YOUR PERSONALITY AND HOW TO LIVE WITH IT

Psychiatrist Young concedes that ""the human personality is still largely a mystery,"" but that revelation comes as something of a shock after a demystification process that involves twelve rigidly defined ""personality styles."" Young asserts airily that our individual personality styles are inherited from only one parent (no blends allowed), that we are incapable of exchanging our particular style for another, and that our very health and happiness depend upon making the most of what we've got. The twelve styles--from ""Adaptable"" to ""Perceptive"" to ""Ambitious"" to ""Conscientious""--are described in terms of such things as basic urges; typical features of childhood, adolescence, courtship and marriage; and alternatives to the dissatisfactions of each style. (The last often read like admonitions to change your style, which supposedly you can't do, which is confusing--if the ""Accomplishing Personality"" lives by the ""urge to dazzle,"" what use to moan ""slow down, you move too fast""?) Despite Young's contentions to the contrary, most readers will probably identify strongly with more than one style and find the whole categorizing effort as prescriptive as a horoscope.