The Research

Just Your Type : Create the Relationship You've Always Wanted Using the Secrets of Personality Type
by Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron-Tieger

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Practically everyone who has any experience with Personality Type finds it immediately applicable to their personal relationships. Whether we're presenting workshops on team building or effective parenting or training career professionals, seminar participants inevitably ask us about their relationships: Is theirs a relationship that's destined to succeed or fail? Is there such a thing as one perfect type for them? Are some types naturally better suited to each other than others? Can opposites stay together? Although over the years we accumulated plenty of anecdotal information on the subject, until now, there hasn't been the kind of empirical and rigorous scientific research needed to test our hypothesis: The more similar two people's types are, the more they understand each other and the easier the relationship is. And the less two people have in common, the harder they'll both have to work to understand each other - but they can still have a great relationship!

We began by designing a comprehensive research study - the first of its kind - to support the evidence we'd seen for twenty years among Type users, workshop participants, family, friends, and associates. We designed an extensive, anonymous, on-line survey to help us discover, among other things, what people of all sixteen personality types considered most important in a relationship. People also told us about the most common sources of conflict and what they believed was the secret of a satisfying relationship. Respondents shared their experiences, their hopes, and their disappointments. Specifically, they told us the kinds of things that brought them closer to their partners and what drove them apart. And they volunteered tips they'd picked up along the way to help make things easier, less contentious, and more gratifying. Well over a thousand people participated in the survey: they represented each of the sixteen types, all fifty states, all ages, all educational and economic backgrounds, and all different types of relationships - very new ones, second and third marriages, and unions that have lasted more than fifty years.

Next we interviewed hundreds of couples of every combination about their relationships either over the phone or in person. These generous folks candidly shared their observations about their joys and frustrations. They told us their hard-won secrets of success and what they thought made their relationships satisfying. And, most important, they offered valuable advice for other couples of the same type combinations.

Our research showed that of the more than one thousand people from all walks of life who answered all the survey items, a striking 91 percent cited good communication as the single most important aspect of a satisfying relationship. Poor communication was cited as the most frequent and serious cause of conflict. Our findings are very clear: the better the communication, the more satisfied couples are with their relationships. Understanding Personality Type is a powerful tool for helping couples communicate better. Results and discoveries like these are included throughout this book to give you the kind of practical advice you've always wanted - the kind that really helps you to understand yourself and your partner and to communicate in new, more effective ways. Solving communication problems will help alleviate many other important challenges that couples face, such as parenting conflicts and sexual compatibility issues. Understanding your partner's language makes those issues infinitely easier to manage and resolve. So Just Your Type is first and foremost a communication guide.

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So, Who's This Book For, Anyway? And Do I Really Need It?

Unlike many of the dozens of other relationship advice books, Just Your Type is tailor-made for you and your partner. No matter your type (or your partner's type), this book is written specifically for you. Every one of the possible type combinations will find a section just for them. And it's designed for people in all stages of their relationships - couples just starting out as well as those who've been together for many years. And because people at different stages of development have different needs and face different challenges, we examined those age-specific concerns in our research. What we learned will help you no matter where you are.

Copyright © 2000 by Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger

About the Author

Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger have been married for many years, and are internationally recognized experts in the application of Personality Type. Their other books include the bestselling Do What You Are, Nurture by Nature, and, most recently, The Art of SpeedReading People. They live in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger have been married for many years, and are internationally recognized experts in the application of Personality Type. Their other books include the bestselling Do What You Are, Nurture by Nature, and, most recently, The Art of SpeedReading People. They live in West Hartford, Connecticut.