People Patterns: A Popular Culture Introduction to Personality Types and the Four Temperaments

by Stephen Montgomery

People Patterns A Popular Culture Introduction to Personality Types and the Four Temperaments by Stephen Montgomery, Ph.D. "Try to see it my way ." Taking a line from the Beatles, Dr. Stephen Montgomery presents a fresh new look at the four temperaments, the four ancient "people patterns" that are the key to personality types. In this updated and expanded 2nd edition, Dr. Montgomery cites over 250 characters from well-known movies and TV shows The Wizard of Oz, Sex and the City, Harry Potter, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Fantastic Four, The Incredibles, The Lord of the Rings, Ghost Busters, and many more to help bring the temperaments alive for a modern audience. People Patterns features an easy-to-score personality quiz, and easy-to-read chapters on dating & mating, parents & children, and talent & career (with over 750 job suggestions grouped according to type). The book begins with a brief history of the four temperaments (tracing the idea back to Hippocrates), and it ends with port

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Self Help

136 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2002

Reviews

[Courtney Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a Human Behavior in Organizations graduate course. It is an interesting look at 4 main personality types and their recurring instances through history and ancient writings. It labels and applies its so-called "four temperaments" and describes them in detail with applications in romance, parent-child, and workplace dynamics.

I enjoyed this book and can see how the four personality types recur and function as a useful lens in observing and understanding some basic psychology of the people around me. I particularly liked the author's inclusion of pop culture and media references as personality examples in characters from classic literature to popular TV to sci-fi epics. That was fun.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another take on personality types and how to interact with each other. As many others, people are divided into four types. This author has inserted humor and relevance with cultural references like the Beatles, Wizard of Oz, and Harry Potter.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not horrible but probably not worth your time if you already know about the sixteen types. Might be okay as a starting point for an absolute beginner though.

[Tatiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the four types and sixteen personalities. Nice that a test to determine your type was included. I also appreciated the pros and cons of pairings between the four types.

[Aqeelah · Rating 5 out of 5]

16) An omniscient narrator

Detailed analysis covering all temperaments

[Pearl Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this but im also a big psych/neuro person so

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm taking an online certification course in Temperament Theory and this is one of the books I had to read. As it is a fascinating subject and a useful reference for me, I'm giving it a good review. It's an easy read and it's quite enlightening to analyze different pop culture figures by way of their temperament.

[Milo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good material. Hit-and-miss delivery.

I was bothered that a book specifically about accepting people's different personalities still pushed heteronormativity and traditional gender roles / family values.

And then there was this: "Rationals [...] can't get enough stories about [...] heroic figures, such as goodguy gunslingers, triumphant warriors, successful explorers, brilliant scientists, and ingenious inventors." Seriously, the first two examples of "heroes" have to be violent ones? (If your "hero" condones violence as a means to an end, then you should seriously rethink your role models...)

The pop culture references felt forced. Some of them were effective, but not all -- it really felt like the editor said, "Hey, this would make the book more relatable. Do more of this," and the author couldn't manage to make the rest of the examples seem natural.

P.S. Please don't normalize spanking.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's taken me nearly nine months to finish this relatively short book. Not that it's hard to read at all - rather the reverse. It's an over-simplified book about Keirsey's temperament theory, based, unfortunately, around various film or TV characters, many of whom I had never heard of. Those I had heard of presented a very caricatured and unrealistic approach to the theory.

I suppose, for someone entirely unfamiliar with these theories, and well acquainted with TV shows and movies, it might provide a simple overview of the idea that there are four basic temperaments, each with its own needs, values and worldviews. But I would be concerned that it would lead to stereotyping and boxing in of these temperaments; fictional screen characters are almost bound to be two-dimensional with exaggerated traits, not real people. It's nothing like as easy to categorise our friends and families, let alone ourselves, and there's no hint in this book of the truth that our personality preferences may seem so obvious to us that we don't recognise them as preferences.

I have many books about temperament and the Myers-Briggs theories; even the shorter ones have more depth than this. Keirsey's 'Please Understand Me II' is considerably more helpful for an in-depth study of the system, without too much stereotyping, and any of the temperament booklets by Linda Berens provide excellent introductions with clear indications that we all have access to all traits, none of which is 'better' than any other.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Understanding personality theory can be a bit complicated but this book made the basic premise of the theory quite easy to grasp. As a novice in the field, I did not really know the back-story behind the creation of temperaments but this book began with a nice introduction to the creation of the theory. Human personalities, the book explains, have been a topic of curiosity for thousands of years (there's proof that Hippocrates was interested in the field) but it wasn't until Carl Jung built his theory that more insight was shed on the personalities. When Myers and Briggs came along, these personalities were categorized into 16 types. After that, David Kiersey subdivided these 16 types into 4 basic categories (Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, and Rational) that included 4 types. Montgomery was very detailed and covered topics such as love relationships, parenting types, and careers. I really appreciated that he provided pop culture references such as Harry Potter's Sorting Ceremony (I'm an Idealist so, according to Montgomery, I belong in the Gryffindor home) and Star Trek. Overall, the book was an easy read and at times I felt like I was reading a really detailed horoscope. However, Montgomery makes it clear that our personality type is always in flux and his descriptions of the personalities are never outrageous nor pompous like some horoscopes can be.

Good read, in my opinion.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want a simplified explanation of Keirsey's four temperaments (Artisans, Guardians, Idealists and Rationals) I'd recommend this book.

It includes a short form personality quiz and brief descriptions of different personality types. It also has some nice examples of the temperaments based on popular and well known fictional characters.

If you want to get more in depth on the temperaments I'd recommend Please Understand Me II. But this book is a great as a starting point, supplement, or quick reference of the different personality types.

[Erica J]

I'm gearing up to read this book...it's about the Meyers-Briggs personality type indicator test, which is in my opinion a great tool to understand others (and yourself)...maybe I'll get around to reading it soon...

[Charmaine Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great review of Keirsey's book Please Understand Me II with Montgomery's own insights. Includes references to pop-culture and literature. Also includes condensed version of Keirsey's temperament sorter.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book to keep in your library for years to come. A spin on the Myers-Briggs personality types. Discusses temperaments (relating both to adults and children) and how they relate to the world around them. Thank you Ford Family Foundation for including this in your Select Books program!

[Masnita · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting.. i should read this book earlier.

[Donna Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was a really neat book and I liked how the Author compared your personality to things of today!! A must read for everyone struggling with interpersonal skills!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you can handle Kiersey's book, it is worth it; this is a good, more accessible version saying basically the same thing. A few of his explanations resonated with me more than Keirsey's.