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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.
The melancholic and choleric, however, shared a sustained response (dryness), and the sanguine and phlegmatic shared a short-lived response (wetness). This meant that the choleric and melancholic both would tend to hang on to emotions like anger, and thus appear more serious and critical than the fun-loving sanguine, and the peaceful phlegmatic.
In fact, the original four types of temperament (choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic and sanguine) suggested by Hippocrates and Galen resemble mild forms of types of psychiatric disorders described in modern classifications. Moreover, Hippocrates-Galen hypothesis of chemical imbalances as factors of consistent individual differences has also been ...
Stable introverts (phlegmatic qualities such as calm, even-tempered, reliable, controlled, peaceful, thoughtful, careful, passive) Unstable introverts (melancholic qualities such as quiet, reserved, pessimistic, sober, rigid, anxious, moody) Further research demonstrated the need for a third category of temperament: [3]
Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates developed the theories of Humorism by identifying four vital bodily "humors" or fluids (i.e., blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) to be associated with temperaments (i.e., sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic, and choleric, respectively) as well as physical health outcomes. [3]
An ancient belief held the human body contains four "humors" corresponding to respective temperaments, namely, melancholic (sad), sanguine (happy), choleric (aggressive), and phlegmatic (calm). [19] Cain says that Aristotle wondered why great poets, philosophers, artists, and politicians often had melancholic personalities—personalities ...
In Galen's view, an imbalance of each humor corresponded with a particular human temperament (blood – sanguine, black bile – melancholic, yellow bile – choleric, and phlegm – phlegmatic). Thus, individuals with sanguine temperaments are extroverted and social; choleric people have energy, passion, and charisma; melancholics are creative ...
The four humors as depicted in an 18th-century woodcut: phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine and melancholic. The imbalance of humors, or dyscrasia, was thought to be the direct cause of all diseases. Health was associated with a balance of humors, or eucrasia. The qualities of the humors, in turn, influenced the nature of the diseases they caused.