Four temperaments


 * Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic, and Phlegmatic redirect here; for other uses, see Melancholia, Cholera, and Sanguine (disambiguation).



Under the ancient medical theory of the four humours, the four temperaments are personality types or moods ascribed to the imbalance of certain bodily fluids in each person.

Also the set of theme and variations for piano and orchestra composed by Paul Hindemith in 1940 where each variation represents one of these four temperaments.

Sanguine
Sanguine indicates the personality of an individual with the temperament of blood, the season of spring (wet and hot), and the element of air. A person who is sanguine is generally optimistic, cheerful, even-tempered, confident, rational, popular, and fun-loving. It is the most positive of the temperaments, but also describes the manic phase of a bipolar disorder.

Choleric
Choleric corresponds to the fluid of yellow bile, the season of summer (dry and hot), and the element of fire. A person who is choleric is easily angered or bad tempered.

In folk medicine, a baby referred to as "cholic" is one who cries frequently and seems to be constantly angry. This is an adaptation of "choleric," although no one now would attribute the condition to bile. Similarly, a person described as "bilious" is mean-spirited, suspicious, and angry. This, again, is an adaptation of the old Humor theory "choleric."

The disease Cholera gained its name from choler (bile).

Melancholic
Melancholic is the personality of an individual characterized by black bile; hence the name, which means 'black bile' (Greek &mu;&epsilon;&lambda;&alpha;&sigmaf;, melas, "black", + &chi;&omicron;&lambda;&eta;, kholé, "bile"); a person whose constitution tended to have a preponderance of black bile had a melancholic disposition. It also indicates the season of autumn (dry and cold) and the element of earth.

This temperament describes the depressed phase of a bipolar disorder.

Phlegmatic
A phlegmatic person is calm and unemotional. Phlegmatic means pertaining to phlegm, corresponds to the season of winter (wet and cold), and connotates the element of water.

While phlegmatics are generally self-content and kind, their shy personality can often inhibit enthusiasm in others and make themselves lazy and resistant to change. They are very consistent, relaxed, and observant, making them good administrators and diplomats. Like the sanguine personality, the phlegmatic has many friends. But the phlegmatic is more reliable and compassionate; these characteristics typically make the phlegmatic a more dependable friend.

Within an individual, the phlegmatic personality is considered to be compatible with the sanguine and melancholic traits -- the melancholic personality is too perfectionistic, and the choleric is too controlling. Combinations of two incompatible traits may be evidence of masking.

When the theory of the temperaments was on the wane, many critics dropped the phlegmatic, or defined it purely negatively as the absence of temperament. This, however, made it available for the German philosopher Immanuel Kant to reclaim as the temperament appropriate to freedom and virtue.

Possible Fifth Temperament and Temperament Blends
In recent years, a fifth temperament, the  Supine, has been suggested. Supines like and need people, however, they have a fear of rejection and do not initiate in relationships. The four-temperament model also has twelve mixtures of the four temperaments: Mel-Chlor, Chlor-San, San-Phleg, Phleg-Mel, Mel-San, Chlor Phleg;  and the reverse of these: Chlor-Mel, San-Chlor, Phleg-San, Mel-Phleg, San-Mel, and Phleg-Chlor. These represent people who have the traits of two temperaments. The order of temperaments in these pairs was based on which temperament was the "dominant" one. A person can also be a blend of three temperaments.