Why Him? Why Her?: Finding Real Love by Understanding Your Personality Type » (Bargain)

Helen Fisher, Ph.D., one of the world’s leading experts on the nature of romantic love and attachment, is the chief scientific adviser to Chemistry.com, a division of Match.com. She is the author of four previous books, two of which—The First Sex and The Anatomy of Love—were New York Times Notable Books. A research professor of anthropology at Rutgers University, she lives in New York City.

A groundbreaking book about how your personality type determines who you love.

Erica L. Foley - Library Journal

Fisher (anthropology, Rutgers Univ.; Why We Love) presents her research for Chemistry.com on personality types and long-term relationships. Paralleling the theories of Hippocrates, Carl Jung, David Keirsey, and others, she posits that people fall into four different groups of inherited temperament: explorers, builders, directors, and negotiators. She offers a test for readers to find their type and thoroughly explains the traits of each temperament and the corresponding chemicals and hormones. To illustrate these traits, Fisher assigns well-known historical figures to the types. Next, readers learn what each type is looking for in a mate, what sort of connection the different types hope to make, and how they behave in dating and relationships. Fisher explores each of the ten possible relationship combinations of the four types, describing strengths and pitfalls of each. There is also a section on the biology of first impressions and early dating behaviors. Readers seeking a long-term relationship will be interested in Fisher's ideas, and her book is recommended for larger public libraries.

1 Eavesdropping on Mother Nature: Why Him? Why Her? 1

2 Finding Your Personality Type: The Personality Type Test 18

3 The Hand You're Dealt: Nature's Dice 24

4 Drink Life to the Lees: The Explorer 42

5 A Pillar of Society: The Builder 62

6 Always to the Stars: The Director 83

7 The Philosopher King: The Negotiator 103

8 Play Mates, Help Mates, Mind Mates, Soul Mates: The Chemistry of Dating 124

9 Falling in Love: The Funnel 142

10 The One: How We Love 160

11 Putting Chemistry to Work: Advice from Nature 193

Notes 223

Appendix The Mate Choice Study 237

Bibliography 245

Acknowledgments 275

Index 277