WHAT IS TEMPERAMENT?
Temperament is the inborn part of us that determines how we react to people, places, and things. The Bible refers to this as the SOUL, which is composed of our INTELLECT (Inclusion), WILL (Control), and EMOTIONS (Affection).
- Temperament influences how we interact with our social and cultural environment
- Temperament helps us pinpoint the perception we have of ourselves and others around us
- Temperament speaks to us concerning our views on life and the world as they relate to God
- Temperament assists in determining how well we deal with everyday stress and pressure
TEMPERAMENT TYPES
Photo by Anna Kamiino on UnsplashTrees and plants all have a common name, which is a collective name for a group of trees or plants sharing the same characteristics. For example, apple trees, scientifically referred to as Malus domestica, produce a variety of different types of apples, each with different characteristics that make them unique. The Red Delicious is bright red in color and crunchy and mildly sweet, the red-orange and yellow Gala varies in color and is crisp and very sweet, the Fuji features red stripes atop a yellow background and is crunchy and super sweet, the Granny Smith is bright green in color and has a crunchy texture and tart flavor, and the Golden Delicious is yellow-green in color with a sweet and mellow almost buttery flavor. Similarly, Creation Therapy assigns a name for each group of temperament traits that are collectively shared by different people.
The National Christian Counselors Association (NCCA) recognizes five temperament types: the Melancholy, Choleric, Sanguine, Supine, and Phlegmatic. Just as each tree and plant within each collective name group is unique and different, so are people. The following is a brief description of the distinguishing characteristics of each temperament type:
Photo by Kyle Broad on UnsplashMELANCHOLY
The thinker. Genius-prone individual who is quiet and prefers to be alone. Able to socialize, but needs quiet time. Tends to be a perfectionist and does everything well.
Their greatest need is for ENCOURAGEMENT.
Photo by Mimi Thian on UnsplashCHOLERIC
Aggressive, task-oriented individual who is people friendly. Their main objective is to get the job done.
Their greatest need is for RECOGNITION.
Photo by Justin Follis on UnsplashSANGUINE
A very people-oriented person. Very upbeat, optimistic, talkative and active. They do not like being alone or isolated.
Their greatest need is for ATTENTION.
Photo by Anna Samoylova on UnsplashSUPINE
The servant of all temperaments. Gentle and humble-spirited. They will do anything for anyone. They are both people and task-oriented.
Their greatest need is for APPROVAL.
PHLEGMATIC
Photo by Santi Vedri on Unsplash
The diplomat. An easy-going, peace at all costs, witty and hard to get moving person. Very detailed and can work at tedious jobs for long periods of time without getting bored.
Their greatest need is to be INSPIRED.
Most people have what is called a blended temperament (a combination of two or more temperament types). Very few people have what is called a pure temperament (only one temperament type). There are more than 40,000 different temperament blends. Temperament analysis is kind of like a fingerprint. Everyone's fingerprints look similar, but there are many little variations in the grooves that differentiate one individual from another to make them unique.
HOW IS TEMPERAMENT ANALYZED?
The counselor administers a test questionnaire, referred to as the Arno Profile System (APS) Response Form, which takes less than ten minutes to complete. The questionnaire consists of a series of ten questions asked six times. The questionnaire is then processed for analysis.
Temperament analysis does not measure actual behavior. For example, a person can be introverted but behave as if they are extroverted. If an individual's behavior is different from their temperament needs, they become stressed. A Temperament Analysis enables the counselor to determine how a person's actual behavior may be different from their temperament needs. By giving an individual a better understanding of their temperament, similar to the way a doctor might use an x-ray to show an individual what is going on inside the body that is causing the symptoms, the person can then begin to modify their behavior to meet their temperament needs to find balance and relieve inner stress.
Only a counselor certified by the National Christian Counselors Association in Creation Therapy is qualified to administer the APS questionnaire and review the results with the counselee.
HOW IS A TEMPERAMENT ANALYSIS DIFFERENT FROM A PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT?
Photo by Colin Maynard on UnsplashA Temperament Analysis measures predetermined inborn abilities, talents, desires and motivations placed inside us by God. It is our predisposition to the world around us.
At birth, we begin interacting with our environment and our environment interacts with us. The environment is everything we see, hear, smell, feel and learn. These perceptions are locked into our brain and slightly mold or alter our temperament, forming what is referred to as our character.
Our personality is self-selected. It is expressed in the way we perceive how we must behave to survive in the world in which we live. This may or may not be part of our temperament or character. There is one major problem with personality assessment. Personality can change, depending on where a person is or who they are with, much like a person may change the clothing they wear to achieve a different look or style. Eventually a person must revert back to temperament and character, which is why a person may behave differently at home than they do in public. Temperament, on the other hand, is better compared to the naked person beneath the clothes. It does not change. We can grow and develop in the understanding of our temperament needs similar to the way our bodies grow and develop, but we have the same body from the moment we are conceived until the day we die and the same temperament. Personality assessments tell us how we behave. The Arno Profile System, on the other hand, uses temperament analysis to explain why we are behaving that way.
Some personality assessments use the word "temperament" when what they are actually describing is your personality, so don't be fooled by imitations. The Arno Profile System is the only tool that is able to measure inborn temperament traits. All other assessments measure personality.
THE HISTORY OF TEMPERAMENTS
Any study of temperaments must go back about 2,400 years to the early Greek historian, Hippocrates. Hippocrates (450-370 BC) was the first to bring to light the theory of temperament. Since Hippocrates did not have the scientific tools that are available today, his theories were based upon his observations of man's behavior. According to Hippocrates, man's behavior was governed by the color of bile within a person's body. These body fluids, which he called humors, were divided into four classifications: blood (Sanguine), black bile (Melancholy), yellow bile (Choleric), and phlegm (Phlegmatic). He believed that an excess of these fluids would cause the person to behave according to that fluid, i.e., a person who had an overabundance of black bile would be an extremely dark, moody person, as in the Melancholy. As we know today, the theory of humors has proven to be scientifically unsound, but Hippocrates' theories have given us some basic understanding of the differences in human behavior.
In 1927 Alfred Adler (1879-1937) interpreted Hippocrates' four temperaments, the Sanguine, Melancholy, Choleric, and Phlegmatic. Historically we believe that Alfred Adler was the first to give us the functioning of the temperaments. Many other psychologists and philosophers such as Galen (131-200 BC), Maimonides (1135-1204), Nicholas Culpepper (1616-1654), Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), and Hans J. Eysenck (1916-1997), just to name a few, also contributed to the study of temperament.
Photo by Giammarco Boscaro on Unsplash
In 1958, William Schutz developed a statistically based method for accurately extracting temperament characteristics using a 54 question inventory called the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO-B). The Arno Profile System is a tool that was scientifically researched and developed from the FIRO-B by Drs. Richard and Phyllis Arno of the National Christian Counselors Association in 1984, specifically for use by the church and Christian community. Dr. Arno identified a fifth temperament. After several years of research, this temperament was named the Supine and introduced to the scholastic community. Supines picture themselves as the individuals who were placed on this earth to serve others. The behavior of the Supine is so unique and different from that of all the other temperaments that it demanded a type classification of its own. If you have ever heard of the Supine temperament, it had to be through the teaching and reporting of the National Christian Counselors Association. All other writers and researchers have concluded that there are only four temperaments: the Sanguine, Melancholy, Choleric, and Phlegmatic.