Temperament is hypothesized to be associated with biological factors, but these have proven difficult to test directly. And I don’t blame them at all, it’s pretty difficult to prove. Temperament is a configuration of observable personality traits, such as habits of communication, patterns of action, and sets of characteristic attitudes, values, and talents. It also comprises of personal needs, the kinds of contributions that individuals make in the workplace, and the roles they play in society. Temperaments are quite interesting to study. The Greek physician Hippocrates who systemized and developed it into a medical theory. He believed certain human moods, emotions and behaviours were caused by body fluids (called "humors"): blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Therefore, we have four temperamental categories which Galen named "sanguine", "melancholic", "choleric" and "phlegmatic" after the bodily humors. Each was the result of an excess of one of the humors that produced, in turn, the imbalance in paired qualities.
Each of the four types of humours corresponded to a different personality type.
Sanguine
The Sanguine temperament personality is fairly extroverted. People of a sanguine temperament tend to enjoy social gatherings and making new friends. They tend to be creative and often daydream. However, some alone time is crucial for those of this temperament. Sanguine can also mean very sensitive, compassionate and thoughtful. Sanguine personalities generally struggle with following tasks all the way through, are chronically late, and tend to be forgetful and sometimes a little sarcastic.(yep! I said it!) Often, when pursuing a new hobby, interest is lost quickly when it ceases to be engaging or fun. They are very much people persons. They are talkative and not shy. (shy? Nope, not at all)
Choleric
A person who is choleric is a doer. They have 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. They like to be leaders and in charge of everything. (I should say they love power, hehehe)
Melancholic
A person who is a thoughtful ponderer has a melancholic disposition. Often very considerate, melancholics can be highly creative in activities such as poetry and art- and can become occupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world. A melancholic is also often a perfectionist. They are often self-reliant and independent.
Phlegmatic
Phlegmatics tend to be self-content and kind. They can be very accepting and affectionate. They may be very receptive and shy and often prefer stability to uncertainty and change. They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators and diplomats. ( mostly the head masters and proprietors of institutes, they have the tendency of bonding with kids easier)
Christian writer, Tim LaHaye, has written extensively on this in his book, “Why we act the way we do”. And it has really helped a lot in understanding the whole idea of temperaments. In order to really understand the whole concept, i highly recommend this book and a couple other books and articles. It’s quite surprising that very few people know what temperament really is all about. And i feel it’s quite important that you have an idea because it helps you in dealing with people better and bonding with them..
Temperament blends or mixtures..............
LaHaye 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.
Pretty funny i admit, but it gives a basic understanding of each of the temperament types.
