Which Personality Type Are You? Recent Books

Are you sanguine, choleric, melancholic or phlegmatic?

A visionary? A judger? A thinker or feeler? A catalyst? A diamond? A three?

In 1921, the grandad of Psychological Typology, Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), defined "introversion" and "extraversion," laying the groundwork for today's psychometric questionnaires and self-reflection gimmicks. 

Here are some recently published, non-academic books, all available at NYPL, that are designed for "discovery" and self-reflection:

Quirk: Brain Science Makes Sense Of Your Peculiar Personality by Hannah Holmes (2011)
Uses the Five Factor model, acronymed as OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Observations are drawn from laboratory mice.

Personality Poker: The Playing Card Tool for Driving High-Performance Teamwork and Innovation by Stephen M. Shapiro (2010)
Uses the four playing card suits: Hearts (Networkers), Diamonds (Creatives), Spades (Analysts), and Clubs (Planners).  Includes a deck of cards.

Essentials of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment by Naomi L. Quenk (2009)
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most widely accepted personality assessment tool. Extrapolated from Jung's characterizations, it distinguishes between introversion and extraversion, sensation and intuition, thinking and feeling. It also adds the functions perception and judging to create 16 types in all. Created by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers.

Making a Difference by Being Yourself: Using Your Personality Type to Find Your Life's True Purpose by Gregory E. Huszczo  (2010)
Divides into Stabilizers, Harmonizers, Catalysts and Visionaries.

I'm Not Crazy, I'm Just Not You: The Real Meaning of the 16 Personality Types by Roger R. Pearman and Sarah C. Albritton (2010)
Evaluates generations and cultures, using (MBTI).

Discovering Your Personality Type: The Essential Introduction to the Enneagram by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson (2003)
The Enneagram typology comes from esoteric spiritual traditions. Here you find out if you are a One (Perfectionist), Two (Helper), Three (Achiever) etc.  With instinctual subtypes, stress, and security points.

Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type by Paul D. Tieger (2007)
The fourth edition of a classic in the field. Uses the MBTI.

Now, Discover Your Strengths: How to Develop Your Talents and Those of the People You Manage by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton (2005)
Uses the 34 streams of StrengthsFinder, based on years of research by the Gallup Organization.   

The Writer's Guide to Character Traits: Includes Profiles of Human Behaviors and Personality Types by Linda Edelstein (2004)
Profiles of addicts, amnesia victims, philanthropists, and psychopaths, among others.   

 

Just for fun: you can take a Facebook quiz to determine what Battlestar Galactica character are you ? What city? Which decade? What is your inner Pokemon? What Muppet character are you? What Stephen Sondheim character?