I’ve been reading up on temperament theory; the belief that almost everything about you, from personality to health, can be characterised by which temperament group you belong to. This idea, dating back to the ancient Greeks and popular during the middle ages, has been documented by behavioural psychologist and author Hans Eysenck (1916 – 1997), in books such as The Biological Basis of Personality (1967), and Psychology is about People (1972).
He believed that everyone could be characterised as one of four main temperament “types”, which are actually corners of two dissecting lines, temperature and humidity. The four types are defined as so:
- Sanguine (Temperature: Warm / Humidity: Wet)
“Sanguine” types are cheerful and optimistic, pleasant to be with, and comfortable in their work. According to the Greeks, sanguine types have a particularly abundant supply of blood, (hence the name sanguine), and therefore possess a healthful look, including rosy cheeks. Their strengths include being funny, enthusiastic, energetic and sincere. Their weaknesses include over-exaggerating, and being disorganized, naive and restless.
- Choleric (Temperature: Warm / Humidity: Dry)
“Choleric” types are characterized by quick tempers, and often an aggressive nature, (the name refers to bile). Physical characteristics include a yellowish complexion and tense muscles. Their strengths include being natural leaders, strong-willed, unemotional and confident. Their weaknesses include being bossy, impatient, inflexible and unsympathetic.
- Phlegmatic (Temperature: Cool / Humidity: Wet)
“Phlegmatic” types are characterized by their slowness, laziness and dullness, (the name coming from the word phlegm). Physically, these people are thought to be kind of cold, and shaking hands with one is like shaking hands with a fish. Their strengths include being easygoing, collected, well balanced and sympathetic. Their weaknesses include avoiding responsibility, being unenthusiastic, indecisive and hard to get moving.
- Melancholy (Temperature: Cool / Humidity: Dry)
Melancholy types tend to be sad, even depressed, and take a pessimistic view of the world. The name is now adopted as a synonym for sadness, but comes from the Greek words for “black bile”. (We don’t know what this is, but the Greeks thought that melancholy types had too much of it)! Their strengths include being analytical, philosophical, conscientious and self-sacrificing. Their weaknesses include being moody, introspective, negative and hard to please.
… apparently I’m Sanguine, bordering on Choleric.
