Everything about Bodily Humour totally explained
Four Temperaments is a theory of
psychology that stems from the ancient medical concept of
four humors, or "humours" in UK English.
History and development
Temperament theory has its roots in the ancient
four humors theory of the Greek doctor
Hippocrates (460-370 BC), who believed certain human moods, emotions and behaviors were caused by body fluids (called "humors"):
blood,
yellow bile,
black bile, and
phlegm. Next,
Galen (131-200 AD) 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) then extended the theory of temperaments to encompass "
emotional aspects, mental capacity,
moral attitudes,
self-awareness, movements and
dreams."
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.
- High N, High E = Choleric
- High N, Low E = Melancholic (also called "Melancholy"/pl. "-ies")
- Low N, High E = Sanguine
- Low N, Low E = Phlegmatic
Other researchers developed similar systems, many of which didn't 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" (loosely based on Judging and Perception, or J/P). When "Role-Informative" and "Role-Directive" (loosely connected with Thinking/Feeling or T/F, and 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.
The four personality types
Each of the four types of humours corresponded to a different personality type.
Sanguine
Sanguine indicates the personality of an individual with the temperament of
blood, the
season of
spring (wet and hot), and the
classical element of
air. A person who is sanguine is generally arrogant, cocky, indulgent, and confident. 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. This also describes the
manic phase of a
bipolar disorder. Also, the humour of Sanguine is usually treated with leeches.
Choleric
Choleric corresponds to the fluid of yellow
bile, the season of
summer (dry and hot), and the element of
fire. A person who is choleric is a doer and a leader. 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. On the negative side, they're easily angered or bad-tempered.
In folk medicine, a baby referred to as having "colic" is one who cries frequently and seems to be constantly angry. This is an adaptation of "choleric," although no twentieth/twenty-first century scholar or doctor of
medicine would attribute the condition to bile. Similarly, a person described as "bilious" is mean-spirited, suspicious, and angry. This, again, is an adaptation of the old
humour theory "choleric."
The disease
Cholera gained its name from choler (bile).
Melancholic
Melancholic is the personality of an individual characterized by
black bile; hence (
Greek μελας,
melas, "black", + χολη,
kholé, "bile"); a person who was a thoughtful ponderer had 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. The temperament is associated with the season of
autumn (dry and cold) and the element
earth. A
melancholy 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 unsatisfied with one's own artistic or creative works and always pointing out to themselves what could and should be improved.
This temperament describes the
depressed phase of a
bipolar disorder.
There is no bodily fluid corresponding to black bile; the
medulla of the
adrenal glands, which decomposes very rapidly after
death, can be associated with it.
Phlegmatic
A
phlegmatic person is calm and
unemotional.
Phlegmatic means "pertaining to
phlegm", corresponds to the season of
winter (wet and cold), and connotes the element of
water.
While phlegmatics 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.
Historical Development
Decline in popularity
When 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."
Modern adaptations
Christian writer
Tim LaHaye has attempted to repopularize the ancient temperaments through his books. 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.
Temperament Blends
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. 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 16 (12 blends of 2 types, plus the four pure types) or more (for blends of three).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Bodily Humour'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://four_temperaments.totallyexplained.com">Four Temperaments Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
