Parsonalidad y otras cosas

111. PI.Is.III111.rsflllll M. Phenomenon
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 ~ll ov~r ~he
world. Advertised only by word o f mouth, the book became a favo~te tralmng
and counseling guide in many institutions-government, church, buslnes.s-and
colleges across the nation adoptedit as an auxiliary text in a dozen dIfferent
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 o f Keirsey's
portraits o f temperament and character types. Or perhaps it was the book's essential
messag~: that members o f families and institutions are OK, even though they arefundamentally different from each other, and that they would all do well to
appreciate their differences and give up trying to change others into copies o f
themselves.

Now: P"IS' IllIIrstalllll H
F or the past twenty years Professor Keirsey has continued to investigate
personality d ifferences-to refine his theory o f the four temperaments and to
define the facets o f character that distinguishone from another. His findings
form the basis o f Please Understand Me II, an updated and greatly expanded
edition o f the book, far more comprehensive and coherent than the original, and
yet with much o f the same easy accessibility.
One major addition is Keirsey's view o f how the temperaments differ in the
intelligent roles they are most likely to develop. Each o f us, he says, has fourkinds o f i ntelligence-tactical, logistical, diplomatic, s trategic-though one o f
the four interests us far more than the others, and thus gets far more practice than
the rest. Like four suits in a hand o f 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, PleaseUnderstand Me II begins with The Keirsey
Temperament Soner, the best selling personality inventory in the world, and the
most popular on the Internet. But also included is The Keirsey FourTypes Soner,
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 livelyand fascinating discussion o f personal styles.
- Dr. Stephen Montgomery, editor

ISBN 1 -885705-02-6

A

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5 1595

P rometheus Nemesis Books
Box 2748, Del M ar, CA 92014
9 7 81885 7 05020

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Please
Understand

Me

II
Temperament
Character
Intelligence

D avid
Keirsey

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A

'-JIIIII

© Prometheus Nemesis Book Company 1998

All rights reserved underthe International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. No part o f this book may b e reproduced in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without
permission in writing from the publisher. All enquiries should be addressed
to the publisher. Published in the United States by Prometheus Nemesis
Book Company, Post Office Box 2748, Del Mar, CA 92014.Printed in the United States o f America
First Edition
ISBN 1-885705-02-6

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Foreword
" The p oint o f this b ook," w rites m yoId friend David Keirsey, " is that
people differ from each other, and that no amount o f getting after them is
going to change them." T he point is also, David might have added, that the
important differences between us are our natural birthright, arising in j ust
af ew distinctive patterns. Recognizing these patterns can vastly enrich our
sense o f w ho w e are, o f w ho others are, and o f h ow much w e c an learn
from one another about the problems o f life.
No person that 1 know o f h as studied temperament in action more
persistently and more brilliantly than Keirsey, and no one is in a better
position to speak to us about it. Keirsey has been "...