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Although the word
"temperament" has been used in social, psychological and
personality research for a long time, the temperament model
of personality referred to in this section is the model in current
popular usage, as originally described by David Keirsey in his book
Please Understand Me. As Keirsey notes, temperament
is a concept dating back at least to the time of the early Greek and
Roman philosophers, who divided people into four broad styles of personality
- four styles characterized by different needs, values, skills and
behaviors.
In the general
meaning of personality, the temperament model is indeed a model of
personality. From Keirsey's perspective, personality has two sides,
(1) temperament - the inborn form of one's nature, and (2) character
- the emergent form that arises from the interaction of one's temperament
with one's environment. Not all temperament users make this distinction.This
section offers a basic description of the four temperament styles.
Temperaments may
be identified by peoples' differences in language (abstract
vs. concrete ways of thinking and using words) and
peoples' differences in ways of accomplishing things (affiliative
vs. pragmatic roles and approaches to getting things
done).
The four temperaments
are widely referred to these days as the Idealists, Rationals, Guardians,
and Artisans. They have the following general characteristics
-
Idealists
- abstract language, affiliative roles
-
Guardians
- concrete language, affiliative roles
-
Rationals
- abstract language, pragmatic roles
-
Artisans
- concrete language, pragmatic roles
To
learn more about each style, click on the name in the grid below.
Some theorists
believe Jungian psychological type and temperament map perfectly
onto one another (e.g., someone who identifies as an Jung-Myers SP
type is by definition an Artisan temperament), while
others do not make that assumption. Both systems have something to
offer even - and perhaps more so - if they do not perfectly map onto
each other. Ultimately we are interested in awakening and creating
things we care about in our lives - not whether or not different models
are completely theoretically consistent.
Remember
- from the perspective of personal and professional mastery, the temperament
model of personality (or any other model) is not an end in itself, but
is useful insofar as it gives us insight into our habits - and thereby
helps us to wake up to our true freedom and uncover our authentic power.
Charles
Martin, Ph.D. is a recognized expert in the field of
psychological type. He is the author of Looking at Type
and Careers, Looking at Type: The Fundamentals, A Quick Guide
to the 16 Types and Career Mastery: Living on Purpose and Working
Effectively, and co-author of A Quick Guide to the
Sixteen Personality Type in Organizations; Building People,
Building Programs: A Practitioner's Guide to Introducing the
MBTI to Individuals and Organizations, and Out
of the Box: Exercises for Mastering the Power of Type to Build
Effective Teams. He is a past Vice President of
Research and Development for the Center for Applications of
Psychological Type (CAPT), and was the architect of CAPT’s
MBTI Qualifying Program as well as the Executive Coaching program
and the Career Development program. He has trained hundreds
of professionals in the uses of psychological type for personal
and professional mastery.
You won’t
find more expert knowledge and delivery in the applications
of psychological type for your program on personal development,
leadership development, career mastery, communication, and relationship-building.
See
what participants in Dr. Martin's trainings have to say.
For more
information on personality type training, contact Dr. Martin
through www.drcharlesmartin.com
or by calling 352.375.7756.
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