Synopses & Reviews
In the past few decades, personality psychology has made considerable progress in raising new questions about human natureand providing some provocative answers. New scientific research has transformed old ideas about personality based on the theories of Freud, Jung, and the humanistic psychologies of the nineteen sixties, which gave rise to the simplistic categorizations of the Meyer-Briggs Inventory and the 'enneagream'. But the general public still knows little about the new science and what it reveals about who we are.
In Me, Myself, and Us, Brian Little, one of the psychologists who helped re-shape the field, provides the first in-depth exploration of the new personality science and its provocative findings for general readers. The book explores questions that are rooted in the origins of human consciousness but are as commonplace as yesterdays breakfast conversation. Are our first impressions of other peoples personalities usually fallacious? Are creative individuals essentially maladjusted? Are our personality traits, as William James put it set like plaster” by the age of thirty? Is a belief that we are in control of our lives an unmitigated good? Do our singular personalities comprise one unified self or a confederacy of selves, and if the latter, which of our mini-me-s do we offer up in marriage or mergers? Are some individuals genetically hard-wired for happiness? Which is the more viable path toward human flourishing, the pursuit of happiness or the happiness of pursuit?
Little provides a resource for answering such questions, and a framework through which readers can explore the personal implications of the new science of personality. Questionnaires and interactive assessments throughout the book facilitate self-exploration, and clarify some of the stranger aspects of our own conduct and that of others. Brian Little helps us see ourselves, and other selves, as somewhat less perplexing and definitely more intriguing.
This is not a self-help book, but students at Harvard who took the lecture course on which it is based claim that it changed their lives.
Review
Insightful”
New York Times Book ReviewA researcher who is both a scholar and an experienced motivational speaker makes the subject of personality psychology come to life
Entertaining, enlightening and refreshingly light on psychobabble.” Kirkus Reviews
Humorous and wise” Acadiana Lifestyle Magazine
Brian Little is one of the wisest, funniest, kindest, and most erudite people I have ever met, and in this book youll be treated to a generous helping of all these personality traits. A monumentally important book for anyone who wants to understand their colleagues, their loved ones and their very own selves.” Susan Cain, author of the New York Times bestseller Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Cant Stop Talking
Insightful, clever and practical. Professor Little is a genius, making personality psychology not only relevant but essential knowledge in the modern world. This book is one aha” moment after another, each rocking your world and upending the way you think about your coworkers, your relationships and your life.” Shawn Achor, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage and CEO of GoodThink
"Me, Myself, and Us is a masterpiece. With extraordinary wit and wisdom, distinguished psychologist Brian Little offers startling insights about our trivial pursuits and magnificent obsessions. It should come with a warning label: this book will fundamentally change the way you see yourself and everyone you know." Adam Grant, Wharton professor and bestselling author of Give and Take
"Me, Myself, and Us is a truly gripping look at questions at the heart of the human experience. Why do we do what we do? How does our environment shape our nature and our nature our environment? Are some people just innately happier than other? In crisp and lucid prose, one of the giants in the field of personality science tackles these questions and many more. I defy you to read this book and not change the way you think about your friends, your family, and yourself." Daniel H. Pink, author of DRIVE and A WHOLE NEW MIND
Synopsis
How does your personality shape your life
and what, if anything, can you do about it?Are you hardwired for happiness, or born to brood? Do you think youre in charge of your future, or do you surf the waves of unknowable fate? Would you be happier, or just less socially adept, if you were less concerned about what other people thought of you? And what about your Type A” spouse: is he or she destined to have a heart attack, or just drive you to drink?
In the past few decades, new scientific research has transformed old ideas about the nature of human personality. Neuroscientists, biologists, and psychological scientists have reexamined the theories of Freud and Jung as well as the humanistic psychologies of the 1960s, upending the simplistic categorizations of personality types,” and developing new tools and methods for exploring who we are. Renowned professor and pioneering research psychologist Brian R. Little has been at the leading edge of this new science. In this wise and witty book he shares a wealth of new data and provocative insights about who we are, why we act the way we do, what we canand cantchange, and how we can best thrive in light of our nature.”
Me, Myself, and Us explores questions that are rooted in the origins of human consciousness but are as commonplace as yesterdays breakfast conversation, such as whether our personality traits are set” by age thirty or whether our brains and selves are more plastic. He considers what our personalities portend for our health and success, and the extent to which our well-being depends on the personal projects we pursue.
Through stories, studies, personal experiences, and entertaining interactive assessments, Me, Myself, and Us provides a lively, thought-provoking, and ultimately optimistic look at the possibilities and perils of being uniquely ourselves, while illuminating the selves of the familiar strangers we encounter, work with, and love.
About the Author
Dr. Brian Little is an internationally acclaimed scholar and speaker in the field of personality and motivational psychology. Professor Little is currently at Cambridge University where he is a Distinguished Scholar and Director of the Social Ecology Research Group and a Distinguished Associate of the world renowned Cambridge Psychometrics Centre. Brian is also a Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada and has previously taught at McGill, Oxford, and Harvard Universities. He was elected as a Favorite Professor” by the graduating classes of Harvard for three consecutive years.
Professor Littles extensive research in personality psychology has been recognized with major awards, and he has published extensively in the fields of personality psychology and human development. He received his Ph.D.from the University of California at Berkeley, and now lives in Cambridge, England and Ottawa, Canada.