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This article is about the four humours. For George Balanchine's 1946 ballet, see The Four Temperaments (ballet). For the symphony by Carl Nielsen, see Symphony No. 2 (Nielsen). This article is about the modern psychological theory of temperament. For "four humors" in Greco-Roman medicine, see humorism .   Four Temperaments is a theory of psychology that stems from the ancient medical concept of humorism, or "humours" in UK English.
[edit] History and developmentTemperament theory has its roots in the ancient four humors theory. It may have origins in ancient Egypt[1] or Mesopotamia,[2] but it was the Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC) who systemized and developed it into a medical theory. He believed certain human moods, emotions and behaviors were caused by body fluids (called "humors"): blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Next, Galen (AD 131-200) developed the first typology of temperament in his dissertation De temperamentis, and searched for physiological reasons for different behaviors in humans. In The Canon of Medicine, Avicenna (980-1037 AD) then extended the theory of temperaments to encompass "emotional aspects, mental capacity, moral attitudes, self-awareness, movements and dreams."[3] Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654) disregarded the idea of fluids as defining human behavior, and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), Alfred Adler (1879-1937), Erich Adickes (1866-1925), Eduard Spränger (1914), Ernst Kretschmer (1920), and Erich Fromm (1947) all theorized on the four temperaments (with different names) and greatly shaped our modern theories of temperament. Hans Eysenck (1916-1997) was one of the first psychologists to analyze personality differences using a psycho-statistical method (factor analysis), and his research led him to believe that temperament is biologically based. The factors he proposed in his book Dimensions of Personality were Neuroticism (N) which was the tendency to experience negative emotions, and the second was Extraversion (E) which was the tendency to enjoy positive events, especially social ones. By pairing the two dimensions, Eysenck noted how the results were similar to the four ancient temperaments. Other researchers developed similar systems, many of which did not use the ancient temperament names, and several paired extroversion with a different factor, which would determine relationship/task-orientation. Examples are DiSC assessment, Social Styles, and a theory that adds a fifth temperament. One of the most popular today is the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, whose four temperaments were based largely on the Greek gods Apollo, Dionysus, Epimetheus and Prometheus, and were mapped to the 16 types of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). They were renamed (SP=Artisan, SJ=Guardian, NF=Idealist, NT=Rational). Rather than using extroversion and introversion (E/I) and task/people focus, like other theories, KTS mapped the temperaments to "Sensing" and "Intuition" (S/N, renamed "concrete" and "abstract") paired with a new category, "Cooperative" and "pragmatic" . When "Role-Informative" and "Role-Directive" ( corresponding to people/task-orientation), and finally E/I are factored in, you attain the 16 types. Finally, the Interaction Styles of Linda V. Berens combines Directing and Informing with E/I to form another group of "styles" which greatly resemble the ancient temperaments, and these are mapped together with the Keirsey Temperaments onto the 16 types. [edit] The four temperament typesEach of the four types of humours corresponded to a different personality type. [edit] SanguineA person who is sanguine is generally light-hearted, funloving, a people person, loves to entertain, spontaneous, and confident. However they can be arrogant, cocky, and indulgent. He/She can be day-dreamy and off-task to the point of not accomplishing anything and can be impulsive, possibly acting on whims in an unpredictable fashion. [edit] CholericA person who is choleric is a doer. They have a lot of ambition, energy, and passion, and try to instill it in others. They can dominate people of other temperaments, especially phlegmatic types. Many great charismatic military and political figures were cholerics. [edit] MelancholicA person who is a thoughtful ponderer has a melancholic disposition. Often very kind and considerate, melancholics can be highly creative – as in poetry and art - but also can become overly pre-occupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world, thus becoming depressed. A melancholic is also often a perfectionist, being very particular about what they want and how they want it in some cases. This often results in being dissatisfied with one's own artistic or creative works and always pointing out to themselves what could and should be improved. They are often loners and most times choose to stay alone and reflect. [edit] PhlegmaticWhile phlegmatic are generally self-content and kind, their shy personality can often inhibit enthusiasm in others and make themselves lazy and resistant to change. They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators and diplomats. Like the sanguine personality, the phlegmatic has many friends. However the phlegmatic is more reliable and compassionate; these characteristics typically make the phlegmatic a more dependable friend. [edit] Decline in popularityWhen the concept of the temperaments was on the wane, many critics dropped the phlegmatic, or defined it purely negatively, such as the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, as the absence of temperament. In the Five Temperaments theory, the classical Phlegmatic temperament is in fact deemed to be a neutral temperament, whereas the "relationship-oriented introvert" position traditionally held by the Phlegmatic is declared to be a new "fifth temperament." [edit] Modern adaptationsChristian writer Tim LaHaye has attempted to repopularize the ancient temperaments through his books.[4][5][6] In Waldorf education and anthroposophy, the temperaments are used to help understand personality. They are seen as avenues into teaching, with many different types of blends, which can be utilized to help with both discipline and defining the methods used with individual children and class balance. Psychologist and writer Florence Littauer also describes the four personality types in her book Personality Plus. One of the most current assessments of the four temperaments, Personality Dimensions, was created in 2003 in Canada, utilizing the work of Linda Berens, David Keirsey, et al.[7] Author Rupert Thomson used the four temperaments in his dystopian novel Divided Kingdom as the basis for dividing the population of a futuristic society. [edit] Temperament blendsLaHaye believes there are twelve mixtures of the four temperaments, representing people who have the traits of two temperaments, called Mel-Chlor, Chlor-San, San-Phleg, Phleg-Mel, Mel-San, Chlor-Phleg; and the reverse of these: Chlor-Mel, San-Chlor, Phleg-San, Mel-Phleg, San-Mel, and Phleg-Chlor. The order of temperaments in these pairs was based on which temperament was the "dominant" one (this is usually expressed by percentages). A person can also be a blend of three temperaments. Other four-type models, such as Social Styles, also have similar blends q.v., and in the five temperament theory, the blends are defined along the three areas of "Inclusion", "Control", and "Affection". The blends expand the number of types to sixteen (twelve blends of two types, plus the four pure types) or more (for blends of three). (blends of three) It is equally important to consider the possibility that the four temperaments may not refer to personality but to mood. The distinction between mood and personality has largely been lost in modern psychology. Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic and Phlegmatic might equally well refer to the moods of "activity", "stressful anxiety", "sadness or depressed" and "calm or placidity". This interpretation of the four temperaments, allows the medical approach to the four humours to be better understood (Miller Liz Dr, 2009). Manipulation of the four humours was about changing the way people felt, rather than changing their personality type. [edit] See also[edit] References
Miller L, Mood Mapping 2009 [edit] External links
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