Temperament

Temperament theory is nothing new.  It has its origin in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, but it was the Greek physician Hippocrates who developed a system and theory for medical purposes.  He believed that certain moods were caused by body fluids, i.e. blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm.  This theory was later extended and encompassed emotional aspects, mental capacity, moral attitude, self-awareness, movements and dreams.  These early developments have left a long trail of researchinto human behavior focused on temperament and personality.  From the beginning, it was apparent that certain temperaments all had certain traits in common.


What is temperament?  It's a person's way of responding to the world.  Aspects of personality at birth are believed to be result of genetic influence.  Temperament refers to our inborn, God given personality traits, which are genetic in nature.  The different ways infants interact with and react to their environment and experiences are reflective of their temperament or behavioral style.  While it has been thought that temperaments are genetically determined, personalities as a whole are a combination of temperaments and experiences that shape and influence a person's development.


There are four main temperaments:


1.  Sanguine:  This temperament is fairly extroverted.  People with this temperament tend to enjoy social gatherings and making friends.  They tend to be creative and often day dream.  However, some alone time is crucial for those of this temperament.  Sanguines can also be very sensitive, compassionate and thoughtful.  Their personalities generally struggle with following tasks all the way through, are chronically late, and tend to be forgetful.  Often when pursuing a new hobby, interest is lost quickly--when it ceases to be engaging or fun.


2.  Choleric:  A choleric person is a doer, a worker.  They have a lot of ambition, energy, and passion, and try to instill it in others.  They will try to dominate or control people of other temperaments especially phlegmatic types.  Many great charismatic military and poilitical figures were cholerics.


3.  Melancholic:  People with the melancholy disposition are thoughtful ponderers.  They are very kind and considerate, can be highly creative, usually in poetry, art, music and can become occupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world.  A Melancholic is also often a perfectionist.  They are often self-reliant and independent.


4.  Phlegmatic:  This temperament tends to be self-content and kind.  They can be very accepting and affectionage.  They may be very receptive and shy and often prefer stability to uncertainty and change.  They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious and ovservant, making them good administrators and diplomats.  Unlike the Saguine, they may be more dependable.


In 1983 Drs. Richard and Phyllis Arno began conducting research and developing a Scripturally based therapeutic procedure that would produce effective, positive, and more immediate results with those needing guidance or counseling.  Their research involved over 5000 individuals who sought counseling for depression, inter and intra personal conflict, marriage and family dysfunction and snxiety.


Drs. Arno created a temperament profile system similar to the FIRO-B questionnaire.  Their analysis procedure, originally titled the Temperament Analysis Profile was recently retitled the Arno Profile System.  This system reveals the hidden problems that normally take the counselor 7-8 sessions to identify.  Presently, over 3000 Christian leaders, ministries and Christian counselors are using the Arno Profile System (APS for short) to aid them in their counseling efforts.  It has been reported that this system supplies over 90% accuracy in identifying a person's inborn, God-given temperament.

The APS does not measure behavior; it identifies a person's God-given temperament.  Who God created us to be and who we become through learned behavior can be entirely different.  We create so many defense mechanisms in ourselves and over time, we cna lose our true identity and sense of being and we become someone we don't really know and sometimes don't even like!  We become tangled in our struggle to find "the real me."

Drs. Arno also identified a 5th temperament over 14 years ago.  This temperament they named Supine.  This describes a person who is a servant and feels that he or she has little or no value.  They only feel that they have value when serving others.  Although they like and need people, they have a big fear of rejection.

The information that the APS gives is a pricelss tool in the hads of trained Christian counselors.  First of all, it is Biblical and is an extremely important state-of-the-art convept in counseling today' hurting world.  It takes only 8-10 minutes for the counselee to answer 54 questions.  That may sound like a lot but the test is designed to pull out your first response to each question, which makes it so accurate.

When taking at APS, the first response is usually the most accurate answer.  After the test is administered, it is electronically scored anda report is generated covering such issues as wanted love and affection, control issues, and social inclinations or how one relates to others in their world.  I'd also like to mentio that only those who are certified can administer this profile system.

Over the last 5 or 6 years I have had the opportunity to use this system and can tell youthat is is highly accurate and helpful.  I've been able to help people at a deeper level and have seen lives changed because I had a good tool and learned how to use it.

Temperament is something we are all born with and most of us never tak the time to get to know the "real me."  Those who care to know often don't have the access to a good resource or a place to go to talk about what really matters in life.   Finding out who you are is really a journey we all travel together in life.  Tools such as the APS can help those seekers be successful.