencies that may or may not lead to certain behaviors. Keirsey's method would suggest that your underlying motivations, or "why" you arrive at certain conclusions and behaviors are largely irrelevant in comparison to whatever behavior you express to the world.I think in his goal, describing 16 expressed behavioral types, he is successful. The system must be judged both on its own merits and its ability to be applied. I found that his method was interesting and useful; abstract vs. concrete, and cooperative vs. utilitarian are good metrics for comparing behavior. However, I think he does his system a disservice borrowing the nomenclature of MBTI to name his types. It gives the illusion that the systems are compatible, when they are two very different things. Also, an individual's behavior changes a lot in different environments. You can probably be about 3 different Keirsey types throughout your day, depending on environmental demands. And without taking a cognitive approach, and only relying on external observation as judging criteria, the system is not useful in terms of self discovery and personal analysis, but more useful as a way to categorize those around you. The system seems far more outside oriented, than inner oriented.

Spoiler

There's a line, it came from Mencken, that went like this: "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

I always think of that one when discussions of Keirsey's temperament system arise.

Often, the proponents of Keirsey's work say it is easy to understand, and easy to apply quickly, and really makes the world nice and tidy. Perhaps so, but it does these things by making totally invalid inferences.

What are the problems with the temperament model?

Well, as you noted, Keirsey threw out the cognitive processes. What he is left with is a system where you can only categorize people based on their behavior. In a nutshell, it's a psychology measure that never questions how anyone thinks.

That obviously seems silly, but to elaborate, the problem is that what someone does, like how punctual they are or how cleanly they are, as well as what sort of tenets people subscribe to, like political ideology, are all things that can be arrived at through many different trains of thought. It means that merely observing that a person has certain habits and certain ideologies does not tell you how they perceived or reasoned their way to that point. Trying to type someone on these observable traits will quickly show people to be typological contradictions in Keirsey's system.

Now granted, you cannot know anything about a person by means other than observable traits, technically. But the cognitive model tries harder to get at someone's abstract thinking (often through words as much or more than deeds), and this also why questions on a cognitive test tend to be very general. Keirsey's approach is ridiculously specific. It actually suggests typing people on observations like whether or not they keep surfaces clear and clean. But that doesn't give you any understanding of the person's mind. It basically only tells you what you already just observed.

And let's look at the reasoning in Keirsey's own writing. He has very little logical framework in his books. Much of what he wrote is based on his personal experience. That's inconsistent, incomplete, and hard to apply. Personal experience alone is not very reliable. Furthermore, outside of that, he makes the odd choice to reach back to the antiquated temperament systems of people like Hippocrates. His reasoning (which strikes me as incredibly ISTJ) is that this is the pattern that has been passed down for ages, and he basically just figures from there that it has enough merit to imitated. I found this decision to also be poorly reasoned.

And there's the fact that, because of how his system works, the temperaments are very archetypal. I don't believe the cognitive types, if properly applied, pigeonhole's anyone or leaves anybody unrepresented (though if you see the way SimulatedWorld applies it, it does in that case). Keirsey's temperaments do, on the other hand. They are inflexible archetypes which go into too much detail per type profile without accounting from all the range of possibilities. He's typing people on so many behavioral details that it should lead to far more than 4 binary variables, and that in turn should lead to far more than 16 types. But again, he's more content to just smash everyone into those details

And that being said, there aren't even really 16 types, because Keirsey gets so carried away with his temperament idea that it starts to devour the types. Some more than others. Perhaps because he fancies himself an NT, he gave the most comprehensive treatment to the NTs. The SJs he treats the worst. Each temperament follows a pattern akin to just one of its types. The Guardians are ESTJs, the Artisans are ESTPs, the NFs and NTs are more even, but they are basically INFJs and INTPs.

The types that are most different from the archetypal type of the temperament are therefore the most poorly accounted. ISFJs, ISFPs, ENFPs, and ENTJs are sort of poorly explained and represented.

So I stick with the cognitive processes. They are an encompassing and consistent logical framework which can be worked out deductively and applied flexibly, and they actually reflect a person's thought processes, instead of making hazy conclusions from someone's lifestyle habits.

I'd have to agree that taking Keirsey seriously would be disservice to anyone with a serious interest in typology. They may be simple to a beginner, but I think that true understanding of a subject is preferable to oversimplified misinformation.

 

[Fukyo]

ConsciousOrientation: A Study of Personality Types in Relation to Neurosis and Psychosis (the entire book)

 

[nharkey]

Some of you might enjoy reading our book "Parenting by Temperament: Full revised Edition". It is at Amazon in paperback and Kindle. It does not go deeper into typology than other fine books on this list,, but it does discuss the appearance of preferences, temperaments and types in children, and in adults (presumably the parents). We spend quite a bit of time on mismatched parent temperaments and how harmful this can be if parents have no understanding of this. If you ever wished as a child (as David Keirsey put it) that parents would "Please understand Me" you might find this book interesting and enlightening.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Analytical Psychology, Its Theory and Practice: The Tavistock Lectures

Something I recently came across, it seems it's another introduction type book for Jungian psychology but the good thing here is that Jung clarified some of his concepts, most importantly the psychological types.

I was gonna check it out at a local library tomorrow but it's also available for purchase online. It doesn't seem to be as well-known as his other works, I haven't even found any substantial excerpts.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Posted some excerpts: http://intpforum.com/showthread.php?p=366479

 

[TimeAsylums]

First off, I must thank @EyeSeeCold for directing me to this thread! I am going to read every single one of these books. Also, he suggested that I link my thread(or the book) to this thread, so here it is:

http://www.intpforum.com/showthread.php?p=368339#post368339

 

[BlueNote]

Not sure. I do all my book buying on Amazon. Oh, and here's the latest MBTI books I've been reading:

Building Blocks of Personality Type - A guide on how to use Jung's eight functions. I'm only a quarter the way through it, but it may be the best MBTI book I've read yet. Actually its kind of depressing because its almost exactly the kind of book I wish I could write.

Decaf:

This book is about $1.8k on Amazon, it's expensive to say the least. I am afraid if I buy it the author will come out with a new addition which could kill the resale value. Unfortunately my library doesn't carry it either. Do you have any other recommendations on a similar book in the $0-$150 price range?