The New Personality Self-portrait is the only guide to personality types based on the American Psychiatric Association's just-published official diagnostic system - the DSM -IV - and written by one of today's leading personality researchers. A long-time backlist bestseller in its previous edition, it has now been completely updated to include all the fascinating new information about how we become who we are-and how we can change. The self-test in The New Personality Self-portrait is already used extensively in mental health and business settings. It reveals a profile so personal, so accurate, that it's as individual as a fingerprint. Readers discover their unique mix of 14 distinct personality styles - and learn how those traits impact their relationships, work and home life. Fascinating case histories show each style in action, with tips on how to live and work with every type, and exercises for turning vulnerabilities into strengths - plus warnings about when individual differences develop into personality disorders.

In 1984, it first occurred to us to devise a system of - and test for - normal personality styles based on the new system for classifying personality disorders that had recently been developed by the American Psychiatric Association, which had never been attempted. We believed then, as now, that the disorders of personality that psychiatrists have identified can be seen as extremes along a continuum of normal, adaptive, individual personality differences. Thus we set out to identify and describe these normal personality styles. Six years later, in 1990, The Personality Self-Portrait was published. Little did we imagine how well it would be received and how eagerly it would be applied by researchers, clinicians, human resources departments, teachers, students, individuals wishing to know more about themselves, and even dating services!

We have prepared this new edition of both the book and the test for two principal reasons. For one, the system upon which we had based our first edition has changed. The personality styles represented in our first edition corresponded to the categories of personality disorder published in the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-III-R: the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Third Edition-Revised). The 1994 publication of the fourth edition of the manual, the DSM-IV, brought with it some changes to the personality disorder classifications and diagnostic criteria, which we have reflected in our own schema and revised test in The New Personality Self-Portrait.

Changes in this edition also reflect the data we have collected since the original publication. The earlier test was devised primarily as a descriptive tool. Its almost immediate adoption into formal settings necessitated information as to its scientific validity, which was begun at several sites. This new test incorporates results of that initial work, and the process of data collection continues. In addition, we have received valuable feedback from researchers, readers, and mental health professionals throughout the world, to whom we are extremely grateful.

We encourage continued involvement of and reactions from those who wish to use this system. Although the test that appears in this book is intended only for personal use and may not be copied, additional test booklets and software, plus research permission, is available from: Multi-Health Systems, Inc., telephone toll-free 1-800-456-3003 (U.S.) or 1-800-268-6011 (Canada).

John M. Oldham, M.D.
Lois B. Morris

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© 1995 by John Oldham.

Tags: Personality, Mental Health, Personal Growth