Understanding your temperament can help you better navigate your interactions with others and enhance self-awareness.
The four classic temperaments—sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic—offer a broad framework for categorizing distinct personality traits. Here’s how you might determine which temperament best describes you:
Identify your primary reactions and behaviours:
- Sanguine: If you find yourself to be generally sociable, talkative, and pleasure-seeking, often preferring spontaneity over planning, you might be sanguine. Sanguines are usually very expressive and are not afraid to show their emotions.
- Choleric: If you are driven, goal-oriented, and have a strong direction in your actions, often taking leadership roles and making decisions quickly, you could be choleric. Cholerics are dynamic, active, and tend to be assertive or even aggressive in pursuing their objectives.
- Melancholic: If you are detail-oriented, introspective, and thoughtful, and you take commitments very seriously, you might align with the melancholic temperament. Melancholics are often sensitive to the feelings of others and can be perfectionistic and self-analytical.
- Phlegmatic: If you are calm, reliable, and generally unemotional, preferring stability and consistency over change, you likely have a phlegmatic temperament. Phlegmatics are good at mediation, often seeking harmony and avoiding conflict.
Examine how you handle relationships and social interactions:
- Sanguines thrive in social settings and often have a wide circle of friends. They love attention and engaging with different people.
- Cholerics are less concerned with socializing and more focused on getting results. They may have fewer friends but value competent and loyal associates.
- Melancholics take relationships seriously and seek deeper, meaningful connections rather than many superficial ones. They can be cautious about forming new relationships.
- Phlegmatics are easy-going and often get along well with everyone, though they may not seek out interactions as actively as sanguines.
How do you behave in social settings (Getty Images)
Reflect on your emotional responses:
- Sanguines react emotionally to events but their feelings may be fleeting; they recover quickly from setbacks.
- Cholerics show strong, passionate responses and can be easily provoked to anger; however, they also tend to hold onto grudges less.
- Melancholics may dwell on emotional experiences, which can lead to prolonged periods of reflection or sadness.
- Phlegmatics rarely get visibly upset and maintain a level of detachment from emotional swings.
Reflect(videoblocks)
By reflecting on these aspects of your behaviour and emotional life, you can begin to identify with one of the temperaments.
It’s important to remember that most people exhibit traits across different temperaments; you might not fit perfectly into one category.
Understanding this can enrich your self-awareness and help you manage your personal and professional life more effectively.