Decode Your Personality: Go Beyond Myers-Briggs With 64 Brain-Based Subtypes Paperback – 2 Nov. 2023

Asked recently by a fellow Jungian Coach for a recommended book on Myers-Briggs, this was the book I suggested. It’s a text book I’ll return to again and again.Dr Nardi is a leading thinker in the area and has brought his expertise in brain imaging to throw more light and nuance on the Myers-Briggs types. It's enabled me to see how type patterns can manifest very differently, through different focuses and experiences in life. And although, as the title indicates, it goes beyond Myers-Briggs, it includes a solid introduction to the basics.What I really appreciated about this book is that it’s helped me enormously in finding the best fit type for more than one person, through exploring the subtypes of each one. Dr Nardi explains that we might identify with, for example, the Harmonizing subtype of several types, but when we look at the other subtypes, we should be able to relate fairly well to all of the facets of our best fit type, which won’t be the case with the subtypes of the other types.The coaching application chapter is invaluable. As a coach, I’ve been given insights into working with the subtypes of clients, and have felt better able to support them.I can’t recommend this book highly enough, to anyone who wants a deep dig into type.

Attempting to encapsulate the breadth and depth of this book in a single paragraph is likely an exercise in futility. But let's try. On the one hand, I can imagine handing someone just the chapter for their type, and I mostly agree that it would stand on its own for those who just care to read about themselves, or someone else, without getting into the underlying mechanics. On the other hand, for those who are drawn to the intricacies of personality theory, this crisply packaged book demands a thorough, engaged study from beginning to end, rather than the usual flip through. Unlike most books on this topic, it offers a behind-the-scenes on how the author and others have arrived at four subtypes, or as he urges us to think of them, variants. Later chapters sequentially unpack major elements like "neurotic zone", "hidden aspirations", and "yin and yang" aspects of each function. That chapter was adapted from an interview, and the style reveals what's possible if we were to capture the author and sit him down to get explanations, rather than descriptions. Overall, the whole thing is a resource that invites exploration, reflection, and a deep dive into the paths people develop along, not just how they are. Indeed, personality is a continuously evolving project involving both nature and nurture, where some aspects of ourselves are constant and others changeable. It is an invaluable addition to the library of anyone who approaches the study of personality with an analytical eye and a hunger for more.

Truly, this book explains a lot. I particularly enjoyed reading about the author’s journey in chapter 2. That drew me in and answered my bigger questions about the scientific validation. The neuroscience research is what drew me to this resource, and his inspirations such as Dr. Helen Fisher's work also intrigued me to read her research as well.Each Myers Briggs type gets a chapter: There is the usual general type ideas, plus descriptions of 4 brain-based subtypes: Normalizing, Creative, Dominant, and Harmonizing. There are also paragraphs about neuroticism and aspirations. I was a bit mystified by this later section since the paragraphs are short. But I was delighted to find much longer discussions later in the book. In particular, the chapter about manifesting the yin and yang sides of yourself was also very interesting and is presented in a more conversational tone. The idea reminded me of the author’s other book on Jung and yoga.The book really pegs me, my type and my journey through the subtypes over the years. I was raised Normalizing, and later in my late 20s and 30s, I went through a profound Creative phase before I circled back to Normalizing. I can also see the Harmonizing side when I sit and help someone, or a Dominant side when I must stand up and take charge. It may be easy for readers to miss that Normalizing is also about making something a new norm, which I really relate to. Whereas, I suspect that the Creative subtype is more for rebellious young people who are finding themselves, and then they need to integrate what they discover into a career. The author does not discuss that in the a coaching chapter, and I really wished there were more examples there, since I am not a coach or therapist. Ideally, I suggest the book be expanded for more exploration of how people move through subtypes at different times in their lives. There is probably a natural cycle or progression. Hopefully, future research will reveal this.I still need to read more of the types. So far, each chapter definitely gives me a clearer understanding of people I know. In particular for relationships, whether working together or romantic, it is not enough to think of someone's type since the subtypes may clash, or be a surprising match.Some other reviewer here claims there are a bunch of typos. That is untrue. In fact, I found the book very readable. The author does an incredible job making this complex topic very approachable.To summarize, this is an amazing summary of many years of laboratory work on the author’s part, and I commend him for doing so much to advance our understanding of Myers Briggs personalities.

I bought this for the wife she loves it this is the subject she is most interested in learning so 5 stars

If you want to avoid more confusion about personality (it is stated that personality can change every 2 year but the "original" will remain the same...), is better to avoid this book and read more about Big Five traits, for examples.

I’m an MBTI nerd. There was a lot here for me to learn and I devoured it. What I found difficult was at time the vagueness of descriptions, but thankfully later in the book there would be a better explanation. That took off a star. What got me was the amount of spelling mistakes. So much that I had to look and see who the publisher is and found that it proudly states who did the proof reading. It’s an expensive book to have so many mistakes. And at one point it explained what the blue text was to indicate - there isn’t any blue text. Again, it’s an expensive book. If it’s meant to have blue text, why isn’t there blue text?

I've only just started soaking up the material from this book, and I can already tell Nardi's new content has deepened my knowledge on the topic and supported me in my deep dive into understanding and using Carl Jung's personality theories in my life. Learning about the four subtypes within each Myers Briggs type is feeling really rich and exciting. This is a great book for anyone looking to understand the cognitive functions and the specific ways they can manifest in people's personalities. I highly recommend this book to people who have a passion for personal growth, mbti nerds, and really anyone interested in systems of personality. Dr. Nardi uses brain imaging scans to support his work and findings surrounding personality differences, it's really fascinating stuff.