History of Temperament Development

John T. Cocoris, Th.M., Psy.D

 

The idea that behavior is related to a person’s natural tendencies or temperament has been around for at least 2,400 years. A handful of men have contributed significantly to the development of this concept.

 

Hippocrates (470?-360? B.C.). Throughout history there have been many attempts to explain why people are different. One of the first systems developed was Astrology, which looked outside of man to explain the differences. There were twelve "signs" symbolized by earth, air, fire and water. Hippocrates, however, looked inside of man to explain the differences. He believed that behavior was determined by the presence of an excessive amount of one of four fluids or humors; yellow bile (Chlor); red bile or blood (Sangis); white bile (Phlegm); black bile (Melan). These four humors were thought to be related to the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. Hippocrates, and other early Greeks, thought that an excess of one of the four humors produced a particular temperament and behavior.

 

The word "temperament" comes from the Latin word temperamentum and means "right blending." The Greeks thought that a person’s "temperament" was therefore made up of a blending of these four fluids.

 

        An excess of yellow bile resulted in a temperament believed to be warm/hot and dry,

      and associated with the element of fire [Choleric].

 

        An excess of red bile resulted in a temperament believed to be warm/hot and wet,

        and associated with the element of air [Sanguine].

 

        An excess of white bile resulted in a temperament believed to be cool/cold and wet,

        and associated with the element of water [Phlegmatic].

 

        An excess of black bile resulted in a temperament believed to be cool/cold and dry,

        and associated with the element of earth [Melancholy].

 

Hippocrates and the early Greeks were accurate in their observations of behavior but were incorrect about the origin of these tendencies (they are not created by the excess of a fluid). Today we would say that they originate from some genetic predisposition, although we cannot be certain.

 

Galen (129? - 203?) was a Greek physician, who lived 600 years after Hippocrates and was responsible for popularizing the temperaments during his time and relating them to illness. He is credited with coining the terms, Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic and Melancholy.

 

Immual Kant (1724 - 1804) described the four temperaments in his book, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, 1798.

 

Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654) was the first to dispute two fundamental concepts that had existed since the time of Hippocrates. First, he rejected the idea that the four "humors" were the cause of a person’s temperament. Secondly, he was the first to say that a person is influenced by two temperaments, one primary and one secondary. Before Culpeper, it was believed that a person had only one temperament.

 

William M. Marston (1893-1947) was the first to contribute scientific evidence that people fit into one of four categories. He published Emotions of Normal People in 1928 using the terms: Dominant, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance. Marston studied the emotions of normal people because research had centered around the emotions of abnormal people during his era. He observed behavior and identified thirty-five words or phrases that characterized four people according to their emotional response to a favorable and unfavorable situation. A little known fact is that Marston was responsible for the invention of the systolic blood-pressure test which led to the creation of the lie detector. He also created the cartoon character, Wonder Woman.

 

Ole Halsbey contributed penetrating insight into the behavior of the four temperaments in his book, Temperament And The Christian Faith, in the 1930’s using the terms, Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic and Melancholy.

 

John G. Geier built on the works of William M. Marston (1928), Walter Clarke (1940) and John Cleaver (1950). Walter Clarke developed the Activity Vector Analysis using the four dimensions of Aggressive, Sociable, Stable and Avoidant. John Cleaver created a 24 question forced-choice instrument from the work of Walter Clarke.

 

John Geier, building on the works of Marston, Cleaver and Clark, was the first to develop (by factor analysis) an instrument that identified an individual’s behavioral style (temperament blend) and identified 15 classical patterns. These are patterns that frequently reoccurred on his instrument. Dr. Geier developed the Personal Profile System instrument in 1958 and eventually formed the company Performax to market the materials to the business community (early 1960’s). His DiSC profile enabled business companies to build a more effective team and match a person’s natural tendencies to a specific task. He used the terms: High "D" (Dominant); High "i" (Influencing); High "S" (Steadiness); and High "C" (Competent).

 

Tim LaHaye was the first to popularize the concept to the Christian community. Dr. LaHaye published the first of several books in the late 1970’s using the terms, Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic and Melancholy.

 

Hans J. Eysenck wrote Personality and Individual Differences, A Natural Science Approach, in 1985. Dr. Eysenck has written other books on the subject including, The Biological Basis of Personality (1967).

 

Others have contributed to the temperament model of behavior, using different terms, including, Plato (350 BC), Paracelsus (1530), Adickes (1905), Spranger (1914), Kretschmer (1930), Adler (1937), Fromm (1947), Myers (1955) and Keirsey (1970).

 

Summary

 

The ancient Greeks observed people and speculated on the reasons for their behavior. Their observations were supported in later centuries by a wide variety of people including physicians and philosophers. In the early 1900’s the scientific method was applied by Marston with the same results. The concept has been observed for centuries and verified by science that people fall into four categories, and everyone describes the four basically the same.

 

Correlation of Terms

 

There have been many different terms used to refer to the four temperaments. Below is a correlation of some the more popular ones:

Choleric               Sanguine               Phlegmatic                Melancholy
Dominant             Influencing              Steadiness                 Compliance
High "D"               High "i"                  High "S"                     High "C"
Directive              Interactive             Supportive                 Corrective
Driver                  Expressive              Amiable                     Analytical
Red                      Yellow                    Gray                          Blue

 

© 2006, John T. Cocoris

 

 

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05/24/2009