I read this book quite a few years ago but I really enjoyed the updated version. She has so much wisdom about this topic. I teach school and I have my students take this test. It really helps me to understand them and plan accordingly. It has also helped me to understand my kids and husband. I highly recommend it to parents and educators. Very enlightening!

Reviewer Pascal Schoneburg complains, "If you're totally new to personality theories and or psychology as a whole, this book may be for you - if you have aquired a knowledge foundation in psychology this book feels almost like an insult." Well, Pascal, I have a master's degree in clinical psychology and I find Littauer's simple, foundational explanations the easiest to explain, illustrate, and understand one's essential personality. Go ahead and work with other systems that give you a possible fit in 16 categories, or 9, or whatever--and see how easily you remember what you've been taught.

Over the years the study of innate temperament has been vilified by the "nurture" camp of "nature versus nurture" debaters, and by those who believe that Hippocrates and Galen, who introduced and refined the four temperament theory, were unwitting occultists. It only took a couple of thousand years for brain research to reach today's sophistication so that the development of neural pathways is a given and temperament is only argued from the standpoint of how many there are (3? 4? 5?).

I think what Pascal is unhappy about is that this treatment of temperament is too simplistic for him. Well, if one is not a psychologist but has a fascination with and love for what makes us the way we are; and if one is a speaker interested in communicating ancient truths with simple and memorable illustrations; and if one desires to help people hold onto a concept instead of discarding it immediately because it's just too complex, then this book is fabulous. If you are none of the above, find a neuropsychology text and don't beat up on people who know what they are trying to accomplish. Feeling a little Melancholy, Pascal?

I have used their personality test sheet which I really liked so I bought the book to deepen my understanding. This book speaks to the reader at an elementary level, like talking to a child. I found it a bit upsetting and discontinued the book after chapter 1. If you're totally new to personality theories and or psychology as a whole, this book may be for you - if you have aquired a knowledge foundation in psychology this book feels almost like an insult. It made me feel like the authors think that the readers are like little dumb children that need stupid 'real life' examples after every single point... This book should in fact be in the children section or maybe young adults.

My marriage was a mess and I was ready to throw in the towel when my husband and I came across this book. That was 14 years ago. We realized we were sabotaging each other instead of appreciating each other. When my husband (melancholy) would retreat for some quiet time I (choleric) would take it personally and think he didn't want to be around me and was very hurt. I would then emesh in him which drew him away even further. Once we identified our strengths and weaknesses we realized the things we had origionally found attractive in each other were rubbing us the wrong way now. We found that our weaknesses were the other ones strengths and we began complimenting each other instead of resisting. We also saw how this impacted our whole family (4 kids all teenagers at the same time!) and how we could work with them differently. We taught them about the personalities as well which helped them get along better with each other. What a life changing book for us and one that I am grateful for. Bonnie McElwain