Book Review by Jack Falt
Linda Berens, in a private conversation with me, says that these four 'temperaments' are really not the Keirsey temperaments, but are closer to what she calls interaction styles. In the table below, I have listed the Keirsey temperaments with Hippocrates= terms. In the book Partow links Hippocrates's terms with hers and with the DISC system. Berens also links her interaction styles with the DISC terms. The problem is that Partow's descriptions certainly don't relate to Keirsey's temperament descriptions, and I can't see much resemblance to Berens's interaction styles terms either. I don't know enough about the DISC system to know if Partow's are similar to the DISC descriptions or not.
I am writing this review for those who have a knowledge of Jung/Myers
theory, Keirsey/Berens temperaments, and Berens interaction styles. Probably
like many of you, when I get a new MBTI book, I immediately go to my type
and see if it seems to fit. I find that I can relate to the descriptions
in most MBTI/temperament books. What I find interesting about them is that
not only do the descriptions fit fairly well for me, but they add additional
insights that I had not considered before.
| Temperament -
Keirsey |
Hippocrates | Partow | DiSC System | Interaction Styles - Berens |
| SJ-Guardian | Chloric | Powerful | D-Dominant | In-Charge |
| SP-Artisan | Sanguine | Popular | I-Influencing | Get-Things-Going |
| NT-Rational | Phlegmatic | Perfect | S-Supportive | Behind-the-Scenes |
| NF-Idealist | Melancholic | Peaceful | C-Conscientious | Chart-the-Course |
I found a struggle to read because the system is so different from the ones I am familiar with. As I read a specific temperament,' I couldn't relate it to any person that I know. I would read a sentence and think that relates to so and so, but then the next entence seem to not relate to them at all. That being said, let's look at the book itself.
The author uses four words beginning with the letter 'P' to label her four 'temperaments': Popular, Perfect, Powerful and Peaceful. She admits that only 4% of the population fit the pure descriptions and that most people are a combination of two 'temperaments.' To me this isn't a very useful system if 96% of the population don't fit into any of the four pure categories.
The book itself is quite ambitious and well laid out. It devotes a chapter to each of the 'temperaments' of women. They include the positive and negative characteristics, and a section suggesting areas for improvement. There is a chapter for each 'temperament' of men, including his strengths and weaknesses, and what he needs from a woman. The combinations of marriages between the four 'temperaments' are also described. Then there is a chapter for each 'temperament' of children with descriptions of them as babies, children and teens.
I wouldn't recommend this book to MBTI people for two reasons: It is confusing to read about a system describing personality that is so different but seems to be based on the same concepts (Hippocrates) but really isn't. Also, the descriptions don't seem to match real people as I know them.