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{{Short description|Proto-psychological theory}}
{{About|the "four humors" in Greco-Roman medicine, a specific form of the more universal proto-medical concept of [[humorism]]|George Balanchine's 1946 ballet|The Four Temperaments (ballet)|the symphony by Carl Nielsen|Symphony No. 2 (Nielsen)}}
{{About|the "four humours" in Greco-Roman medicine, a specific form of the more universal proto-medical concept of [[humourism]]|the ballet by Paul Hindemith and George Balanchine|The Four Temperaments|the symphony by Carl Nielsen|Symphony No. 2 (Nielsen)}}
{{refimprove|date=September 2017}}
[[File:Lavater1792.jpg|thumb|350px|18th century depiction of the four temperaments<ref>Woodcut from Johann Kaspar Lavater, ''Physiognomische Fragmente zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntnis und Menschenliebe'' (1775–1778)</ref><br />Phlegmatic and choleric (above)<br />Sanguine and melancholic (below)]]
[[File:Lavater1792.jpg|thumb|300px|18th-century depiction of the four temperaments:<ref>Woodcut from Johann Kaspar Lavater, ''Physiognomische Fragmente zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntnis und Menschenliebe'' (1775–1778)</ref> phlegmatic and choleric above, sanguine and melancholic below]]
The '''four temperament theory''' is a [[wikt:protopsychological|proto-psychological]] theory which suggests that there are four fundamental personality types: '''sanguine''', '''choleric''', '''[[melancholic]]''', and '''phlegmatic'''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thetransformedsoul.com/additional-studies/miscellaneous-studies/the-four-human-temperaments|title=The Four Human Temperaments|website=www.thetransformedsoul.com|access-date=2018-01-03|archive-date=2022-07-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707113424/http://www.thetransformedsoul.com/additional-studies/miscellaneous-studies/the-four-human-temperaments|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Merenda|first=P. F.|date=1987|title=Toward a Four-Factor Theory of Temperament and/or Personality|journal=Journal of Personality Assessment|volume=51|issue=3|pages=367–374|doi=10.1207/s15327752jpa5103_4|pmid=16372840}}</ref> Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures among the types where an individual's personality types overlap and they share two or more temperaments. Greek physician [[Hippocrates]] (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) described the four temperaments as part of the ancient medical concept of [[humourism]], that four bodily fluids affect human personality traits and behaviours. Modern medical science does not define a fixed relationship between internal secretions and personality, although some psychological [[personality type]] systems use categories similar to the Greek temperaments.
'''Four temperaments''' is a proto-[[psychological]] theory that suggests that there are four fundamental personality types, '''sanguine''' (enthusiastic, active, and social), '''choleric''' (independent, self-confident, decisive), '''melancholic''' (analytical, detail oriented, deeper thinker and feeler), and '''phlegmatic''' (relaxed, peaceful, quiet). Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures of the types where individual share two or more temperaments.


The four temperament theory was abandoned after the 1850s.<ref name="MarksMurray2015">{{Bulleted list|{{cite book | last1=Marks | first1=David F. | last2=Murray | first2=Michael | last3=Evans | first3=Brian | last4=Estacio | first4=Emee Vida | title=Health Psychology | publisher=Sage | date=2015| isbn=978-1-4739-2759-9 | page=406 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wXqzCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA406 | quote=four bodily humours, blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. Little scope was left for psychological causation and this theory only really lost its hold on Western thinking in the 1850s. [...] The humoral theory was eventually abandoned following [...] Rudolf Virchow in the 1850s.}}|{{cite book|author=David F. Marks, Michael Murray, Brian Evans, Emee Vida Estacio|title=Health Psychology: Theory, Research and Practice|chapter=16 Illness and Personality|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZDtCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT555|date=2015|publisher=Sage Publications|isbn=978-1-4739-2758-2|page=PT555}}}}</ref>
The Greek [[physician]] [[Hippocrates]] (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) incorporated the four temperaments into his medical theories as part of the ancient medical concept of '''[[humorism]]''', that four [[bodily fluid]]s affect human [[personality trait]]s and [[behavior]]s. Later discoveries in [[biochemistry]] have led modern medical science to reject the theory of the four temperaments, although some [[personality type]] systems of varying scientific acceptance continue to use four or more categories of a similar nature.


== History and development ==
== History ==
Temperament theory has its roots in the ancient [[humorism|four humors]] theory. It may have origins in [[Ancient Egyptian medicine|ancient Egypt]]<ref name=Sertima-17>{{Cite book|last=van Sertima|first=Ivan |authorlink=Ivan van Sertima|year=1992|title=The Golden Age of the Moor|page=17|publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]]|isbn=1-56000-581-5|postscript=.}}</ref> or [[Mesopotamia]],<ref>{{Cite document|last=Sudhoff|first=Karl|authorlink=Karl Sudhoff|title=Essays in the History of Medicine|pages=67, 87, 104|year=1926|publisher=Medical Life Press, [[New York City|New York]]|postscript=.}}</ref> but it was the Greek physician [[Hippocrates]] (460–370 BC) who developed it into a medical theory. He believed certain human moods, emotions and behaviors were caused by an excess or lack of body fluids (called "humors"): [[blood]], yellow [[bile]], black bile, and [[phlegm]]. Next, [[Galen]] (AD 129 – c. 200) developed the first typology of temperament in his dissertation ''De temperamentis'', and searched for [[physiological]] reasons for different behaviors in humans. He classified them as '''hot/cold''' and '''dry/wet''' taken from the [[Classical element|four elements]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Boeree|first=C. George|title=Early Medicine and Physiology|url=http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/neurophysio.html|accessdate=21 February 2013}}</ref> There could also be "'''[[Balance (metaphysics)|balance]]'''" between the qualities, yielding a total of '''nine''' temperaments. The word "temperament" itself comes from Latin "''temperare''", "to mix". In the ideal personality, the complementary characteristics or warm-cool and dry-moist were exquisitely balanced. In four less ideal types, one of the four qualities was dominant over all the others. In the remaining four types, one pair of qualities dominated the complementary pair; for example, warm and moist dominated cool and dry. These latter four were the temperamental categories Galen named "'''sanguine'''", "'''choleric'''", "'''melancholic'''" and "'''phlegmatic'''" after the bodily humors, respectively. Each was the result of an excess of one of the humors that produced, in turn, the imbalance in paired qualities.<ref name=Kagan>{{Cite book|first= Jerome|last=Kagan|year=1998|title=Galen's Prophecy: Temperament In Human Nature|publisher=New York: Basic Books|isbn=0-465-08405-2|postscript= .}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Osborn L. Ac.|first=David K.|title=INHERENT TEMPERAMENT|url=http://www.greekmedicine.net/b_p/Inherent_Temperament.html|accessdate=21 February 2013}}</ref><ref>http://sun2.science.wayne.edu/~tpartrid/Manuscripts/HEETemperament1.25.02.doc</ref>
Temperament theory has its roots in the ancient theory of [[humourism]]. It may have originated in [[Mesopotamia]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sudhoff|first=Karl|author-link=Karl Sudhoff|title=Essays in the History of Medicine|pages=67, 87, 104|year=1926|publisher=Medical Life Press, [[New York City|New York]]}}</ref> but it was Greek physician [[Hippocrates]] (460–370 BC) (and later [[Galen]]) who developed it into a medical theory. He believed that certain human moods, emotions, and behaviours were caused by an excess or lack of body fluids (called "humours"), which he classified as blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm,<ref name=":1" /> each of which was responsible for different patterns in personalities, as well as how susceptible one was to getting a disease. [[Galen]] (AD 129 – c. 200) developed the first typology of temperament in his dissertation ''De temperamentis'', and searched for physiological reasons for different behaviours in humans. He classified them as ''hot/cold'' and ''dry/wet'' taken from the [[Classical element|four elements]].<ref name="Boeree">{{cite web|last=Boeree|first=C. George|title=Early Medicine and Physiology|url=http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/neurophysio.html|access-date=21 February 2013}}</ref> There could also be [[Balance (metaphysics)|balance]] between the qualities, yielding a total of nine temperaments. The word "temperament" itself comes from Latin "''temperare''", "to mix". In the ideal personality, the complementary characteristics were exquisitely balanced among warm-cool and dry-moist. In four less-ideal types, one of the four qualities was dominant over all the others. In the remaining four types, one pair of qualities dominated the complementary pair; for example, warm and moist dominated cool and dry. These last four were the temperamental categories which Galen named "sanguine", "choleric", "melancholic", and "phlegmatic" after the bodily humours. Each was the result of an excess of one of the humours which produced the imbalance in paired qualities.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=Kagan>{{Cite book|first=Jerome|last=Kagan|year=1998|title=Galen's Prophecy: Temperament In Human Nature|publisher=New York: Basic Books|isbn=0-465-08405-2|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780465084050}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Osborn L. Ac.|first=David K.|title=Inherent Temperament|url=http://www.greekmedicine.net/b_p/Inherent_Temperament.html|access-date=21 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sun2.science.wayne.edu/~tpartrid/Manuscripts/HEETemperament1.25.02.doc |title=Temperament: Developmental and Ecological Dimensions |access-date=2010-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720112637/http://sun2.science.wayne.edu/~tpartrid/Manuscripts/HEETemperament1.25.02.doc |archive-date=2011-07-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[File:Charles Le Brun-Grande Commande-Les Quatre temperaments.jpg|thumb|400px|Choleric, sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic temperaments: 17c., part of the [[Grande Commande]]]]


For example, if a person tends to be too happy or "sanguine", one can assume they have too much blood in proportion to the other humours, and can medically act accordingly. Likewise for being too calm and reserved or "phlegmatic" from too much phlegm; excessively sad or "melancholic" from too much black bile; and too angry or "choleric" from excess yellow bile.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Judy Duchan's History of Speech – Language Pathology |url=https://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~duchan/new_history/ancient_history/humor_theory.html#:~:text=A%20melancholic%20temperament%20comes%20from,with%20an%20excess%20of%20phlegm. |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=www.acsu.buffalo.edu}}</ref>
In his ''[[The Canon of Medicine|Canon of Medicine]]'' (a standard medical text at many medieval universities), Persian polymath [[Avicenna]] (980–1037 AD) extended the theory of temperaments to encompass "[[emotion]]al aspects, mental capacity, [[Morality|moral]] attitudes, [[self-awareness]], movements and [[dreams]]."<ref name=Lutz>{{Cite book|first=Peter L.|last=Lutz|year=2002|title=The Rise of Experimental Biology: An Illustrated History|page=60|publisher=[[Humana Press]]|isbn=0-89603-835-1|postscript=.}}</ref>


The properties of these humours also corresponded to the four seasons. Thus blood, which was considered hot and wet, corresponded to spring. Yellow bile, considered hot and dry, corresponded to summer. Black bile, cold and dry, corresponded to autumn. And finally, phlegm, cold and wet, corresponded to winter.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|last=Jouanna|first=Jacques|title=The Legacy of the Hippocratic Treatise The Nature of Man: The Theory of the Four Humours|date=2012|work=Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen|pages=335–359|publisher=Brill|doi=10.1163/9789004232549_017 |isbn=9789004232549 |s2cid=171176381 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
[[Nicholas Culpeper]] (1616–1654), described the humours as acting as governing principles in bodily health, with astrological correspondences,<ref>[[Nicholas Culpeper]] (1653) [http://www.skyscript.co.uk/astrodiscourse.html ''An Astrologo-Physical Discourse of the Human Virtues in the Body of Man''], transcribed and annotated by [[Deborah Houlding]]. Skyscript, 2009 (retrieved 16 November 2011). Originally published in Culpeper's ''Complete Herbal'' (English Physician). London: Peter Cole, 1652.</ref> and explained their influence upon physiognomy and personality.<ref>[[Nicholas Culpeper]], ''Semeiotica Urania, or Astrological Judgement of Diseases''. London: 1655. Reprint, Nottingham: Ascella, 1994.</ref> Culpeper proposed that, while some people had a single temperament, others had an admixture of two, a primary and secondary temperament.<ref>{{cite book|last=Greenbaum|first=Dorian Gieseler|title=Temperament: Astrology's Forgotten Key|year=2005|publisher=Wessex Astrologer|isbn=1-902405-17-X|pages=42, 91}}</ref> [[Immanuel Kant]] (1724–1804), [[Rudolf Steiner]] (1861–1925), [[Alfred Adler]] (1879–1937), [[Erich Adickes]] (1866–1925), [[Eduard Spranger]] (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 [[biological]]ly based. The factors he proposed in his book ''Dimensions of Personality'' were [[Neuroticism]] (N), the tendency to experience negative emotions, and [[Extraversion]] (E), the tendency to enjoy positive events, especially social ones. By pairing the two [[dimension]]s, Eysenck noted how the results were similar to the four ancient temperaments.


These properties were considered the basis of health and disease. This meant that having a balance and good mixture of the humours defined good health, while an imbalance or separation of the humours led to disease.<ref name=":2" /> Because the humours corresponded to certain seasons, one way to avoid an imbalance or disease was to change health-related habits depending on the season. Some physicians did this by regulating a patient's diet, while some used remedies such as [[phlebotomy]] and purges to get rid of excess blood. Even Galen proposed a theory of the importance of proper digestion in forming healthy blood. The idea was that the two most important factors when digesting are the types of food and the person's body temperature. This meant that if too much heat were involved, then the blood would become "overcooked." This meant that it would contain too much of the yellow bile, and the patient would become feverish.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Ayoub|first=Lois|date=1995|title=Old English Wæta and the Medical Theory of the Humours|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/27711180|journal=The Journal of English and Germanic Philology|volume=94 |issue=3 |pages=332–346|jstor=27711180 }}</ref> Lack of sufficient heat was believed to result in an excess of phlegm.
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 [[Interpersonal relationship|relationship]]/task-[[Orientation (mental)|orientation]]. Examples are [[DiSC assessment]], [[social styles]], and a theory that adds a [[Five Temperaments|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 (mythology)|Epimetheus]] and [[Prometheus]], and were mapped to the 16 types of the [[Myers–Briggs Type Indicator]] (MBTI). They were renamed as [[Artisan temperament|Artisan]] (SP), [[Guardian temperament|Guardian]] (SJ), [[Idealist temperament|Idealist]] (NF), and [[Rational temperament|Rational]] (NT). 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") with a new pair category, "cooperative" and "pragmatic" . When "Role-Informative" and "Role-Directive" (corresponding to orientation to people or to task), and finally E/I are factored in, the 16 types are attained. 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.


[[File:Charles Le Brun-Grande Commande-Les Quatre temperaments.jpg|thumb|Choleric, sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic temperaments: 17c., part of the [[Grande Commande]]]]
Modern medical science has rejected the theories of the four temperaments, though their use persists as a metaphor within certain psychological fields.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.55.5.836|title=Metaphorical equivalence of elements and temperaments: Empirical studies of Bachelard's theory of imagination|year=1988|last1=Martindale|first1=Anne E.|last2=[[Colin Martindale|Martindale]]|first2=Colin|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=55|issue=5|pages=836}}</ref>

Persian<ref>
* {{harvnb|Corbin|2016|loc=[https://press.princeton.edu/titles/2761.html Overview]}}. "In this work a distinguished scholar of Islamic religion examines the mysticism and psychological thought of the great eleventh-century Persian philosopher and physician Avicenna (Ibn Sina), author of over a hundred works on theology, logic, medicine, and mathematics."
* {{harvnb|Pasnau|Dyke|2010|p=52}}. "Most important of these initially was the massive Book of Healing (Al-Shifa) of the eleventh-century Persian Avicenna, the parts of which labeled in Latin as De anima and De generatione having been translated in the second half of the twelfth century."
* {{harvnb|Daly|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9aZPAQAAQBAJ&q=Ibn+Sina+Persian+polymath&pg=PA18 18]}}. "The Persian polymath Ibn Sina (981–1037) consolidated all of this learning, along with Ancient Greek and Indian knowledge, into his The Canon of Medicine (1025), a work still taught in European medical schools in the seventeenth century."</ref> polymath [[Avicenna]] (980–1037 AD) extended the theory of temperaments in his ''[[The Canon of Medicine|Canon of Medicine]]'', which was a standard medical text at many medieval universities. He applied them to "emotional aspects, mental capacity, moral attitudes, self-awareness, movements and dreams."<ref name=Lutz>{{Cite book|first=Peter L.|last=Lutz|year=2002|title=The Rise of Experimental Biology: An Illustrated History|page=60|publisher=Humana Press|isbn=0-89603-835-1}}</ref> [[Nicholas Culpeper]] (1616–1654) suggested that the humors acted as governing principles in bodily health, with astrological correspondences,<ref>Nicholas Culpeper (1653) [http://www.skyscript.co.uk/astrodiscourse.html ''An Astrologo-Physical Discourse of the Human Virtues in the Body of Man''], transcribed and annotated by Deborah Houlding. Skyscript, 2009 (retrieved 16 November 2011). Originally published in Culpeper's ''Complete Herbal'' (English Physician). London: Peter Cole, 1652.</ref> and explained their influence upon physiognomy and personality.<ref>Nicholas Culpeper, ''Semeiotica Urania, or Astrological Judgement of Diseases''. London: 1655. Reprint, Nottingham: Ascella, 1994.</ref> He proposed that some people had a single temperament, while others had an admixture of two, a primary and secondary temperament.<ref>{{cite book|last=Greenbaum|first=Dorian Gieseler|title=Temperament: Astrology's Forgotten Key|year=2005|publisher=Wessex Astrologer|isbn=1-902405-17-X|pages=42, 91}}</ref>

Modern medical science has rejected the theories of the four temperaments, though their use persists as a metaphor within certain psychological fields.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.55.5.836|title=Metaphorical equivalence of elements and temperaments: Empirical studies of Bachelard's theory of imagination|year=1988|last1=Martindale|first1=Anne E.|author2-link=Colin Martindale|last2=Martindale|first2=Colin|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=55|issue=5|pages=836}}</ref> [[Immanuel Kant]] (1724–1804), [[Erich Adickes]] (1866–1925), [[Alfred Adler]] (1879–1937), [[Eduard Spranger]] (1914), [[Ernst Kretschmer]] (1920), and [[Erich Fromm]] (1947) all theorised on the four temperaments (with different names) and greatly shaped modern theories of temperament. [[Hans Eysenck]] (1916–1997) was one of the first psychologists to analyse personality differences using a psycho-statistical method called [[factor analysis]], and his research led him to believe that temperament is biologically based. The factors that he proposed in his book ''Dimensions of Personality'' were [[neuroticism]] (N), the tendency to experience [[negative emotion]]s, and [[extraversion]] (E), 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.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

In the field of physiology, [[Ivan Pavlov]] studied on the [[Ivan Pavlov#Research on types and properties of nervous systems|types and properties of the nervous system]], where three main properties were identified: strength, mobility of nervous processes and balance between excitation and inhibition, and derived four types based on these three properties.<ref>Rokhin, L, Pavlov, I and Popov, Y. (1963), ''Psychopathology and Psychiatry'', Foreign Languages Publication House: Moscow. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.185366/mode/2up]</ref>

Other researchers developed similar systems, many of which did not use the ancient temperament names, and several paired extraversion with a different factor which would determine relationship and task-orientation. Examples are [[DISC assessment]] and social styles. One of the most popular today is the [[Keirsey Temperament Sorter]], attributed to the work of David Keirsey, whose four temperaments were based largely on the Greek gods [[Apollo]], [[Dionysus]], [[Epimetheus (mythology)|Epimetheus]], and [[Prometheus]], and were mapped to the 16 types of the [[Myers–Briggs Type Indicator]] (MBTI). They were renamed as [[Artisan temperament|Artisan]] (SP), [[Guardian temperament|Guardian]] (SJ), [[Idealist temperament|Idealist]] (NF), and [[Rational temperament|Rational]] (NT).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Becerra |first=Jose |url=https://bookdown.org/becerra_je/7-Rays/keirseys-personality-types.html |title=Chapter 3 Keirsey's personality types {{!}} The Bailey Seven Ray Types}}</ref> C.G. Jung's ''Psychological Types'' surveys the historical literature of the 'four humors' and related discussions extensively and in depth and proposes a psychoanalytic integration of the material.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Relation of various four temperament theories
|+ Relation of various four temperament theories
! Classical !! Element !! Adler<ref>{{cite book|last=Lundin|first=Robert W.|title=Alfred-Adler's Basic Concepts and Implications|year=1989|publisher=Taylor and Francis|isbn=0-915202-83-2|page=54}}</ref>
! Classical !! Element<ref name="Boeree"/> !! Adler<ref>{{cite book|last=Lundin|first=Robert W.|title=Alfred-Adler's Basic Concepts and Implications|year=1989|publisher=Taylor and Francis|isbn=0-915202-83-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/alfredadlersbasi0000lund/page/54 54]|url=https://archive.org/details/alfredadlersbasi0000lund/page/54}}</ref> !! Riemann<ref>{{cite book|last=Riemann|first=Fritz|title=Anxiety|year=2008|publisher=Reinhardt Ernst|isbn=978-3-497-02043-0|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/393706085/Fritz-Riemann-Anxiety-Die-4-Grundformen-der-Ang-b-ok-org-pdf}}</ref> !! DISC<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-01-27|title=What Are the Four DISC Types?|url=https://discpersonalitytesting.com/blog/what-are-the-four-disc-types/|access-date=2020-09-22|website=DISC Personality Testing Blog|language=en-US}}</ref>
(Different publishers use different names)
! Physical manifestation
! Source
|-
|-
| Melancholic || Earth || Avoiding
| Melancholic ||Earth|| Leaning || Depressed || Steadiness/Supportive || Black bile || Spleen
|-
|-
| Phlegmatic || Water || Getting
| Phlegmatic ||Water|| Avoiding
|| Schizoid || Conscientiousness/Cautious || Phlegm || Lungs
|-
|-
| Sanguine || Air || Socially useful
| Sanguine || Air || Socially Useful || Hysterical || Influence/Inspiring || Blood || Marrow
|-
|-
| Choleric || Fire || Ruling
| Choleric || Fire || Ruling|| Obsessive || Dominance/Direct || Yellow bile || Liver/Gall Bladder
|}
|}


== Modern views, implementations and restatements ==
== Decline in popularity ==
[[Waldorf education]] and [[anthroposophy]] believe that the temperaments help to understand personality. They also believe that they are useful for education, helping teachers understand how children learn. Christian writer [[Tim LaHaye]] has attempted to repopularize the ancient temperaments through his books.<ref>{{cite book
When the concept of the temperaments was on the wane, many critics dropped the phlegmatic, or defined it purely negatively, such as the [[Germany|German]] [[philosophy|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."

== Contemporary writings ==
In [[Waldorf education]] and [[anthroposophy]], the temperaments are believed to help understand personality.

Christian writer [[Tim LaHaye]] has attempted to repopularize the ancient temperaments through his books.<ref>{{cite book
| title=The Spirit Controlled Temperament
| title=The Spirit Controlled Temperament
| last=LaHaye |first=Tim |authorlink=Tim LaHaye
| last=LaHaye |first=Tim |author-link=Tim LaHaye
| publisher=Tyndale Publishing |year=1966
| publisher=Tyndale Publishing |year=1966
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Your Temperament: Discover Its Potential |publisher=Tyndale Publishing |year=1984 |isbn=0-8423-6220-7 |last=LaHaye |first=Tim |author-link=Tim LaHaye |url=https://archive.org/details/spiritcontrolled00laha_1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Why You Act the Way You Do | publisher=Tyndale Publishing | isbn=0-8423-8212-7 | last=LaHaye | first=Tim | author-link=Tim LaHaye | url=https://archive.org/details/whyyouactwayyoud00laha | year=1988 }}</ref>
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| title=Your Temperament: Discover Its Potential |publisher=Tyndale Publishing |year=1984 | isbn = 0-8423-6220-7
| last=LaHaye |first=Tim |authorlink=Tim LaHaye
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| title=Why You Act the Way You Do |publisher=Tyndale Publishing | isbn = 0-8423-8212-7
| last=LaHaye |first=Tim |authorlink=Tim LaHaye
}}</ref>


[[James David Barber]] developed ''The Presidential Character'', wherein active relates to hot, passive relates to cold, positive relates to moist, and negative relates to dry. If one were to make a Punnett square of these characters, one can find an Active–Positive, Passive–Positive, Active–Negative, or Passive–Negative individual. This diagram was made after an influential study of the U.S. presidency, hence the name.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Doody |first1=John A. |last2=Immerwahr |first2=John |title=The Persistence of the Four Temperaments |date=1983 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41178265 |journal=Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal |volume=66 |issue=3 |pages=348–359 |jstor=41178265 |issn=0038-1861}}</ref>
Writer [[Florence Littauer]] describes the four personality types in her book ''[[Personality Plus]]''.


[[Robert R. Blake]] created ''The Managerial Grid'', wherein high concern for production relates to hot, low concern for production relates to cold, high concern for people relates to moist, and low concern for people relates to dry. If one were to make the same Punnett square of these characters, one can find a Team Management, a Country Club Management, a Task Management, or an Ineffective Management individual.<ref name=":02" />
== Cultural references ==
At the end of the 18th-century, [[Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach]] composed the trio sonata in c minor „Sanguineus et Melancholicus“ [[Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach|Wq]] 161/1.


The National Christian Counselors Association of Richard and Phyllis Arno, licensed the [[Fundamental interpersonal relations orientation|FIRO-B]] istrument in the 1980's, and derived from it a theory of five temperaments, where the classical phlegmatic temperament is 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" called "Supine" (meaning "lying on the back"). This instrument is used by many Christian ministries<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005 |title=History and Development of the Arno Profile System |url=https://www.apsreport.com/History.html |access-date=15 November 2024 |website=Arno Profile System}}</ref>
In 1946 [[George Balanchine]] choreographed a ballet he titled ''[[The Four Temperaments (ballet)|The Four Temperaments]]'', set to music he commissioned from [[Paul Hindemith]]. The music, and thus the ballet, is in five parts: a theme and four variations titled ''Melancholic'', ''Sanguine'', ''Phlegmatic'', and ''Choleric''.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | '''Date (c.)'''
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | '''Author'''
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | '''Choleric temperament'''
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | '''Phlegmatic temperament'''
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | '''Sanguine temperament'''
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | '''Melancholic temperament'''
|-
| 2015
| '''Octopus Temperament''' ([[Sy Montgomery]])
| Assertive
| Curious
| Joyful
| Gentle
|-
| 2014
| '''HUCMI'''
| Controlling
| Relational
| Experimental
| Analytical
|-
| 2006
| '''Berens'''
| Theorists (NT)
| Catalyst (NF)
| Improvisor (SP)
| Stabilizer (SJ)
|-
| 1999/2001
| '''Linda V. Berens' four Interaction Styles'''
| In Charge
| Chart the Course
| Get Things Going
| Behind the Scenes
|-
| 1999
| '''StrengthsFinder'''
| Striving (Executing)
| Relating (Relationships)
| Impacting (Influencing)
| Thinking (Strategic Thinking)
|-
| 1998 ('''Erikson's behavior types''' are a 2014 revision)
|'''[[Hartman Personality Profile]]'''
| Red (Leaders; Bold & Brash)
| White > Green (Most Selfless; Relaxed, Friendly, & Loyal)
| Yellow (Social Butterflies; Creative & Optimistic)
| Blue (Keen Minds; Analytical & Detail-oriented)
|-
| 1996
| '''Tony Alessandra''' Personality Styles
| Director
| Relater
| Socializer
| Thinker
|-
| 1989
| '''Benziger'''
| Logic & Results
| Intuition & Empathy
| Vision & Creativity
| Process & Routine
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | 1978, 1988
| '''Keirsey/Bates four temperaments''' (old), '''Keirsey's four temperaments'''
| [[Prometheus|Promethean]] (Technological) > [[Rational temperament|Rational]] (NT)
| [[Apollonian]] (Soulful) > [[Idealist temperament|Idealist]] (NF)
| [[Dionysian]] (Artful) > [[Artisan temperament|Artisan]] (SP)
| [[Epimetheus (mythology)|Epimethean]] (Dutiful) > [[Guardian temperament|Guardian]] (SJ)
|-
| 1973/74
| '''Conflict'''
| Competing
| Accommodating
| Collaborating
| Avoiding
|-
| 1967
| '''[[Rudolf Dreikurs|Dreikurs']] four mistaken goals'''
| Power or Defiance
| Revenge or Retaliation
| Undue Attention or Service
| Inadequacy or Deficiency
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1960s
| '''[[Fritz Riemann (psychologist)|Fritz Riemann]]'''
| Obsessive
| Schizoid
| Hysterical
| Depressed
|-
| Stuart Atkins '''LIFO's four Orientations to Life'''
| Controlling-Taking
| Supporting-Giving
| Adapting-Dealing
| Conserving-Holding
|-
| '''David Merrill, "[[Social style|Social Styles]]"'''
| Driving
| Amiable
| Expressive
| Analytical
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | 1958
| '''[[Isabel Myers|Myers']] Jungian types'''
| Thinking (T); "Logical & Ingenious"
| Feeling (F); "Sympathetic & Friendly"
| Perceiving (P); "Enthusiastic & Insightful"
| Judging (J); "Practical & Matter of Fact"
|-
| 1948, 1957, 1987
| '''[[California Psychological Inventory]] CPI 260'''
| Leader/Implementer (Alphas)
| Supporter (Betas)
| Innovator (Gammas)
| Visualizer (Deltas)
|-
| 1947
| '''Eysenck'''
| High Extraversion, High Neuroticism (Unstable-Extraverted)
| Low Extraversion, Low Neuroticism (Stable-Introverted)
| High Extraversion, Low Neuroticism (Stable-Extraverted)
| Low Extraversion, High Neuroticism (Unstable-Introverted)
|-
| 1947
| '''[[Erich Fromm|Fromm's]] four orientations'''
| Exploitative (Taking)
| Receptive (Accepting)
| Marketing (Exchanging)
| Hoarding (Preserving)
|-
| 1935, 1966
| '''[[Alfred Adler]]'s four Styles of Life''', '''Temperament by LaHaye'''
| Ruling/Dominant (Choleric)
| Getting/Leaning (Phlegmatic)
| Socially Useful ([[Sanguine]])
| Avoiding ([[Melancholia|melancholic]])
|-
| 1928, 1970s
| '''William Marston and John G. Geier [[DiSC assessment]]'''
| Dominance (D); Red
| Steadiness (S); Blue
| Influence (I); Green
| Conscientiousness (C); Yellow
|-
| 1921
| '''Jung'''
| Intuition
| Feeling
| Sensation
| Thinking
|-
| 1920s
| '''Pavlov'''
| Angry Dogs (High Excitation, Low Inhibition)
| "Accepting" Dogs (feel asleep) (Low Excitation, High Inhibition)
| High-spirited Dogs (High Excitation, High Inhibition)
| "Weak" Dogs (whiny) (Low Excitation, Low Inhibition)
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | 1920
| '''[[Ernst Kretschmer|Kretschmer's]] four [[character structure|character]] styles'''
| Hyperesthetic (oversensitive)
| Anesthetic (insensitive)
| Hypomanic
| Depressive
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | 1914
| '''[[Eduard Spranger|Spranger's]] four* value attitudes'''
| Economic/Political
| Religious/Social
| Aesthetic
| Theoretical
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" |1905
| '''[[Erich Adickes|Adickes']] four world views'''
| Traditional
| Agnostic (Skeptical)
| Innovative
| Dogmatic (Doctrinaire)
|-
| 1894
| '''Sasang'''
| So-Yang (SY; Little Yang); Active (Unstable & Active)
| Tae-Eum (TE; Big Yin); Organized (Stable & Passive)
| Tae-Yang (TY; Big Yang); Originative (Stable & Active)
| So-Eum (SE; Little Yang); Conservative (Unstable & Passive)
|-
| 1798
| '''[[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]'s four temperaments'''
| Energetic & Emotional (Choleric)
| Weak & Balanced (Phlegmatic)
| Energetic & Balanced (Sanguine)
| Weak & Emotional (Melancholic)
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | 1550
| '''[[Paracelsus|Paracelsus']] four [[totem]] spirits'''
| [[Gnome]]s (Industrious & Guarded)
| [[Sylph]]s (Curious & Calm)
| [[Salamander (legendary creature)|salamander]]s (Impulsive & Changeable)
| [[Nymph]]s (Inspiring & Passionate)
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | 185 AD
| '''[[Irenaeus|Irenaeus']] four temperaments'''
| Historical
| Spiritual
| Spontaneous
| Scholarly
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | 325 BC
| '''[[Aristotle|Aristotle's]] four sources of happiness'''
| Propraieteri (Acquiring Assets)
| Ethikos (Moral Value)
| Hedone (Sensual Pleasure)
| Dialogike (Logical Investigation)
|-
| 325 BC
| '''[[Aristotle|Aristotle's]] social order'''
| Pistic (Common sense & Care-taking)
| Noetic (Intuitive, Sensibility, Morality)
| Iconic (Artistic & Art-making)
| Dianoetic (Reasoning & Logical Investigator)
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | 340 BC
| '''[[Plato|Plato's]] four characters'''
| Sensible
| Intuitive
| Artistic
| Reasoning
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | 307 BC
| '''[[Hippocrates|Hippocrates']] [[Humorism|four humours]]'''
| Yellow Bile (Hot and Dry)
| Phlegm (Cold and Wet)
| Blood (Hot and Wet)
| Black Bile (Cold and Dry)
|-
| 450 BC
| '''Empedocles'''
| Fire (Zeus)
| Water (Pluto/Nestis)
| Air (Hera)
| Earth (Persephone/Aidoneus)
|-
| bgcolor="#b0c4de" | 590 BC
| '''[[Ezekiel]]'s four living creatures'''
| Lion (Bold)
| Ox (Sturdy)
| Eagle (Far-seeing)
| Man (Spiritual)
|-
| colspan="6" | Adapted and modified from: {{cite book |author=Montgomery, Stephen |year=2002 |title=People Patterns: A Modern Guide to the Four Temperaments |page=[https://archive.org/details/peoplepatterns00step/page/20 20] |publisher=Archer Publications |isbn=1-885705-03-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/peoplepatterns00step/page/20 }}; {{cite book|author=Keirsey, David | orig-year=1978 | date=1998 |title=Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence |url=https://archive.org/details/pleaseunderstand02keir |url-access=registration |publisher=Prometheus Nemesis Book Co |isbn=1-885705-02-6}}
|-
|}


== Usage ==
[[Émile Zola]] consciously employed the four temperaments in ''[[Thérèse Raquin]]''.<ref>Zola,
The 18th-century classical composer [[Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach]] composed a trio sonata in C minor known as ''Sanguineus et Melancholicus'' (Wq 161/1). In the 20th century, [[Carl Nielsen]]'s [[Symphony No. 2 (Nielsen)|Symphony No. 2]] (Op.16) is subtitled "The Four Temperaments", each of the four movements being inspired by a sketch of a particular temperament.<ref>{{cite book |title=Symphony No. 2 |editor1-last=Foltmann |editor1-first=Niels Bo |year=1998 |work=Carl Nielsen Works |series=II. Instrumental Music |volume=2 |publisher=The [[Carl Nielsen Edition]], Royal Danish Library |ismn = 979-0-66134-000-3 |isbn=978-87-598-0913-6 |url=http://www.kb.dk/export/sites/kb_dk/da/nb/dcm/cnu/pdf/CNU_II_02_symphony_2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016161615/http://www.kb.dk/export/sites/kb_dk/da/nb/dcm/cnu/pdf/CNU_II_02_symphony_2.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2014 |url-status=dead|ref={{harvid|''Carl Nielsen Edition: Symphony No. 2''}}}}</ref> [[Paul Hindemith]]'s Theme and Four Variations for string orchestra and piano is also known as ''[[The Four Temperaments]]'': although originally conceived as a ballet for [[Léonide Massine]],<ref name="Corleonis">{{cite web |last1=Corleonis |first1=Adrian |title=Paul Hindemith, Theme and Variations, 'Die vier Temperamente' (The Four Temperaments) |date=19 November 2007 |url=https://americansymphony.org/concert-notes/theme-and-variations-die-vier-temperamente-the-four-temperaments-1940/ |publisher=American Symphony Orchestra |access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hindemith|first=Paul|url=https://petruccimusiclibrary.ca/files/imglnks/caimg/c/c2/IMSLP339925-PMLP548282-hindemithTheFourTempermentsscore.pdf|title=Theme and Four Variations (The Four Temperaments)|publisher=Associated Music Publishers|year=1948|isbn=|location=New York |pages=}}</ref> the score was ultimately completed as a commission for [[George Balanchine]], who subsequently choreographed it as a [[neoclassical ballet]], using the theory of the temperaments as a point of departure.<ref name=Cambridge>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iy8SRnmE9ZEC|title=The Cambridge Companion to Ballet|last=Kant|first=Marion|date= 2007|isbn=9781139827195|pages=231–232|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G5hsMD9IsWEC|title=Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets|last1=Balanchine|first1=George|last2=Mason|first2=Francis|date=1977|publisher=Doubleday |isbn=9780385113816|page=253 }}</ref>
Preface to ''Thérèse Raquin''.</ref>


The 19th-century French author [[Émile Zola]] used the four temperaments as a basis for his novel ''[[Thérèse Raquin#Temperaments|Thérèse Raquin]]''.<ref>Zola, Preface to ''Thérèse Raquin''.</ref>
The Danish composer [[Carl Nielsen]]'s Symphony #2 (1901–02), Op.16 entitled "The Four Temperaments" is structured upon the Four Temperaments.

Warhammer 40,000's Mournival employs the four temperaments to inspire each of the four member's personalities.


== See also ==
== See also ==
{{Portal|Psychology}}
* [[Enneagram of Personality]]
* {{annotated link|Big Five personality traits}}
* [[Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation]]
* {{annotated link|Blood type personality theory}}
* {{annotated link|Enneagram of Personality}}
* {{annotated link|Four sons of Horus}}
* {{annotated link|Fundamental interpersonal relations orientation}}
* {{annotated link|Two-factor models of personality}}
* [[Table of similar systems of comparison of temperaments]]
* [[Table of similar systems of comparison of temperaments]]
* [[Humorism]] – The theory of the four humours
* [[Two-factor models of personality#Table of theories and instruments using extroversion and people-task-orientation|Two-factor models of personality]].
* [[Intermittent explosive disorder]] - [[DSM-5]] diagnosis of a person with severe choleric traits


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{reflist}}

===Works cited===
* {{cite book |last1=Corbin |first1=Henry |title=Avicenna and the visionary recital |date=2016 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |isbn=9780691630540}}
* {{cite book |last1=Daly |first1=Jonathan |title=The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western Civilization |date= 2013 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-4411-1851-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9aZPAQAAQBAJ |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Pasnau |first1=Robert |last2=Dyke |first2=Christina Van |title=Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy, Volume 1 |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}


== Further reading ==
== Further reading ==
* Arikha, Noga (2007). Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humours. Harpers. {{ISBN|978-0060731175}}
* Arikha, Noga (2007). ''Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humours''. Harpers. {{ISBN|978-0060731175}}
* Edelman, Kathleen (2019). [https://www.isaidyouheard.study/ ''I Said This, You Heard That: How Your Wiring Colors Your Communication.''] North Point Resources. {{ISBN|978-1943535415}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
* [[In Our Time (BBC Radio 4)]] [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20071220.shtml episode on the four humours] in MP3 format, 45 minutes
* [[In Our Time (BBC Radio 4)|''In Our Time'' (BBC Radio 4)]] [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20071220.shtml episode on the four humours] in MP3 format, 45 minutes
* [https://www.isaidyouheard.study/ I Said This, You Heard That (A Group Study in the Four Temperaments)] interactive workbook format that includes a temperament assessment; accompanying teaching videos available through the free app.
* [https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/shakespeare/fourhumors.html Shakespeare and the Four Humors]


[[Category:Personality typologies]]
[[Category:Personality typologies]]

Latest revision as of 05:25, 24 December 2024

This article is about the "four humours" in Greco-Roman medicine, a specific form of the more universal proto-medical concept of humourism. For the ballet by Paul Hindemith and George Balanchine, see The Four Temperaments. For the symphony by Carl Nielsen, see Symphony No. 2 (Nielsen).
18th-century depiction of the four temperaments:[1] phlegmatic and choleric above, sanguine and melancholic below

The four temperament theory is a proto-psychological theory which suggests that there are four fundamental personality types: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic.[2][3] Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures among the types where an individual's personality types overlap and they share two or more temperaments. Greek physician Hippocrates (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) described the four temperaments as part of the ancient medical concept of humourism, that four bodily fluids affect human personality traits and behaviours. Modern medical science does not define a fixed relationship between internal secretions and personality, although some psychological personality type systems use categories similar to the Greek temperaments.

The four temperament theory was abandoned after the 1850s.[4]

History

[edit]

Temperament theory has its roots in the ancient theory of humourism. It may have originated in Mesopotamia,[5] but it was Greek physician Hippocrates (460–370 BC) (and later Galen) who developed it into a medical theory. He believed that certain human moods, emotions, and behaviours were caused by an excess or lack of body fluids (called "humours"), which he classified as blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm,[3] each of which was responsible for different patterns in personalities, as well as how susceptible one was to getting a disease. Galen (AD 129 – c. 200) developed the first typology of temperament in his dissertation De temperamentis, and searched for physiological reasons for different behaviours in humans. He classified them as hot/cold and dry/wet taken from the four elements.[6] There could also be balance between the qualities, yielding a total of nine temperaments. The word "temperament" itself comes from Latin "temperare", "to mix". In the ideal personality, the complementary characteristics were exquisitely balanced among warm-cool and dry-moist. In four less-ideal types, one of the four qualities was dominant over all the others. In the remaining four types, one pair of qualities dominated the complementary pair; for example, warm and moist dominated cool and dry. These last four were the temperamental categories which Galen named "sanguine", "choleric", "melancholic", and "phlegmatic" after the bodily humours. Each was the result of an excess of one of the humours which produced the imbalance in paired qualities.[3][7][8][9]

For example, if a person tends to be too happy or "sanguine", one can assume they have too much blood in proportion to the other humours, and can medically act accordingly. Likewise for being too calm and reserved or "phlegmatic" from too much phlegm; excessively sad or "melancholic" from too much black bile; and too angry or "choleric" from excess yellow bile.[10]

The properties of these humours also corresponded to the four seasons. Thus blood, which was considered hot and wet, corresponded to spring. Yellow bile, considered hot and dry, corresponded to summer. Black bile, cold and dry, corresponded to autumn. And finally, phlegm, cold and wet, corresponded to winter.[11]

These properties were considered the basis of health and disease. This meant that having a balance and good mixture of the humours defined good health, while an imbalance or separation of the humours led to disease.[11] Because the humours corresponded to certain seasons, one way to avoid an imbalance or disease was to change health-related habits depending on the season. Some physicians did this by regulating a patient's diet, while some used remedies such as phlebotomy and purges to get rid of excess blood. Even Galen proposed a theory of the importance of proper digestion in forming healthy blood. The idea was that the two most important factors when digesting are the types of food and the person's body temperature. This meant that if too much heat were involved, then the blood would become "overcooked." This meant that it would contain too much of the yellow bile, and the patient would become feverish.[12] Lack of sufficient heat was believed to result in an excess of phlegm.

Choleric, sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic temperaments: 17c., part of the Grande Commande

Persian[13] polymath Avicenna (980–1037 AD) extended the theory of temperaments in his Canon of Medicine, which was a standard medical text at many medieval universities. He applied them to "emotional aspects, mental capacity, moral attitudes, self-awareness, movements and dreams."[14] Nicholas Culpeper (1616–1654) suggested that the humors acted as governing principles in bodily health, with astrological correspondences,[15] and explained their influence upon physiognomy and personality.[16] He proposed that some people had a single temperament, while others had an admixture of two, a primary and secondary temperament.[17]

Modern medical science has rejected the theories of the four temperaments, though their use persists as a metaphor within certain psychological fields.[18] Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), Erich Adickes (1866–1925), Alfred Adler (1879–1937), Eduard Spranger (1914), Ernst Kretschmer (1920), and Erich Fromm (1947) all theorised on the four temperaments (with different names) and greatly shaped modern theories of temperament. Hans Eysenck (1916–1997) was one of the first psychologists to analyse personality differences using a psycho-statistical method called factor analysis, and his research led him to believe that temperament is biologically based. The factors that he proposed in his book Dimensions of Personality were neuroticism (N), the tendency to experience negative emotions, and extraversion (E), 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.[citation needed]

In the field of physiology, Ivan Pavlov studied on the types and properties of the nervous system, where three main properties were identified: strength, mobility of nervous processes and balance between excitation and inhibition, and derived four types based on these three properties.[19]

Other researchers developed similar systems, many of which did not use the ancient temperament names, and several paired extraversion with a different factor which would determine relationship and task-orientation. Examples are DISC assessment and social styles. One of the most popular today is the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, attributed to the work of David Keirsey, 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 as Artisan (SP), Guardian (SJ), Idealist (NF), and Rational (NT).[20] C.G. Jung's Psychological Types surveys the historical literature of the 'four humors' and related discussions extensively and in depth and proposes a psychoanalytic integration of the material.

Relation of various four temperament theories
Classical Element[6] Adler[21] Riemann[22] DISC[23]

(Different publishers use different names)

Physical manifestation Source
Melancholic Earth Leaning Depressed Steadiness/Supportive Black bile Spleen
Phlegmatic Water Avoiding Schizoid Conscientiousness/Cautious Phlegm Lungs
Sanguine Air Socially Useful Hysterical Influence/Inspiring Blood Marrow
Choleric Fire Ruling Obsessive Dominance/Direct Yellow bile Liver/Gall Bladder

Modern views, implementations and restatements

[edit]

Waldorf education and anthroposophy believe that the temperaments help to understand personality. They also believe that they are useful for education, helping teachers understand how children learn. Christian writer Tim LaHaye has attempted to repopularize the ancient temperaments through his books.[24][25][26]

James David Barber developed The Presidential Character, wherein active relates to hot, passive relates to cold, positive relates to moist, and negative relates to dry. If one were to make a Punnett square of these characters, one can find an Active–Positive, Passive–Positive, Active–Negative, or Passive–Negative individual. This diagram was made after an influential study of the U.S. presidency, hence the name.[27]

Robert R. Blake created The Managerial Grid, wherein high concern for production relates to hot, low concern for production relates to cold, high concern for people relates to moist, and low concern for people relates to dry. If one were to make the same Punnett square of these characters, one can find a Team Management, a Country Club Management, a Task Management, or an Ineffective Management individual.[27]

The National Christian Counselors Association of Richard and Phyllis Arno, licensed the FIRO-B istrument in the 1980's, and derived from it a theory of five temperaments, where the classical phlegmatic temperament is 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" called "Supine" (meaning "lying on the back"). This instrument is used by many Christian ministries[28]

Date (c.) Author Choleric temperament Phlegmatic temperament Sanguine temperament Melancholic temperament
2015 Octopus Temperament (Sy Montgomery) Assertive Curious Joyful Gentle
2014 HUCMI Controlling Relational Experimental Analytical
2006 Berens Theorists (NT) Catalyst (NF) Improvisor (SP) Stabilizer (SJ)
1999/2001 Linda V. Berens' four Interaction Styles In Charge Chart the Course Get Things Going Behind the Scenes
1999 StrengthsFinder Striving (Executing) Relating (Relationships) Impacting (Influencing) Thinking (Strategic Thinking)
1998 (Erikson's behavior types are a 2014 revision) Hartman Personality Profile Red (Leaders; Bold & Brash) White > Green (Most Selfless; Relaxed, Friendly, & Loyal) Yellow (Social Butterflies; Creative & Optimistic) Blue (Keen Minds; Analytical & Detail-oriented)
1996 Tony Alessandra Personality Styles Director Relater Socializer Thinker
1989 Benziger Logic & Results Intuition & Empathy Vision & Creativity Process & Routine
1978, 1988 Keirsey/Bates four temperaments (old), Keirsey's four temperaments Promethean (Technological) > Rational (NT) Apollonian (Soulful) > Idealist (NF) Dionysian (Artful) > Artisan (SP) Epimethean (Dutiful) > Guardian (SJ)
1973/74 Conflict Competing Accommodating Collaborating Avoiding
1967 Dreikurs' four mistaken goals Power or Defiance Revenge or Retaliation Undue Attention or Service Inadequacy or Deficiency
1960s Fritz Riemann Obsessive Schizoid Hysterical Depressed
Stuart Atkins LIFO's four Orientations to Life Controlling-Taking Supporting-Giving Adapting-Dealing Conserving-Holding
David Merrill, "Social Styles" Driving Amiable Expressive Analytical
1958 Myers' Jungian types Thinking (T); "Logical & Ingenious" Feeling (F); "Sympathetic & Friendly" Perceiving (P); "Enthusiastic & Insightful" Judging (J); "Practical & Matter of Fact"
1948, 1957, 1987 California Psychological Inventory CPI 260 Leader/Implementer (Alphas) Supporter (Betas) Innovator (Gammas) Visualizer (Deltas)
1947 Eysenck High Extraversion, High Neuroticism (Unstable-Extraverted) Low Extraversion, Low Neuroticism (Stable-Introverted) High Extraversion, Low Neuroticism (Stable-Extraverted) Low Extraversion, High Neuroticism (Unstable-Introverted)
1947 Fromm's four orientations Exploitative (Taking) Receptive (Accepting) Marketing (Exchanging) Hoarding (Preserving)
1935, 1966 Alfred Adler's four Styles of Life, Temperament by LaHaye Ruling/Dominant (Choleric) Getting/Leaning (Phlegmatic) Socially Useful (Sanguine) Avoiding (melancholic)
1928, 1970s William Marston and John G. Geier DiSC assessment Dominance (D); Red Steadiness (S); Blue Influence (I); Green Conscientiousness (C); Yellow
1921 Jung Intuition Feeling Sensation Thinking
1920s Pavlov Angry Dogs (High Excitation, Low Inhibition) "Accepting" Dogs (feel asleep) (Low Excitation, High Inhibition) High-spirited Dogs (High Excitation, High Inhibition) "Weak" Dogs (whiny) (Low Excitation, Low Inhibition)
1920 Kretschmer's four character styles Hyperesthetic (oversensitive) Anesthetic (insensitive) Hypomanic Depressive
1914 Spranger's four* value attitudes Economic/Political Religious/Social Aesthetic Theoretical
1905 Adickes' four world views Traditional Agnostic (Skeptical) Innovative Dogmatic (Doctrinaire)
1894 Sasang So-Yang (SY; Little Yang); Active (Unstable & Active) Tae-Eum (TE; Big Yin); Organized (Stable & Passive) Tae-Yang (TY; Big Yang); Originative (Stable & Active) So-Eum (SE; Little Yang); Conservative (Unstable & Passive)
1798 Kant's four temperaments Energetic & Emotional (Choleric) Weak & Balanced (Phlegmatic) Energetic & Balanced (Sanguine) Weak & Emotional (Melancholic)
1550 Paracelsus' four totem spirits Gnomes (Industrious & Guarded) Sylphs (Curious & Calm) salamanders (Impulsive & Changeable) Nymphs (Inspiring & Passionate)
185 AD Irenaeus' four temperaments Historical Spiritual Spontaneous Scholarly
325 BC Aristotle's four sources of happiness Propraieteri (Acquiring Assets) Ethikos (Moral Value) Hedone (Sensual Pleasure) Dialogike (Logical Investigation)
325 BC Aristotle's social order Pistic (Common sense & Care-taking) Noetic (Intuitive, Sensibility, Morality) Iconic (Artistic & Art-making) Dianoetic (Reasoning & Logical Investigator)
340 BC Plato's four characters Sensible Intuitive Artistic Reasoning
307 BC Hippocrates' four humours Yellow Bile (Hot and Dry) Phlegm (Cold and Wet) Blood (Hot and Wet) Black Bile (Cold and Dry)
450 BC Empedocles Fire (Zeus) Water (Pluto/Nestis) Air (Hera) Earth (Persephone/Aidoneus)
590 BC Ezekiel's four living creatures Lion (Bold) Ox (Sturdy) Eagle (Far-seeing) Man (Spiritual)
Adapted and modified from: Montgomery, Stephen (2002). People Patterns: A Modern Guide to the Four Temperaments. Archer Publications. p. 20. ISBN 1-885705-03-4.; Keirsey, David (1998) [1978]. Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence. Prometheus Nemesis Book Co. ISBN 1-885705-02-6.

Usage

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The 18th-century classical composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach composed a trio sonata in C minor known as Sanguineus et Melancholicus (Wq 161/1). In the 20th century, Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 2 (Op.16) is subtitled "The Four Temperaments", each of the four movements being inspired by a sketch of a particular temperament.[29] Paul Hindemith's Theme and Four Variations for string orchestra and piano is also known as The Four Temperaments: although originally conceived as a ballet for Léonide Massine,[30][31] the score was ultimately completed as a commission for George Balanchine, who subsequently choreographed it as a neoclassical ballet, using the theory of the temperaments as a point of departure.[32][33]

The 19th-century French author Émile Zola used the four temperaments as a basis for his novel Thérèse Raquin.[34]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Woodcut from Johann Kaspar Lavater, Physiognomische Fragmente zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntnis und Menschenliebe (1775–1778)
  2. ^ "The Four Human Temperaments". www.thetransformedsoul.com. Archived from the original on 2022-07-07. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  3. ^ a b c Merenda, P. F. (1987). "Toward a Four-Factor Theory of Temperament and/or Personality". Journal of Personality Assessment. 51 (3): 367–374. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa5103_4. PMID 16372840.
  4. ^
    • Marks, David F.; Murray, Michael; Evans, Brian; Estacio, Emee Vida (2015). Health Psychology. Sage. p. 406. ISBN 978-1-4739-2759-9. four bodily humours, blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. Little scope was left for psychological causation and this theory only really lost its hold on Western thinking in the 1850s. [...] The humoral theory was eventually abandoned following [...] Rudolf Virchow in the 1850s.
    • David F. Marks, Michael Murray, Brian Evans, Emee Vida Estacio (2015). "16 Illness and Personality". Health Psychology: Theory, Research and Practice. Sage Publications. p. PT555. ISBN 978-1-4739-2758-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Sudhoff, Karl (1926). Essays in the History of Medicine. Medical Life Press, New York. pp. 67, 87, 104.
  6. ^ a b Boeree, C. George. "Early Medicine and Physiology". Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  7. ^ Kagan, Jerome (1998). Galen's Prophecy: Temperament In Human Nature. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-08405-2.
  8. ^ Osborn L. Ac., David K. "Inherent Temperament". Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  9. ^ "Temperament: Developmental and Ecological Dimensions". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
  10. ^ "Judy Duchan's History of Speech – Language Pathology". www.acsu.buffalo.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  11. ^ a b Jouanna, Jacques (2012), "The Legacy of the Hippocratic Treatise The Nature of Man: The Theory of the Four Humours", Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen, Brill, pp. 335–359, doi:10.1163/9789004232549_017, ISBN 9789004232549, S2CID 171176381
  12. ^ Ayoub, Lois (1995). "Old English Wæta and the Medical Theory of the Humours". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 94 (3): 332–346. JSTOR 27711180.
  13. ^
    • Corbin 2016, Overview. "In this work a distinguished scholar of Islamic religion examines the mysticism and psychological thought of the great eleventh-century Persian philosopher and physician Avicenna (Ibn Sina), author of over a hundred works on theology, logic, medicine, and mathematics."
    • Pasnau & Dyke 2010, p. 52. "Most important of these initially was the massive Book of Healing (Al-Shifa) of the eleventh-century Persian Avicenna, the parts of which labeled in Latin as De anima and De generatione having been translated in the second half of the twelfth century."
    • Daly 2013, p. 18. "The Persian polymath Ibn Sina (981–1037) consolidated all of this learning, along with Ancient Greek and Indian knowledge, into his The Canon of Medicine (1025), a work still taught in European medical schools in the seventeenth century."
  14. ^ Lutz, Peter L. (2002). The Rise of Experimental Biology: An Illustrated History. Humana Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-89603-835-1.
  15. ^ Nicholas Culpeper (1653) An Astrologo-Physical Discourse of the Human Virtues in the Body of Man, transcribed and annotated by Deborah Houlding. Skyscript, 2009 (retrieved 16 November 2011). Originally published in Culpeper's Complete Herbal (English Physician). London: Peter Cole, 1652.
  16. ^ Nicholas Culpeper, Semeiotica Urania, or Astrological Judgement of Diseases. London: 1655. Reprint, Nottingham: Ascella, 1994.
  17. ^ Greenbaum, Dorian Gieseler (2005). Temperament: Astrology's Forgotten Key. Wessex Astrologer. pp. 42, 91. ISBN 1-902405-17-X.
  18. ^ Martindale, Anne E.; Martindale, Colin (1988). "Metaphorical equivalence of elements and temperaments: Empirical studies of Bachelard's theory of imagination". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 55 (5): 836. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.55.5.836.
  19. ^ Rokhin, L, Pavlov, I and Popov, Y. (1963), Psychopathology and Psychiatry, Foreign Languages Publication House: Moscow. [1]
  20. ^ Becerra, Jose. Chapter 3 Keirsey's personality types | The Bailey Seven Ray Types.
  21. ^ Lundin, Robert W. (1989). Alfred-Adler's Basic Concepts and Implications. Taylor and Francis. p. 54. ISBN 0-915202-83-2.
  22. ^ Riemann, Fritz (2008). Anxiety. Reinhardt Ernst. ISBN 978-3-497-02043-0.
  23. ^ "What Are the Four DISC Types?". DISC Personality Testing Blog. 2014-01-27. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  24. ^ LaHaye, Tim (1966). The Spirit Controlled Temperament. Tyndale Publishing.
  25. ^ LaHaye, Tim (1984). Your Temperament: Discover Its Potential. Tyndale Publishing. ISBN 0-8423-6220-7.
  26. ^ LaHaye, Tim (1988). Why You Act the Way You Do. Tyndale Publishing. ISBN 0-8423-8212-7.
  27. ^ a b Doody, John A.; Immerwahr, John (1983). "The Persistence of the Four Temperaments". Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 66 (3): 348–359. ISSN 0038-1861. JSTOR 41178265.
  28. ^ "History and Development of the Arno Profile System". Arno Profile System. 2005. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  29. ^ Foltmann, Niels Bo, ed. (1998). Symphony No. 2 (PDF). II. Instrumental Music. Vol. 2. The Carl Nielsen Edition, Royal Danish Library. ISBN 978-87-598-0913-6. ISMN 979-0-66134-000-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2014. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  30. ^ Corleonis, Adrian (19 November 2007). "Paul Hindemith, Theme and Variations, 'Die vier Temperamente' (The Four Temperaments)". American Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  31. ^ Hindemith, Paul (1948). Theme and Four Variations (The Four Temperaments) (PDF). New York: Associated Music Publishers.
  32. ^ Kant, Marion (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Ballet. Cambridge University Press. pp. 231–232. ISBN 9781139827195.
  33. ^ Balanchine, George; Mason, Francis (1977). Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets. Doubleday. p. 253. ISBN 9780385113816.
  34. ^ Zola, Preface to Thérèse Raquin.

Works cited

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Further reading

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