Five Temperaments
Encyclopedia
Five temperaments is a theory
in psychology
, that expands upon the Four Temperaments proposed in ancient medical theory.
The development of a theory of five temperaments begins with the Two-factor models of personality
and the work of the late William Schutz
, and his FIRO
-B program. It is a measure of interpersonal relations orientations that calculates a person's behavior patterns based on the scoring of a questionnaire
. Although FIRO-B does not speak in terms of "temperament," this system of analysis graded questionnaires on two scales in three dimensions of interpersonal relations. When paired with temperament theory, a measurement of five temperaments resulted.
(460-370 BC), who believed certain human behaviors were caused by body fluids (called "humors"): blood
(sanguis), [yellow] bile
(cholera or Gk. χολη, kholé) black bile (μελας, melas, "black", + χολη, kholé, "bile"); and phlegm
. Next, Galen
(131-200 AD) developed the first typology
of temperament in his dissertation De Temperamentis, and searched for physiological reasons for different behaviors in humans. In The Canon of Medicine
, Avicenna
(980-1037) then extended the theory of temperaments to encompass "emotion
al aspects, mental capacity, moral
attitudes, self-awareness
, movements and dream
s."
This is also related to the classical elements of air, water, earth, and fire; as
sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic, and choleric, respectively. They made up a matrix of hot/cold and dry/wet taken from the Four Elements. There were also intermediate scales for balance between each pole, yielding a total of nine temperaments. Four were the original humors, and five were balanced in one or both scales.
Nicholas Culpeper
(1616–1654) disregarded the idea of fluids as defining human behavior, and Maimonides
(1135–1204), Immanuel Kant
(1724–1804), Alfred Adler
(1879–1937) and Ivan Pavlov
(1849–1936) all theorized on the four temperaments and greatly shaped our modern theories of temperament. Hans Eysenck
(1916–1997) was one of the first psychologists to analyze personality differences using a psycho-statistical method (factor analysis
), and his research led him to believe that temperament is biologically based.
From the beginning, with Galen's ancient temperaments, it was observed that pairs of temperaments shared certain traits in common.
Therefore, it was evident that the sanguine and choleric shared a common trait: quickness of response, while the melancholy and phlegmatic shared the opposite, a longer response. The melancholy and choleric, however, shared a sustained response, and the sanguine and phlegmatic shared a short-lived response. That meant, that the Choleric and melancholy 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. However, the choleric would be characterized by quick expressions of anger, while the melancholy would build up anger slowly, silently, before exploding. Also, the melancholy and sanguine would be sort of "opposites", as the choleric and phlegmatic, since they have opposite traits.
As the twentieth century progressed, numerous other instruments were devised measuring not only temperament, but also various individual aspects of personality and behavior
, and several began using factors that would correspond to the delay and sustain behaviors; usually, forms of Extroversion
and a developing category of people
versus task focus
(eventually embodied as "Agreeableness
").
Examples include DiSC assessment
system and Social styles.
In both of these, the four behaviors or styles resembled the key characteristics of the ancient four temperaments: The Choleric's extroversion and seriousness; the Melancholy's introversion and seriousness; the Sanguine's extroversion and sociability, and the Phlegmatic's peacefulness.
As personality typing increased, Christian writer and speaker Tim LaHaye
helped repopularize the ancient temperaments beginning in his books.
Another addition to the two factor models was the creation of a 10 by 10 square grid developed by Robert R. Blake
and Jane Mouton
in their Managerial Grid Model
introduced in 1964. This matrix
graded from 0-9, the factors of "Concern for People" and "Concern for Production", allowing a moderate
range of scores, which yielded five "leadership styles". The Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument
(TKI) used a version of this with "Assertiveness" and "Cooperativeness" as the two factors, and an intermediate
score in both scales likewise resulting in a fifth mode directly in the center of the grid.
of the various scores, following the Managerial Grid model; with unofficial names assigned to different score ranges.
Schutz was emphatic that all FIRO scores in themselves "Are not terminal — they can and do change", and that they "Do not encourage typology" (and thus contradicted the notion of inborn temperament). However, the four ancient temperaments were eventually mapped
to the FIRO-B scales, including the three separate temperament grids for individuals' scores in each area.
A Melancholy tends to be an introverted loner
, and in the area of "control" such a person would exhibit a low need to control
others, and also have a low tolerance
of control by others (i.e. "dependency"). In the areas of inclusion and affection, such people would display a low need to include or be close to others, and a low need to be included by others.
A Choleric, however, is an extroverted "leader
"-type who, in the area of control, has a high need to control others, but a low tolerance of others controlling him. He also has a high need to include or be close to others, but a low level of "responsiveness" (used as another term for "wanted" behavior) to them. He tends to be a "user", and only relates to people according to his own terms, which are usually goal-oriented.
A Sanguine is an extrovert who has a high need to include and be close to others, but unlike the Choleric, the Sanguine genuinely likes being around people just for the sake of socialization. The Sanguine also "swings" between both control and dependency.
So the temperaments were divided between introverts, extroverts, and in the other dimension, "relationship-oriented", and "task-oriented". In the older model, the fourth temperament, Phlegmatic, had generally been regarded as "introverted" like the Melancholy, yet more "agreeable", like the Sanguine. For example, the "slow response/short-lived sustain" of the original conception, where it shares one factor with the Sanguine, and the other with the Melancholy. In the other instruments using people/task-orientation, the type that holds the corresponding place in respect to the other types (such as Social Styles' "Amiable" or Adler's "Leaning") is also generally correlated with the Phlegmatic in comparisons.
However, while the Phlegmatic is not as extroverted as the Sanguine and Choleric, nor as serious as the Melancholy and Choleric; he is neither as introverted as the Melancholy, nor as relationship-oriented as the Sanguine. Thus the Phlegmatic (which was even once defined by critics as the absence of temperament), is basically a moderate temperament, and hence in this new system it winds up having only a mid-range score in responsiveness and expressiveness. That placed it directly in the center (like TKI's "Compromising" mode or Blake and Mouton's "Middle of the Road"). The Phlegmatic person is by definition, ambiverted, being capable of interaction with people, but overall, can "take them or leave them".
This left a range of people with a high "wanted" score in the areas of control, inclusion and affection, (like a Sanguine) but a low "expressed" score (like a Melancholy); the true "relationship-oriented introverts". Other researchers had been suspecting that there might be a fifth temperament, but most simply regarded it as a "passive sanguine."
Four temperament theories such as LaHaye's often depict the Phlegmatic as being very fear
ful (according to LaHaye, "he is a worrier by nature", which is what "keeps him from venturing out on his own to make full use of his potential)."
For the Melancholic, the motivation is fear of rejection and/or the unknown. They have a low self esteem and, figuring that others do not like them, they reject others first.
The Supine also has low self-esteem
, but is driven to try to gain acceptance by liking and serving others.
The Sanguine is driven by the need for attention, and tries to sell themselves through their charm, and accepts others before those others can reject them. Their self-esteem crashes if they are nevertheless rejected. Yet, they will regain the confidence to keep trying to impress others.
The Choleric is motivated by their goals, in which other people are tools to be used.
The Phlegmatic's lack of a motivation becomes their driving need: to protect their low energy reserve.
Theory
The English word theory was derived from a technical term in Ancient Greek philosophy. The word theoria, , meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", and referring to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action...
in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, that expands upon the Four Temperaments proposed in ancient medical theory.
The development of a theory of five temperaments begins with the Two-factor models of personality
Two-factor models of personality
The Two-Factor Model of Personality is a widely used psychological factor analysis measurement of personality, behavior and temperament. It most often consists of a matrix measuring the factor of introversion and extroversion with some form of people versus task orientation.-Beginnings:Anciently,...
and the work of the late William Schutz
William Schutz
not to be confused with "Schulz" or "Schultz", see also William Schulz William Schutz was an American psychologist....
, and his FIRO
Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation
Fundamental interpersonal relations orientation is a theory of interpersonal relations, introduced by William Schutz in 1958. This theory mainly explains the interpersonal underworld of a small group...
-B program. It is a measure of interpersonal relations orientations that calculates a person's behavior patterns based on the scoring of a questionnaire
Questionnaire
A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case...
. Although FIRO-B does not speak in terms of "temperament," this system of analysis graded questionnaires on two scales in three dimensions of interpersonal relations. When paired with temperament theory, a measurement of five temperaments resulted.
History and the ancient four temperaments
Five Temperament theory has its roots in the ancient four humors theory of the Greek Historian HippocratesHippocrates
Hippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles , and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine...
(460-370 BC), who believed certain human behaviors were caused by body fluids (called "humors"): blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
(sanguis), [yellow] bile
Bile
Bile or gall is a bitter-tasting, dark green to yellowish brown fluid, produced by the liver of most vertebrates, that aids the process of digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In many species, bile is stored in the gallbladder and upon eating is discharged into the duodenum...
(cholera or Gk. χολη, kholé) black bile (μελας, melas, "black", + χολη, kholé, "bile"); and phlegm
Phlegm
Phlegm is a liquid secreted by the mucous membranes of mammalians. Its definition is limited to the mucus produced by the respiratory system, excluding that from the nasal passages, and particularly that which is expelled by coughing . Phlegm is in essence a water-based gel consisting of...
. Next, Galen
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...
(131-200 AD) developed the first typology
Personality type
Personality type refers to the psychological classification of different types of individuals. Personality types are sometimes distinguished from personality traits, with the latter embodying a smaller grouping of behavioral tendencies. Types are sometimes said to involve qualitative differences...
of temperament in his dissertation De Temperamentis, and searched for physiological reasons for different behaviors in humans. In The Canon of Medicine
The Canon of Medicine
The Canon of Medicine is an encyclopedia of Galenic medicine in five books compiled by Ibn Sīnā and completed in 1025. It presents a clear and organized summary of all the medical knowledge of the time...
, Avicenna
Avicenna
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
(980-1037) then extended the theory of temperaments to encompass "emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
al aspects, mental capacity, moral
Moral
A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim...
attitudes, self-awareness
Self-awareness
Self-awareness is the capacity for introspection and the ability to reconcile oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals...
, movements and dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
s."
This is also related to the classical elements of air, water, earth, and fire; as
sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic, and choleric, respectively. They made up a matrix of hot/cold and dry/wet taken from the Four Elements. There were also intermediate scales for balance between each pole, yielding a total of nine temperaments. Four were the original humors, and five were balanced in one or both scales.
Nicholas Culpeper
Nicholas Culpeper
Nicholas Culpeper was an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer. His published books include The English Physician and the Complete Herbal , which contain a rich store of pharmaceutical and herbal knowledge, and Astrological Judgement of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick ,...
(1616–1654) disregarded the idea of fluids as defining human behavior, and Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
(1135–1204), Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
(1724–1804), Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. In collaboration with Sigmund Freud and a small group of Freud's colleagues, Adler was among the co-founders of the psychoanalytic movement as a core member of the Vienna...
(1879–1937) and Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a famous Russian physiologist. Although he made significant contributions to psychology, he was not in fact a psychologist himself but was a mathematician and actually had strong distaste for the field....
(1849–1936) all theorized on the four temperaments and greatly shaped our modern theories of temperament. Hans Eysenck
Hans Eysenck
Hans Jürgen Eysenck was a German-British psychologist who spent most of his career in Britain, best remembered for his work on intelligence and personality, though he worked in a wide range of areas...
(1916–1997) was one of the first psychologists to analyze personality differences using a psycho-statistical method (factor analysis
Factor analysis
Factor analysis is a statistical method used to describe variability among observed, correlated variables in terms of a potentially lower number of unobserved, uncorrelated variables called factors. In other words, it is possible, for example, that variations in three or four observed variables...
), and his research led him to believe that temperament is biologically based.
Development of related "two factor" models and the regaining popularity of the ancient temperaments
- sanguine quick, impulsive, and relatively short-lived reactions. (hot/wet)
- phlegmatic a longer response-delay, but short-lived response. (cold/wet)
- choleric short response time-delay, but response sustained for a relatively long time. (hot/dry)
- melancholic (Also called "Melancholy") long response time-delay, response sustained at length, if not, seemingly, permanently. (cold/dry)
Therefore, it was evident that the sanguine and choleric shared a common trait: quickness of response, while the melancholy and phlegmatic shared the opposite, a longer response. The melancholy and choleric, however, shared a sustained response, and the sanguine and phlegmatic shared a short-lived response. That meant, that the Choleric and melancholy both would tend to hang on to emotions like anger
Anger
Anger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behaviour. It is a feedback mechanism in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response....
, and thus appear more serious and critical than the fun-loving sanguine, and the peaceful phlegmatic. However, the choleric would be characterized by quick expressions of anger, while the melancholy would build up anger slowly, silently, before exploding. Also, the melancholy and sanguine would be sort of "opposites", as the choleric and phlegmatic, since they have opposite traits.
As the twentieth century progressed, numerous other instruments were devised measuring not only temperament, but also various individual aspects of personality and behavior
Behavior
Behavior or behaviour refers to the actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction with its environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the physical environment...
, and several began using factors that would correspond to the delay and sustain behaviors; usually, forms of Extroversion
Extraversion and introversion
The trait of extraversion-introversion is a central dimension of human personality theories.Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and interested in seeking out external stimulus. Introverts, in contrast, tend to be introspective, quiet and less sociable. They are not necessarily loners but...
and a developing category of people
People
People is a plurality of human beings or other beings possessing enough qualities constituting personhood. It has two usages:* as the plural of person or a group of people People is a plurality of human beings or other beings possessing enough qualities constituting personhood. It has two usages:*...
versus task focus
Focusing
In psychotherapy-related disciples, the term focusing is used to refer to the simple matter of holding a kind of open, non-judging attention to something which is directly experienced but is not yet in words. Focusing can be used to become clear on what one feels or wants...
(eventually embodied as "Agreeableness
Agreeableness
Agreeableness is a tendency to be pleasant and accommodating in social situations. In contemporary personality psychology, agreeableness is one of the five major dimensions of personality structure, reflecting individual differences in concern for cooperation and social harmony. People who score...
").
Examples include DiSC assessment
DISC assessment
DISC is a group of psychological inventories developed by John Geier, and others, and based on the 1928 work of psychologist William Moulton Marston and the original behavioralist Walter V. Clarke and others.-History:...
system and Social styles.
In both of these, the four behaviors or styles resembled the key characteristics of the ancient four temperaments: The Choleric's extroversion and seriousness; the Melancholy's introversion and seriousness; the Sanguine's extroversion and sociability, and the Phlegmatic's peacefulness.
As personality typing increased, Christian writer and speaker Tim LaHaye
Tim LaHaye
Timothy F. LaHaye is an American evangelical Christian minister, author, and speaker. He is best known for the Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction, which he co-wrote with Jerry B. Jenkins. He has written over 50 books, both fiction and non-fiction.-Early life:LaHaye was born in Detroit,...
helped repopularize the ancient temperaments beginning in his books.
Another addition to the two factor models was the creation of a 10 by 10 square grid developed by Robert R. Blake
Robert R. Blake
Dr. Robert R. Blake was an American management theoretician. He did pioneer work the field of organizational dynamics.Together with Jane S...
and Jane Mouton
Jane Mouton
Jane Srygley Mouton was a management theorist, remembered in particular for developing the Managerial grid model with Robert Blake.-Biography:...
in their Managerial Grid Model
Managerial grid model
The managerial grid model is a behavioral leadership model developed by Robert R. Blake and Jane Mouton. This model originally identified five different leadership styles based on the concern for people and the concern for production. The optimal leadership style in this model is based on Theory...
introduced in 1964. This matrix
Matrix (mathematics)
In mathematics, a matrix is a rectangular array of numbers, symbols, or expressions. The individual items in a matrix are called its elements or entries. An example of a matrix with six elements isMatrices of the same size can be added or subtracted element by element...
graded from 0-9, the factors of "Concern for People" and "Concern for Production", allowing a moderate
Moderate
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....
range of scores, which yielded five "leadership styles". The Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument
Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument
The Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument is a conflict style inventory, which is a tool developed to measure an individual's response to conflict situations.-Development:...
(TKI) used a version of this with "Assertiveness" and "Cooperativeness" as the two factors, and an intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate means "occurring between two extremes, or in the middle of a range". It comes from the Latin word 'intermedia' which literally means 'among the middle' and may refer to:...
score in both scales likewise resulting in a fifth mode directly in the center of the grid.
The FIRO-B connection
FIRO-B was another such two-factor system, originally created by Dr. Schutz in 1958, using the same scales corresponding to extroversion/introversion and people/task focus. The difference now was that there were three such matrices. These three areas of interaction are Inclusion, Control, and Affection. Note that these areas include the two familiar scales: how you want to relate to others (called "expressed behavior"), and how you want them to relate to you (called "wanted behavior"). Scores in these scales range from 0 to 9. In 1977, "locator charts" were produced for each area by Dr. Leo Ryan, providing a mapMap
A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes....
of the various scores, following the Managerial Grid model; with unofficial names assigned to different score ranges.
Schutz was emphatic that all FIRO scores in themselves "Are not terminal — they can and do change", and that they "Do not encourage typology" (and thus contradicted the notion of inborn temperament). However, the four ancient temperaments were eventually mapped
Mapping
In geomatics or geospatial science and technology:Mapping usually refers to map-making and often used instead of cartography.Mapping term is also sometimes used for geospatial data collection but in fact it is not mapping because a map is created from some cartographic works In geomatics or...
to the FIRO-B scales, including the three separate temperament grids for individuals' scores in each area.
A Melancholy tends to be an introverted loner
Loner
A loner is a person who avoids or does not actively seek human interaction or prefers to be alone. There are many reasons for solitude, intentional or otherwise, and "loner" implies no specific cause. Intentional reasons include spiritual and religious considerations or personal philosophies...
, and in the area of "control" such a person would exhibit a low need to control
Control (management)
Controlling is one of the managerial functions like planning, organizing, staffing and directing. It is an important function because it helps to check the errors and to take the corrective action so that deviation from standards are minimized and stated goals of the organization are achieved in...
others, and also have a low tolerance
Toleration
Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
of control by others (i.e. "dependency"). In the areas of inclusion and affection, such people would display a low need to include or be close to others, and a low need to be included by others.
A Choleric, however, is an extroverted "leader
Leadership
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...
"-type who, in the area of control, has a high need to control others, but a low tolerance of others controlling him. He also has a high need to include or be close to others, but a low level of "responsiveness" (used as another term for "wanted" behavior) to them. He tends to be a "user", and only relates to people according to his own terms, which are usually goal-oriented.
A Sanguine is an extrovert who has a high need to include and be close to others, but unlike the Choleric, the Sanguine genuinely likes being around people just for the sake of socialization. The Sanguine also "swings" between both control and dependency.
From four to five
The low scores in both "wanted" and "expressed" would correspond to the Melancholy. A high score in "expressed" with a low score in "wanted" corresponds to Choleric. A high score on both scales corresponds to the Sanguine.So the temperaments were divided between introverts, extroverts, and in the other dimension, "relationship-oriented", and "task-oriented". In the older model, the fourth temperament, Phlegmatic, had generally been regarded as "introverted" like the Melancholy, yet more "agreeable", like the Sanguine. For example, the "slow response/short-lived sustain" of the original conception, where it shares one factor with the Sanguine, and the other with the Melancholy. In the other instruments using people/task-orientation, the type that holds the corresponding place in respect to the other types (such as Social Styles' "Amiable" or Adler's "Leaning") is also generally correlated with the Phlegmatic in comparisons.
However, while the Phlegmatic is not as extroverted as the Sanguine and Choleric, nor as serious as the Melancholy and Choleric; he is neither as introverted as the Melancholy, nor as relationship-oriented as the Sanguine. Thus the Phlegmatic (which was even once defined by critics as the absence of temperament), is basically a moderate temperament, and hence in this new system it winds up having only a mid-range score in responsiveness and expressiveness. That placed it directly in the center (like TKI's "Compromising" mode or Blake and Mouton's "Middle of the Road"). The Phlegmatic person is by definition, ambiverted, being capable of interaction with people, but overall, can "take them or leave them".
This left a range of people with a high "wanted" score in the areas of control, inclusion and affection, (like a Sanguine) but a low "expressed" score (like a Melancholy); the true "relationship-oriented introverts". Other researchers had been suspecting that there might be a fifth temperament, but most simply regarded it as a "passive sanguine."
Comparison of fifth temperament to the phlegmatic
The Phlegmatic also is peaceful at heart, and is one reason the Phlegmatic had held the place in the older four temperament model the Supine holds in the five temperament model. The difference is that the Supine is more "needy" for acceptance (or control) from people, yet less able to initiate and express this need to them than the Phlegmatic. Supines are often frustrated because they expect people to know they want interaction, while the Phlegmatic expresses a moderate need, and wants only the same moderate amount in return.Four temperament theories such as LaHaye's often depict the Phlegmatic as being very fear
Fear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
ful (according to LaHaye, "he is a worrier by nature", which is what "keeps him from venturing out on his own to make full use of his potential)."
Driving needs
Each of the four corner temperaments has a driving need that energizes its behavior.For the Melancholic, the motivation is fear of rejection and/or the unknown. They have a low self esteem and, figuring that others do not like them, they reject others first.
The Supine also has low self-esteem
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...
, but is driven to try to gain acceptance by liking and serving others.
The Sanguine is driven by the need for attention, and tries to sell themselves through their charm, and accepts others before those others can reject them. Their self-esteem crashes if they are nevertheless rejected. Yet, they will regain the confidence to keep trying to impress others.
The Choleric is motivated by their goals, in which other people are tools to be used.
The Phlegmatic's lack of a motivation becomes their driving need: to protect their low energy reserve.