How to study your temperament, How to understand the various temperament you hand and how you can use your temperament to your advantage.

1. TEMPERAMENT:
WHY YOU ACT THE WAY YOU DO

2. OBJECTIVES
• What Temperament is
• Types of Temperament
• Identify your Temperament
• Why know your temperaments

3. What is Temperament
• They are our patterns of behaviour… the ways we
usually respond to situations
• According to Psychologists, the innate aspects of
an individuals personality such as introversion or
extroversion is termed Temperament.
• It is also defined as a persons nature, ones usual
way of thinking or acting
• They are instinctive or natural behaviours, rather
than learned behaviours

4. The Temperament Types

5. The Temperament Types (Contd..)
Five types of temperament have been identified
• CHOLERIC
• PHLEGMATIC
• SANGUINE
• MENLANCHOLIC
• (SUPINE) – recently discovered

6. The Temperament Types (Contd..)
• All of us have all five temperaments within us
• But one or two of them is/are dominant
• They control our actions and behaviour
• They have their strengths and weaknesses
• None of them is good or bad, it depends on how
you use them

7. CHOLERIC (FIRE)
(Destructive Temperament) – Extrovert leader
• According to scholars, Choleric is the most
powerful and destructive temperament.
• They tend to be users
• They do not forget easily
• They are very quick tempered
• They seldom change their mind even if they are wrong
• They want total control over themselves and everyone
around them.

8. CHOLERIC (Contd…)
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
• Activists(take part in public
events)
• Opportunist
• Hard driving
• Optimistic/confident
• Perfectionist
• Friendly
• Tough minded
• Fearless
• Action oriented
• Quick tempered
• Offensive
• Proud
• Cruel
• Rash decision making
• Rude
• Self centered

9. The Special Role of the Choleric
• In organisations, they become very good executive
officers
• They are very good producers
• They can be very good building engineers
• Very good materials for politics
• In the religious organisations, they become very
good evangelists and prophets
• They become very good opinion leaders in society
• In marriage they play very high romantic roles

10. PHLEGMATIC (WATER)
(Peace Maker)
• This is the only temperament that is basically moderate
• They are very peaceful at heart making them great assets
socially, politically, in friendship, in business etc.
• They seldom use ideas and talents they have because it
requires to much energy and active participation.
• They sit back and watch other temperaments busy doing
things wrongly and looking at all the wrong things in the
world that need to be changed
• They easily identify the injustice but hardly take any action

11. Phlegmatic (Contd…)
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
• Peace loving and peace maker
• Even tempered
• Balanced (adjust to every
situation)
• Kind hearted
• Even loving
• Do not discriminate
• Easy going
• Not demanding
• Witty (having good
judgement)
• consistent
• Uninvolving
• Not opportunists
• Indecisive
• Unemotional and inexpressive
• Rarely self sacrificing(do not
want to sacrifice themselves
for affection)
• Unwillingness to become
involved in deep relationships
with people of the opposite sex
• Procrastination
• Verbal defences

12. The Special Role of the Phlegmatic
• They can be good teachers or educators
• They play effective roles in leadership
• They are mostly scientists
• They enjoy meticulous work; any work that need
carefulness and planning
• They become very good diplomats and good
administrators
• Become very good accountants
• They are very good pastors

13. SANGUINE (AIR) – Extrovert leader
(Quick tempered)
• A sanguine is an extrovert who has a high
need to include and be close to others.
• A sanguine is always cheerful, hopeful, confident
and expect the best in everything he/she does in
life. They always enjoy life
• A sanguine never thinks of failure or loss in
everything
• They are authoritative or autocratic

14. Sanguine (Contd…)
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
• Enjoy life and always happy
• Optimistic/confident
• Excel in communication
oriented things
• Talkative
• Warm (have sympathy for
people)
• They are approachable
• Sincere and helpful
• independent
• forgetful
• Unreliable
• Naïve (behave like children or
people without experience
• They do not want to be alone
• Superficial (Surface thinking)
• Very demanding
• Unstable
• Exaggeration
• Stubborn
• Does many things at once and does
not always complete them

15. The Special Role of the Sanguine
• Acting – they can act very well in public
• Sales - they are very good business men and women
• They make excellent masters of ceremonies (MC)
• Very good auctioneers
• Speeches
• Evangelism
• Prophesying
• Fighting or boxing

16. MELANCHOLIC (EARTH) - introvert
(Perfectionist)
• Melancholics approach very few people for association and
they do not like to be approached for association.
• They are very selective with whom they socialise.
• According to scholars, melancholics are very family oriented,
closely bonded to individuals within the family unit.
• They see life as a goal to achieve . Due to their intelligence
they predict pitfalls in a project before they undertake it

17. Melancholic (Contd…)
• They are perfectionists and set very high standards for
themselves and for other people around them.
• They are self motivated and do not respond to the promise of
reward or the threat of punishment
• They become very sad when things go wrong
• Therefore they analyse and plan before doing anything and
want it to be very perfect.
• They can be extremely quiet people who never talk to son,
daughter, or even spouse.

18. Melancholic (Contd)
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
• Perfectionists
• Analytical
• Great understanding
• Self sacrificial
• Gifted(have extraordinary talents)
• Good decision making people
• Good leaders
• They are responsible
• Faithfulness and loyalty
• Dependable
• Deep commitment
• Lonely/private
• Suicidal tendencies
• Easily depressed
• Some times procrastinate
• Revengeful
• Emotional
• Non – romantic (they have sex
with their spouse and not make love to
them)
• Secretive

19. Special role of the melancholic
• Most of the worlds greatest composers,
inventors, philosophers, theologians, musicians,
artists, educators, medical doctors were
predominantly melancholic.
• Excellent humanitarians
• Authors
• Great Investors

20. SUPINE (Tender And Lovely)
• Supine have interest and care in people, but
little ability or need to express their needs
• The Supine often wish that others could "read
their minds.
• They may have the strong feeling of the
Sanguine but simply be unwilling to express
themselves.

21. Supine (Contd…)
• They frequently employ themselves in positions
that permit them to be servants to others. They
will dutifully work to please others, who they see
as better than themselves.
• A great capacity for service, liking people, and
the desire to serve others. They possess an
inborn gentle spirit. As youngsters, they are
often tormented and abused by other children.

22. Supine (Contd…)
• They have the ability to respond to love and to open
up emotionally when they feel emotionally “safe.” If
treated properly, they are capable of absolute and
total commitment to deep personal relationships.
• However, if a Supine actually feels safe in a close,
personal relationship, they can respond and return
expressions of caring. They can become intensely
loyal, producing absolute, complete faithfulness.

23. • Gentle spirit
• Desire to serve
others
• Dependable
• Intensely loyal
• Can feel real love,
joy, and peace
• Great capacity to
respond to love
STRENGTHS WEAKNESS
• Unable to express
themselves
• Feels inadequate
• Victim
• Hurt easily
• Fear of rejection
• Internalizes anger
• Too sensitive
Supine (Contd…)

24. • Slow-paced and diligent
• Great capacity for service
• Dutifully pleases others
• Decision making abilities
• Ability to enforce "the policies" set by others
Special role of the Supine

25. Why Know Your Temperament
Being aware of our temperaments can help us
• To better understand each other’s and our own
behaviours
• To better appreciate and more fully use what gifts we
have
• To appreciate our differences
• To find ways of bridging these differences
• To live peacefully with each other

26. WHAT TEMPERAMENT DO I HAVE
• We all have all the 5 temperaments in us, but
in different mixture.
• … with one or two being more dominant
• IDENTIFY YOURS AND BE AT PEACE WITH OTHER
TEMPERAMENTS NOW

27. Recommended Books
• Temperament; what is your temperament, identify your
temperament now (by Joseph Gbedemah)
• Strategic Positioning – by Emmanuel Dei – Tumi
• Why you act the way you do – by Tim LaHaye
• Any introductory text book on psychology
• The BIBLE
• Any other...?

28. QUESTIONS PLEASE...