Why Him, Why Her? By Helen Fisher

Why Him, Why Her?: Understanding Your Personality Type and Finding the Perfect Match by Helen Fisher
Audio CD
published by Macmillan Audio in 2009
ISBN-13: 9781427206275

Type: {Impress Your Friends Read: notable; prize-winner or all around intelligent crowd conversation piece.}
Rating: {Me Likey: Enjoyable! Particularly for fans of this genre.}

Why You’re Reading It:

• You are curious about the ways that different personalities work
• You often wonder why certain people chose each other in relationships
• You want to better understand someone who you are in a relationship (family, friend, or romantic)

What I Thought:

Why Him, Why Her is marketed as a dating book (see the subtitle), but I think the author did herself a disservice by doing this. Yes, dating books are a hot market, but this book will, most likely, not often be picked up by the people who will like it the most. It is more of a psychology book about personality types. The author provides a test for the reader to take (if you are listening to it, the test is available on the last CD via your computer), and then continues on to tell you about the four personality types: Explorer, Builder, Director, and Negotiator. In Fisher’s approach, we all have one dominate type and one sub type. Some of us will have several dominate or sub types. I was (almost) even across the board, though Negotiator was the highest by a couple of points with Builder and Director basically tied in as sub-personality with Explorer not far behind.

Although I really enjoyed listening to Fisher’s explanation of studies she has performed and data she has collected (I adore hearing about why people act/chose/live the way they do), I often questioned the validity of her research. I also had a hard time believing the personalities were as black and white as Fisher would have us believe.

However, this is an engaging book for those of you who are curious about why people are different from each other and how these differences can work together or separate us. I think it would be a very fun test to take and book to read (or listen to) with a significant other. In fact, while listening to this book, I found myself thinking of friends and relatives that I know well rather than potential boyfriends who I only know slightly. I’m pretty sure I know which categories all of my loved ones fit into. Now if only I could just get them to take the test and let me evaluate them…