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Hippocrates identified 4 types of temperament - sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic. However, in pure form they are rare, each person only gravitates towards one of them. Throughout life, under the influence of social influence, upbringing, lifestyle, and health, manifestations of temperament can be smoothed out. In children, the signs of temperament are more distinct; they are easy to see if you observe the child’s behavior for some time.

Let's talk in detail about each type of temperament. Let's talk about activities that are comfortable for children, taking into account their temperament.

Sanguine

Proper upbringing will form in a child an active attitude to learning and determination.

Moving, active activities are suitable for such a child. You can choose sports, dancing. Classes can be either individual or in a group or team. Perhaps, due to his activity, the child will be interested in many types of activities, he will want to study in several clubs and studios at once. Allow him this, allow him to move from one section to another. The more skills he masters, the more incentives for development he will receive. A deeper immersion in the chosen activity can occur in subsequent years - in adolescence, adolescence.

Phlegmatic person

This is a calm and leisurely baby. He thoroughly thinks through his actions and shows persistence in achieving his goals. It is difficult for him to quickly navigate a situation, he does not like change, prefers stability, and remembers acquired knowledge and skills for a long time. His mood is stable, he rarely loses his temper, and enjoys communicating with the adults and peers around him.

Upbringing can develop in a phlegmatic child such qualities as perseverance and perseverance. Activities that require painstaking and patience are suitable for him. If your child has a good ear for music, you can offer him music lessons. If he has an interest in drawing, sculpting, appliqué, engage in artistic creativity with him.

Such a child may not like activities that require speed, instant reaction, or quick adaptation. Therefore, from all types of sports activities, choose calm ones. These are swimming, ballroom and sports dancing. There, the skill is formed through repeated repetition and individual work with a coach.

Team games - football, handball, basketball, contact sports - boxing, fencing will not bring phlegmatic people satisfaction, since they require quick reaction, the ability to understand a partner and opponent and make an instant decision.

Choleric

A choleric child is characterized by imbalance, excitability, speed of actions and movements. It lights up quickly and cools down just as quickly. Painstaking, monotonous, and time-consuming activities will be especially uncomfortable for him. In communication with peers, he strives to be a leader and is often a source of conflict.

With proper upbringing, a choleric child develops very important qualities: activity, initiative, passion, organizational and communication skills.

For a child with a choleric temperament, intensive but not very long classes are suitable, where there is the opportunity to communicate with peers or compete with an opponent. A passionate, risk-taking nature will feel at ease on a football field, volleyball or basketball court, or on a bicycle path. A choleric child will also “light up” on the dance floor, in a musical group - where a powerful and short-term release of energy is required.

Activities that require painstaking attention, such as drawing, modeling, embroidery, beadwork, can quickly get boring for such a child. A difficult test for a choleric child will be loneliness and lack of communication with peers.

Melancholic

In children with a melancholic type of temperament, activity proceeds slowly, and they quickly get tired. If you push the child, the actions slow down even more. Slowly, but for a long time, the child is immersed in one or another emotional experience. A bad mood will not be fleeting; the resulting sadness surprises adults with its depth, strength, and duration. The child is anxious in unfamiliar surroundings, shy of unfamiliar people, and avoids numerous contacts with peers.

In the process of upbringing, melancholic children develop gentleness, responsiveness, and sincerity.

For such a child, quiet activities in comfortable conditions. Melancholic children enjoy reading books, watching educational programs, films, and love to observe and explore the nature around them.

Their deep feelings and experiences can be revealed in artistic and literary work.

To determine your child’s temperament, use the questions presented in the “Diagnostics of abilities and interests” section. They will help you see signs of a type of temperament in your child’s behavior.

Let's sum it up

• Temperament is an innate quality, don’t try to fight it. Try to understand it and take it into account when choosing activities for your child.
• There are no “bad” temperaments. Rudeness, aggressiveness, selfishness, low level of culture are the result of poor upbringing.
• Choose activities according to your child’s inclinations and behavior. Consider the strength and speed of the child’s reactions, stability and change of emotions, activity and fatigue, and the need for communication.
• Parents should not only broaden the child’s horizons, but also develop his abilities, expanding his understanding of various types of activities. It is important to offer your child activities that suit his temperament and capabilities. Such activities will shape his interests, inclinations, and help him overcome uncertainty and fear.

The basis of temperament

Each person is unique, has different ways of expressing emotions, feelings and reacts differently to what is happening in the surrounding reality. If one individual remains calm in any situation, then even the slightest trouble can lead another to despair. These features of human behavior largely depend on differences in the activity of the nervous system.

Temperament as a psychobiological basis of personality

Human mental activity, which is characterized by its dynamic features (tempo, speed and intensity), is temperament. It characterizes not a person’s beliefs, views or interests, but its dynamism, and therefore is not an indicator of value.

The following components can be distinguished that determine the basis of temperament:

• The general activity of a person’s mental activity, which is expressed in the degree of desire to act, to express oneself in various activities, and to transform the surrounding reality. There are two extremes of general activity: on the one hand, passivity, inertia, lethargy, and on the other, impetuosity. Between these two extremes are representatives of different temperaments;
• Motor or motor activity is expressed in the speed, intensity, sharpness, strength of muscle movements and speech of the individual, his mobility, talkativeness;
• Emotional activity expresses the sensitive basis of temperament, that is, the receptivity and sensitivity of the individual to emotional influences, its impulsiveness.

Also, a person’s temperament has an external expression and is manifested in activities, behavior and actions. By these signs one can judge some of its properties. When they talk about temperament, they mainly mean mental differences in people associated with the intensity, depth and stability of emotions, impressionability, and energetic actions.

There are several theories that define the basics of temperament. But with all the variety of approaches to this issue, most scientists recognize that this is a kind of biological foundation on which the individual is formed as a social being.

Physiological basis of temperament

This term was first introduced by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, who laid the foundation for the humoral theory. He explained the peculiarities of people's temperaments by different ratios of liquid substances in the body: blood, bile and lymph. If yellow bile predominates, it makes a person hot-tempered, impulsive or choleric. In mobile cheerful people(sanguine people) blood predominates, and in calm and slow people (phlegmatic people) lymph predominates. Melancholic people are distinguished by a sad and fearful character, and as Hippocrates argued, black bile predominates in them.

According to the constitutional theory developed by Kretschmer and Zigo, the natural basis of temperament is determined by the characteristics general structure the human body, as well as its individual organs. In turn, an individual’s physique depends on the course of endocrine processes in his body.

But the neurological theory proposed by Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was recognized as the most substantiated. In his opinion, the physiological basis of temperament is a set of acquired characteristics and innate properties nervous system.

Individual differences nervous activity at the same time, they are manifested by the relationship of two main processes - excitation and inhibition, which have three important properties:

• The strength of processes, which is expressed in the ability of nerve cells to withstand prolonged or concentrated exposure to stimuli. This determines the endurance of the cell. The weakness of nervous processes is indicated by high sensitivity or the transition of cells into a state of inhibition instead of excitation when exposed to strong stimuli. This feature often forms the basis of temperament;
• The balance of nervous processes is characterized by an equal ratio of excitation and inhibition. In some people these two processes manifest themselves in equally, for others one of them predominates;
• The mobility of nervous processes is a rapid or slow change of excitation to inhibition and vice versa, when life conditions require it. Thus, in case of unexpected and drastic changes, mobility ensures the individual’s adaptation to the new environment.

Combinations of these properties, according to Pavlov, determine the type of nervous system and are the natural basis of temperament:

• Weak type, in which a person is not able to withstand strong, prolonged and concentrated excitation and inhibition. In a weak nervous system, cells have low efficiency. Although, when exposed to strong irritants, high sensitivity is noted;
• The strong balanced type is characterized by an imbalance in the basic nervous processes and is distinguished by the predominance of excitation over inhibition;
• Strong balanced mobile type - nervous processes are strong and balanced, however, their speed and mobility often lead to instability of connections;
• Strong balanced inert type, in which the processes of excitation and inhibition are strong and balanced, but are characterized by low mobility. Representatives of this type are always calm and difficult to anger.

Thus, the basis of temperament is the individual properties of the psyche, which reflect the dynamics of a person’s mental activity. They manifest themselves regardless of his goals, motives, desires and remain practically unchanged throughout his life.

Doctrine of Temperament

When talking about temperament, we usually mean the dynamic side of personality, expressed in impulsiveness and the pace of mental activity. It is in this sense that we usually say that such and such a person has a large or small temperament, taking into account his impulsiveness, the swiftness with which his inclinations manifest themselves, etc. Temperament is a dynamic characteristic of the mental activity of an individual.

For temperament, strength is indicative, firstly. mental processes. In this case, not only their absolute strength at one moment or another is significant, but also how constant it remains, i.e., the degree of dynamic stability. With significant stability, the strength of reactions in each individual case depends on the changing conditions in which a person finds himself, and is adequate to them: stronger external irritation causes a stronger reaction, weaker irritation causes a weaker reaction. In individuals with greater instability, on the contrary, strong irritation can - depending on the very changeable state of the personality - cause either a very strong or a very weak reaction; in the same way, the weakest irritation can sometimes cause a very strong reaction; a very significant event, fraught with the most serious consequences, can leave a person indifferent, and in another case, an insignificant reason will give a violent outbreak: the “reaction” in this sense is not at all adequate to the “stimulant”.

Mental activity of the same force may differ in varying degrees of intensity, depending on the relationship between the strength of a given process and the dynamic capabilities of a given individual. Mental processes of a certain intensity can be carried out easily, without any tension in one person at one moment and with great tension in another person or the same person at another moment. These differences in tension will affect the nature of either the smooth and smooth flow of activity or the jerky flow of activity.

An essential expression of temperament is, further, the speed of mental processes. It is also necessary to distinguish from the speed or speed of the flow of mental processes their tempo (the number of acts in a certain period of time, depending not only on the speed of each act, but also on the size of the intervals between them) and rhythm (which can be not only temporary, but also forceful). ). When characterizing temperament, we must again keep in mind not only the average speed of mental processes. The amplitude of fluctuations characteristic of a given individual from the slowest to the most accelerated rates is also indicative of temperament. Along with this, it is also significant how the transition occurs from slower to faster rates and vice versa - from faster to slower ones: for some it occurs, more or less evenly and smoothly increasing or decreasing, for others - as if in jerks , unevenly and jerkily. These differences can overlap: significant transitions in speed can be made by a smooth and uniform increase, and on the other hand, relatively less significant changes in absolute speed can be made by gusty shocks. These features of temperament affect all the activities of the individual, in the course of all mental processes.

The main manifestation of temperament is very often sought in the dynamic characteristics of a person’s “reactions” - in the strength and speed with which he effectively reacts to irritations. Indeed, the central links in the diverse manifestations of temperament are those that express the dynamic features not of individual mental processes, but of specific activity in the diverse interrelations of various aspects of its mental content. However, the sensorimotor reaction cannot serve as either a comprehensive or adequate expression of human temperament. A person’s impressionability and impulsiveness are especially important for temperament.

A person’s temperament is manifested primarily in his impressionability, characterized by the strength and stability of the impact that impressions have on a person. Depending on the characteristics of temperament, impressionability in some people is more, in others less significant; For some, it’s as if someone, in the words of A. M. Gorky, “torn off all the skin from their hearts,” they are so sensitive to every impression; others - “insensitive”, “thick-skinned” - react very poorly to their surroundings. For some, the influence - strong or weak - that makes an impression on them spreads with great speed, and for others with very low speed, into the deeper layers of the psyche. Finally, depending on the characteristics of their temperament, the stability of the impression varies among different people: for some, the impression - even a strong one - turns out to be very unstable, while others cannot get rid of it for a long time. Impressiveness is always an individually different affective sensitivity among people of different temperaments. It is significantly connected with the emotional sphere and is expressed in the strength, speed and stability of the emotional reaction to impressions.

Temperament is reflected in emotional excitability - the strength of emotional arousal, the speed with which it covers the personality - and the stability with which it is maintained. It depends on a person’s temperament how quickly and strongly he lights up and how quickly he then fades away. Emotional excitability manifests itself, in particular, in a mood that is elevated to the point of exaltation or decreased to the point of depression, and especially in more or less rapid changes in mood, directly related to impressionability.

Another central expression of temperament is impulsiveness, which is characterized by the strength of impulses, the speed with which they master the motor sphere and turn into action, and the stability with which they retain their effective force. Impulsivity includes the impressionability and emotional excitability that determines it in relation to the dynamic characteristics of those intellectual processes that mediate and control them. Impulsivity is that side of temperament by which it is connected with desire, with the origins of will, with the dynamic power of needs as incentives for activity, with the speed of transition of impulses into action.

Temperament is manifested especially clearly in the strength, as well as the speed, rhythm and tempo of a person’s psychomotor skills - in his practical actions, speech, and expressive movements. A person’s gait, his facial expressions and pantomime, his movements, fast or slow, smooth or impetuous, sometimes an unexpected turn or movement of the head, the manner of raising his eyes or looking down, viscous lethargy or slow smoothness, nervous haste or powerful swiftness of speech reveal to us some kind of aspect of personality, that dynamic aspect of it that makes up its temperament. At the very first meeting, with short-term, sometimes even fleeting contact with a person, we often immediately get a more or less vivid impression of his temperament from these external manifestations.

Since ancient times, it has been customary to distinguish four main types of temperaments: choleric, sanguine, melancholic and phlegmatic. Each of these temperaments can be determined by the ratio of impressionability and impulsiveness as the main psychological properties of temperament. Choleric temperament is characterized by strong impressionability and great impulsiveness; sanguine - weak impressionability and great impulsiveness; melancholic - strong impressionability and low impulsiveness; phlegmatic - weak impressionability and low impulsiveness. So this classic traditional scheme naturally follows from the relationship of the basic characteristics with which we endow temperament, while acquiring the corresponding psychological content. The differentiation of both impressionability and impulsiveness in terms of strength, speed and stability, which we outlined above, opens up opportunities for further differentiation of temperaments.

The physiological basis of temperament is the neurodynamics of the brain, i.e., the neurodynamic relationship of the cortex and subcortex. The neurodynamics of the brain is in internal interaction with the system of humoral and endocrine factors. A number of researchers (Pende, Belov, partly E. Kretschmer, etc.) were inclined to make both temperament and even character dependent primarily on these latter. There is no doubt that the system of endocrine glands is included among the conditions affecting temperament.

It would be wrong, however, to isolate the endocrine system from the nervous system and turn it into an independent basis of temperament, since the most humoral activity of the endocrine glands is subject to central innervation. There is an internal interaction between the endocrine system and the nervous system, in which the leading role belongs to the nervous system.

For temperament, the excitability of the subcortical centers, with which the characteristics of motor skills, statics and autonomics are associated, is undoubtedly of significant importance. The tone of the subcortical centers and their dynamics influence both the tone of the cortex and its readiness for action. Due to the role they play in the neurodynamics of the brain, subcortical centers undoubtedly influence temperament. But again, it would be completely wrong, by emancipating the subcortex from the cortex, to turn the former into a self-sufficient factor, into the decisive basis of temperament, as is sought to be done in modern foreign neurology by currents that recognize the decisive importance for temperament of the gray matter of the ventricle and localize the “core” of personality in the subcortex, in the stem apparatus, in the subcortical ganglia. The subcortex and cortex are inextricably linked with each other. Therefore, it is impossible to separate the first from the second. What is ultimately decisive is not the dynamics of the subcortex itself, but the dynamic relationship between the subcortex and the cortex, as I. P. Pavlov emphasizes in his doctrine of the types of the nervous system.

I. P. Pavlov based his classification of types of nervous system on three main criteria, namely strength, balance and lability of the cortex.

Based on these basic features, as a result of his research using the method of conditioned reflexes, he came to the definition of four main types of the nervous system:

1. Strong, balanced and agile - a lively type.
2. Strong, balanced and inert - a calm, slow type.
3. Strong, unbalanced with a predominance of excitation over inhibition - excitable, unrestrained type.
4. Weak type.

The division of the types of the nervous system into strong and weak does not lead to a further symmetrical division of the weak type, as well as the strong, according to the remaining two signs of balance and mobility (lability), because these differences, which give significant differentiation in the case of the strong type, turn out to be practically insignificant and do not provide really significant differentiation.

I. P. Pavlov connects the types of nervous systems he outlined with temperaments, comparing the four groups of nervous systems that he came to in the laboratory with the ancient classification of temperaments dating back to Hippocrates. He is inclined to identify his excitable type with the choleric, the melancholic with the inhibitory, and the two forms of the central type - calm and lively - with the phlegmatic and sanguine.

Pavlov considers the main evidence in favor of the differentiation of the types of nervous system that he establishes to be different reactions under strong counteractions of the irritable and inhibitory processes.

Pavlov's teaching about the types of nervous activity is essential for understanding the physiological basis of temperament. Its correct use involves taking into account the fact that the type of nervous system is a strictly physiological concept, and temperament is a psychophysiological concept and it is expressed not only in motor skills, in the nature of reactions, their strength, speed, etc., but also in impressionability, in emotional excitability, etc.

The mental properties of temperament are undoubtedly closely related to the bodily properties of the body - both the innate structural features of the nervous system (neuroconstitution) and the functional characteristics of the (muscular, vascular) tone of organic life activity. However, the dynamic properties of human activity are not reducible to the dynamic features of organic life activity; With all the importance of the innate characteristics of the body, in particular its nervous system, for temperament they are only the starting point of its development, which is not separate from the development of the personality as a whole.

Temperament is not a property of the nervous system or neuroconstitution as such; it is a dynamic aspect of personality, characterizing the dynamics of its mental activity. This dynamic side of temperament is interconnected with other aspects of a person’s life and is mediated by the specific content of her life and activities; Therefore, the dynamics of a person’s activity cannot be reduced to the dynamic features of his life, since that itself is determined by the relationship of the individual with the environment. This is clearly revealed when analyzing any side, any manifestation of temperament.

Thus, no matter how significant the role the organic foundations of sensitivity and the properties of the peripheral receptor and central apparatus play in human impressionability, impressionability cannot be reduced to them. The impressions that are perceived by a person are usually caused not by isolated sensory stimuli, but by phenomena, objects, persons that have a certain objective meaning and evoke on the part of a person one or another attitude towards himself, determined by his tastes, attachments, beliefs, character, worldview. Because of this, sensitivity or impressionability itself turns out to be indirect and selective.

Impressionability is mediated and transformed by needs, interests, tastes, inclinations, etc. - the whole person’s attitude towards the environment and depends on the individual’s life path.

In the same way, changes in emotions and moods, states of emotional upsurge or decline in a person depend not only on the tone of the body’s vital functions. Changes in tone, undoubtedly, also affect the emotional state, but the tone of life is mediated and determined by the relationship of the individual with the environment and, therefore, the entire content of his conscious life. Everything that has been said about the mediation of impressionability and emotionality by the conscious life of the individual applies even more to impulsiveness, since impulsiveness includes both impressionability and emotional excitability and is determined by their relationship with the power and complexity of the intellectual processes that mediate and control them.

Human actions are also irreducible to organic life activity, since they are not just motor reactions of the body, but acts that are aimed at certain objects and pursue certain goals. They are therefore mediated and conditioned in all their mental properties, including dynamic ones that characterize temperament, by a person’s attitude towards the environment, the goals that he sets for himself, the needs, tastes, inclinations, and beliefs that determine these goals. Therefore, it is in no way possible to reduce the dynamic features of a person’s actions to the dynamic features of his organic life activity, taken in itself; the very tone of his organic life activity may be determined by the course of his activity and the turnover that it receives for him. The dynamic features of activity inevitably depend on the specific relationship of the individual with his environment; they will be some in conditions that are adequate for him and others in conditions that are inadequate. Therefore, attempts to give a doctrine of temperaments based only on a physiological analysis of nervous mechanisms without correlation in animals with the biological conditions of their existence, and in humans with the historically developing conditions of their social existence and practical activity, are fundamentally illegitimate.

The dynamic characteristics of mental activity do not have a self-sufficient, formal character; it depends on the content and specific conditions of the activity, on the individual’s attitude to what he does and to the conditions in which he finds himself. The pace of my activity will obviously be different in the case when its direction is forced to run counter to my inclinations, interests, skills and abilities, with the peculiarities of my character, when I feel myself in an environment alien to me, and in the case when I am captured and am passionate about the content of my work and am in an environment that is consonant with me.

Liveliness, turning into playful playfulness or swagger, and regularity, even slowness of movements, taking on the character of sedateness or majesty in facial expressions, pantomime, posture, gait, and behavior of a person, are determined by a variety of reasons, including the mores of the social environment in which a person lives , and the social position he occupies. The style of an era, the way of life of certain social strata determines to a certain extent the pace and, in general, the dynamic characteristics of the behavior of representatives of this era and the corresponding social strata.

The dynamic features of behavior that come from the era, from social conditions, do not, of course, eliminate individual differences in the temperament of different people and do not abolish the significance of their organic characteristics. But, reflected in the psyche, in the consciousness of people, social moments themselves are included in their internal individual characteristics and enter into an internal relationship with all their other individual characteristics, including organic and functional. In the real way of life of a particular person, in the dynamic features of his individual behavior, the tone of his life activity and the regulation of these features, which comes from social conditions (the pace of social and industrial life, morals, everyday life, decency, etc.), form an indivisible unity of sometimes opposite , but always interconnected moments. Regulation of the dynamics of behavior, based on the social conditions of a person’s life and activity, can, of course, sometimes affect only external behavior, without yet affecting the personality itself, its temperament; wherein internal features a person's temperament may also be in conflict with the dynamic characteristics of the behavior that he outwardly adheres to. But, ultimately, the characteristics of behavior that a person adheres to for a long time cannot help but sooner or later leave their mark - although not mechanical, not mirror, and sometimes even compensatory-antagonistic - on the internal structure of the personality, on its temperament.

Thus, in all its manifestations, temperament is mediated and conditioned by the real conditions and specific content of a person’s life. Speaking about the conditions under which an actor’s temperament can be convincing, E. B. Vakhtangov wrote: “For this, the actor at rehearsals needs to mainly work so that everything that surrounds him in the play becomes his atmosphere, so that the tasks the roles have become his tasks - then the temperament will speak “from the essence.” This temperament is essentially the most valuable, because it is the only convincing and foolproof one.” Temperament “from the essence” is the only convincing one on stage because this is what temperament is in reality: the dynamics of mental processes is not something self-sufficient; it depends on the specific content of the personality, on the tasks that a person sets for himself, on his needs, interests, inclinations, character, on his “essence”, which is revealed in the variety of the most important relationships for him with others. Temperament is an empty abstraction outside the personality, which is formed while making its way in life.

Being a dynamic characteristic of all manifestations of personality, temperament in its qualitative properties of impressionability, emotional excitability and impulsiveness is at the same time the sensory basis of character.

Forming the basis of character properties, temperament properties, however, do not predetermine them. When involved in the development of character, the properties of temperament undergo changes, due to which the same initial properties can lead to different properties of character depending on what they are subordinated to - the behavior, beliefs, volitional and intellectual qualities of a person. Thus, on the basis of impulsiveness as a property of temperament, depending on the conditions of upbringing and the entire path of life, various volitional qualities can be developed in a person who has not learned to control his actions by thinking about their consequences; rashness, unrestraint, the habit of cutting from the shoulder can easily develop. act under the influence of passion; in other cases, on the basis of the same impulsiveness, determination will develop, the ability to move towards the goal without unnecessary delay or hesitation. Depending on a person’s life path, on the entire course of his socio-moral, intellectual and aesthetic development, impressionability as a property of temperament can in one case lead to significant vulnerability, painful vulnerability, hence to timidity and shyness; in another, on the basis of the same impressionability, greater spiritual sensitivity, responsiveness and aesthetic sensitivity can develop; in the third - sensitivity in the sense of sentimentality. The formation of character on the basis of temperamental properties is significantly related to the orientation of the individual.

So, temperament is a dynamic characteristic of personality in all its effective manifestations and the sensory basis of character. Transforming in the process of character formation, the properties of temperament turn into character traits, the content of which is inextricably linked with the orientation of the individual.

Influence of temperament

The dynamic characteristics of a person’s character—the style of his behavior—depend on temperament. Temperament is the “natural soil” on which the process of formation of individual character traits and the development of individual human abilities takes place.

People achieve the same success different ways, replacing their “weaknesses” with a system of mental compensation.

Under the influence of life conditions, a choleric person may develop inertia, slowness, and lack of initiative, while a melancholic person may develop energy and determination. A person’s life experience and upbringing mask the manifestations of his temperament. But under unusual super-strong influences, in dangerous situations previously formed inhibitory reactions can be disinhibited. Choleric and melancholic people are more prone to a neuropsychic breakdown. Along with this, the scientific approach to understanding individual behavior is incompatible with strictly tying people’s actions to their natural characteristics.

Depending on the living conditions and activities of a person, certain properties of his temperament can be strengthened or weakened. Temperament, despite its natural conditioning, can be classified as a personality trait, since it combines the natural and socially acquired qualities of a person.

Foreign psychologists divide temperamental characteristics mainly into two groups - extraversion and introversion. These concepts, introduced by the Swiss psychologist C. G. Jung, mean that individuals are predominantly focused on the external (extrovert) or internal (introvert) world. Extroverts are distinguished by their predominant focus on the outside world, increased social adaptation, they are more conformist and suggestive (subject to suggestion). Introverts highest value give to the phenomena of the inner world, they are uncommunicative, prone to increased introspection, have difficulty entering a new social environment, are non-conforming and suggestive.

Among the qualities of temperament, rigidity and plasticity also stand out. Rigidity - inertia, conservatism, difficulty switching mental activity. There are several types of rigidity: sensory - prolongation of sensation after the cessation of the stimulus; motor - difficulty in restructuring habitual movements; emotional - continuation of an emotional state after the cessation of emotional influence; memory - overservation, obsession with memory images; thinking - inertia of judgments, attitudes, methods of solving problems. The opposite quality to rigidity is plasticity, flexibility, mobility, adequacy.

The characteristics of temperament also include such a mental phenomenon as anxiety - tension, increased emotional excitability in situations interpreted by the individual as threatening. Individuals with a high level of anxiety are prone to behavior that is inappropriate to the degree of threat. An increased level of anxiety causes a desire to escape from the perception of threatening events, involuntarily narrowing the field of perception in a stressful situation.

So, a person’s temperament determines the dynamics of his behavior, the uniqueness of the course of his mental processes. Temperament determines a person’s way of seeing, experiencing events and relaying them verbally. When analyzing human behavior, one cannot help but take into account the “biological background” of human behavior, which affects the degree of intensity of individual personality traits.

A person’s temperamental characteristics act as psychophysiological capabilities of his behavior. For example, the mobility of nervous processes determines the dynamic qualities of intelligence, the flexibility of associative processes; excitability - the ease of occurrence and intensity of sensations, stability of attention, the power of imprinting memory images.

However, temperament is not a value criterion of an individual; it does not determine the needs, interests, and views of an individual. In the same type of activity, people with different temperaments can achieve outstanding success due to their compensatory capabilities.

It is not temperament, but the orientation of the individual, the predominance of higher motives over lower ones, self-control and self-control, suppression of lower-level impulses to achieve socially significant goals that determine the quality of human behavior.

Temperament structure

Temperament is a term derived from the Latin temperamentum (proper proportion of traits) and tempero (mix in proper proportion). To date, the problem of temperament has been studied in sufficient detail, and therefore in science there is a wide variety of definitions of this personality trait.

B.M. Teplov gave the following definition: “Temperament is the characteristic characteristic of this person a set of mental characteristics associated with emotional excitability, that is, the speed of the emergence of feelings, on the one hand, and their strength, on the other.”

Thus, it can be argued that temperament is a set of psychodynamic properties of the nervous system, the biological foundation on which personality is formed.

Since the psyche is a property of the nervous system, the individual properties of the psyche, including the properties of temperament, are determined by the individual properties of the nervous system. Therefore, the first main sign of the properties of temperament is their conditioning by the properties of the nervous system, which constitute physiological basis temperament. Moreover, only one type of temperament depends on each type of nervous system (with its specific properties).

The same dynamic features of mental activity depend on the relationship between emotional and volitional features. This ratio is the one characteristic feature, which has been the basis of the concept of temperament since the time of Hippocrates. Therefore, there are objective reasons to believe that individual characteristics the emotional-volitional sphere are properties of temperament. This, however, does not mean that all individual characteristics of the emotional-volitional sphere, and only them, are associated with temperament.

As a result of attempts at such an analysis, three main, leading, components of temperament were identified, relating to the areas of the individual’s general activity, his motor skills and his emotionality. Each of these components, in turn, has a very complex multidimensional structure and in different forms psychological manifestations.

The greatest importance in the structure of temperament is the general mental activity of the individual. The essence of this component lies in the individual’s tendency to self-expression, effective mastery and transformation of external reality.

In terms of content, the second component is especially closely related to the first component of temperament - motor, or motor, in which the leading role is played by qualities associated with the function of the motor (and especially the speech-motor) apparatus. Among the dynamic qualities of the motor component, one should highlight such as speed, strength, sharpness, rhythm, amplitude and a number of other signs of muscle movement (some of them characterize speech motor skills).

The third main component of temperament is emotionality, which is a broad complex of properties that characterize the peculiarities of the emergence, course and cessation of various feelings, affects and moods. Compared to other components of temperament, this component is the most complex and has a branched structure of its own. The main characteristics of emotionality are impressionability, impulsiveness and emotional stability.

Impressiveness expresses the subject’s sensitivity to emotionally significant influences.

Impulsivity refers to the speed with which an emotion prompts action without prior thought or conscious planning. Emotional lability usually refers to the speed at which one experience changes to another.

The main components of temperament form a single structure in human behavior, which makes it possible to limit temperament from other mental formations of the personality - its orientation, character, abilities, etc.

Manifestation of temperament

The differences between people in temperament are manifested in their activities. To achieve success in it, it is important that a person controls his temperament, knows how to adapt it to the conditions and requirements of his activity, relying on his strong properties and compensating for his weak ones. This adaptation is expressed in an individual style of activity.

An individual style of activity is an expedient system of ways and techniques for performing activities that corresponds to the characteristics of temperament, ensuring the best results.

The formation of an individual style of activity is carried out in the process of training and education. In this case, the subject’s own interest is necessary.

Conditions for the formation of an individual style of activity:

1. determination of temperament with assessment of the severity of its psychological properties;
2. finding a set of strengths and weaknesses;
3. creating a positive attitude towards mastering your temperament;
4. an exercise in improving strong properties and possibly compensating for weak ones.

Temperament also matters for the choice of activity. Cholerics prefer emotional types ( sport games, discussions, public performance) and are reluctant to do monotonous work. Melancholic people willingly engage in individual activities.

It is known that during training sessions, sanguine people, when studying new material, quickly grasp the basics, perform new actions, although with errors, and do not like long and careful work when mastering and improving skills. Phlegmatic people will not perform new actions or exercises if something is unclear in the content or technique; they are prone to painstaking, lengthy work when mastering it.

For example, for athletes there are differences depending on temperament in pre-race conditions. Sanguine and phlegmatic people are predominantly in a state of combat readiness before the start, choleric people are in a state of starting fever, and melancholic people are in a state of starting apathy. At competitions, sanguine and phlegmatic people show stable results and even better results than in training; for choleric and melancholic people they are not stable enough.

In the same differentiated manner, in particular taking into account the strength and balance of the students’ nervous system, it is necessary to approach the use of various forms of pedagogical influences - praise, blame. Praise has a positive impact on the process of skill formation in all students, but the greatest impact on the “weak” and “unbalanced” ones. Blame is most effective on the “strong” and “balanced”, least effective on the “weak” and “unbalanced”. The expectation of being graded for completing tasks has a positive effect on the “weak” and “balanced”, but is less significant for the “strong” and “unbalanced”.

Thus, temperament, being dependent on the innate properties of the nervous system, manifests itself in a person’s individual style of activity, so it is important to take into account its characteristics when training and upbringing.

Taking into account the characteristics of temperament is necessary when solving mainly two important pedagogical problems: when choosing methodological teaching tactics and the style of communication with students. In the first case, you need to help a sanguine person to see sources of variety and creative elements in monotonous work, a choleric person to instill the skills of special careful self-control, a phlegmatic person to purposefully develop the skills of quickly switching attention, a melancholic person to overcome fear and self-doubt. Taking into account temperament is necessary when choosing a style of communication with students. Thus, with choleric and melancholic people, such methods of influence as individual conversation and indirect types requirements (advice, hint, etc.). Reproach in front of the class will cause a conflict explosion in a choleric person, and a reaction of resentment, depression, and self-doubt in a melancholic person. When dealing with a phlegmatic person, it is inappropriate to insist on immediate fulfillment of the requirement; it is necessary to give time to the student’s own decision to mature. A sanguine person will easily and gladly accept a remark in the form of a joke.

Temperament is the natural basis for the manifestation of psychological qualities of an individual. However, with any temperament, it is possible to develop in a person qualities that are not characteristic of this temperament. Self-education is of particular importance here. In a letter to O. L. Knipper-Chekhova, A. P. Chekhov wrote: “You... envy my character. I must say that by nature I have a harsh character, I’m quick-tempered, etc., etc., but I’m used to controlling myself, because it’s not appropriate for a decent person to let himself go.”

- this is an individual property of a person, which to the greatest extent depends on his innate, natural psychophysiological qualities. Temperament is an individual characteristic of a person in terms of the characteristics of his mental activity, such as intensity, speed, pace of mental processes.

Typically, three areas of manifestation of temperament are distinguished: the level of general activity, characteristics of the motor sphere and the level of emotionality.

General activity determined by the intensity of human interaction with environment- natural and social. There are two extremes here. One type of people is distinguished by its clearly expressed lethargy and passivity, and the other by its high activity and speed in action. Representatives of other temperaments are located between these two poles.

Motor or motor activity expressed in the speed and sharpness of movements, in the tempo of speech, as well as in external mobility or, conversely, slowness, talkativeness or silence.

Emotionality - is expressed in the rapidity of changes in emotional states, sensitivity to emotional influences, and sensitivity.

Since antiquity, temperament has always been associated with physiological characteristics human body.Hippocrates(V century BC) described four types of temperament, determined by the fluid that supposedly predominates in the body: sanguine(from lat. sanguis- blood), choleric(from Greek chole- bile), phlegmatic(from Greek phlegma- mucus) and melancholic(from Greek melainachole- black bile). Hippocrates understood temperaments in a purely physiological sense.

In the 18th century four were compared with Hippocratic types of temperament psychological type, which marked the beginning of a psychological line in the study of temperaments. Common everyday ideas about temperaments at present are not much different from the ideas of the 18th century: choleric temperament is associated with irritability, sanguine with cheerfulness, phlegmatic with calmness, and melancholic with sadness and vulnerability.

IN modern psychology temperament is defined as constant and stable natural properties individuals who determine the dynamics of mental activity regardless of its content.

The properties of temperament include extraversion and introversion, the pace of reactions, plasticity and rigidity.

Extraversion-introversion- temperament characteristics introduced K. Jung - determine the dependence of a person’s reaction and activity on external impressions arising at the moment (extrovert), or on the internal mental processes and states of a person (introvert). Extroverts include sanguine and choleric, and introverts include phlegmatic and melancholic.

Reaction rate characterizes the speed of mental processes and reactions (speed of mind, rate of speech, dynamics of gestures). The rate of reactions is increased in choleric people, sanguine people and well-rested melancholic people and decreased in phlegmatic people and tired melancholic people. People with a fast pace of reactions and low sensitivity (sanguine and choleric) do not notice. that others (phlegmatic and melancholic) do not have time to follow the course of their thoughts, and on the basis of this they make completely unfounded conclusions about their mental abilities, which can cause direct damage to relationships between people, in particular business relationships.

Inactivity - the degree of involuntary reactions to external and internal influences and irritations (critical remark, offensive word, harsh tone, external influence). These are automated defense and orientation reactions. High reactivity in choleric and sanguine people, low in phlegmatic people.

Activity— characterizes the expression of a person’s energy potential, with which a person overcomes obstacles and achieves goals. Activity is expressed in perseverance, focus, concentration and is the main quality of temperament that contributes to achieving the goal. A phlegmatic person is most active, although due to low reactivity he gets involved in work more slowly. The phlegmatic person is highly active and is not in danger of overwork. In a choleric person, high activity is combined with reactivity. Sanguine people are quite active, but if the activity is monotonous, they may lose interest in it. Melancholic people are characterized by low activity.

The ratio of reactivity and activity determines what a person’s activity depends on to a greater extent: random external or internal circumstances - mood, random events, or on goals, intentions, beliefs.

Plasticity and rigidity indicate how easily and flexibly a person adapts to external influences (plasticity) or how inert his behavior is (rigidity). The highest plasticity is in sanguine people; rigidity characterizes phlegmatic people, choleric people and melancholic people.

Emotional excitability reflects the threshold of the minimum impact necessary for the occurrence of an emotional reaction and the speed of its development. Emotional excitability is increased in sanguine, choleric and melancholic people, and decreased in phlegmatic people.

A peculiar combination of activity, determined by the intensity and volume of human interaction with the environment - physical and social, and the degree of expression of emotional reactions, determines individual characteristics of temperament, i.e. "dynamic aspects" of behavior. Researchers remain confident that the dynamic properties of behavior have a certain physiological basis, i.e. are determined by certain features of the functioning of physiological structures, but what these structures and features are is currently unknown. One thing is clear that temperament, being innate, is the basis of most personality properties, including its character. Temperament is the sensual basis of character. Transforming in the process of character formation, the properties of temperament turn into character traits, the content of which is associated with the orientation of the individual’s psyche.

Temperaments and their characteristics

Phlegmatic person unhurried, unperturbed, has stable aspirations and mood, outwardly stingy in the manifestation of emotions and feelings. He shows perseverance and perseverance in his work, remaining calm and balanced. He is productive at work, compensating for his slowness with diligence.

Choleric - fast, passionate, impetuous, but completely unbalanced, with sharply changing moods with emotional outbursts, quickly exhausted. He does not have a balance of nervous processes, this sharply distinguishes him from a sanguine person. A choleric person, getting carried away, carelessly wastes his strength and quickly becomes exhausted.

Sanguine - a lively, hot, active person, with frequent changes of mood and impressions, with a quick reaction to all the events happening around him, quite easily coming to terms with his failures and troubles. Sanguine people usually have expressive facial expressions. He is very productive at work when he is interested, becoming very excited about it; if the work is not interesting, he is indifferent to it, he becomes bored.

Melancholic - a person who is easily vulnerable, prone to constantly experiencing various events, he reacts little to external factors. He cannot restrain his asthenic experiences by force of will; he is overly impressionable and easily emotionally vulnerable.

Every temperament can be found both positive and negative properties . Good upbringing, control and self-control makes it possible to manifest: a melancholic person, as an impressionable person with deep experiences and emotions; a phlegmatic person, as a self-possessed person without hasty decisions; a sanguine person, as a highly responsive person for any work; a choleric person, as a passionate, frantic and active person in work.

Negative properties of temperament can manifest themselves as follows: in a melancholic person - isolation and shyness; a phlegmatic person has indifference to people, dryness; in a sanguine person - superficiality, scatteredness. impermanence; choleric person has hasty decisions.

As already noted, there are four main types of temperament: sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic (Fig. 1, Table 1).

Sanguine temperament

I. P. Pavlov gives the following description of the characteristics of the sanguine temperament: “A sanguine person is an ardent, very productive figure, but only when he has a lot of interesting things to do, that is, constant excitement. When there is no such thing, he becomes bored and lethargic.”

A sanguine person is distinguished by easy adaptability to changing living conditions, increased contact with people around him, and sociability. The feelings of a sanguine person arise easily and quickly change, his stereotypes are quite flexible, conditioned reflexes are quickly consolidated. In a new environment, he does not feel constrained, is capable of quickly switching attention and changing types of activities, and is emotionally stable. People with a sanguine temperament are most suited to activities that require quick reactions, significant effort, and distributed attention.

Choleric temperament

“The choleric type,” notes I. P. Pavlov, “is clearly a fighting type, perky, easily and quickly irritated.” “Being carried away by some task, he puts too much pressure on his resources and strength and in the end he breaks down, becomes more exhausted than he should, he works himself to the point that everything is unbearable for him.”

A choleric person is characterized by increased emotional reactivity, fast pace and abruptness in movements. The increased excitability of a choleric person under unfavorable conditions can become the basis for hot temper and even aggressiveness.

Rice. 1. Reactions of people with different temperaments in the same situation (drawing by X. Bidstrup)

Table 1. Types of temperament and the corresponding mental properties of a person

With appropriate motivation, a choleric person is able to overcome significant difficulties, devoting himself to work with great passion. It is characterized by sudden changes in mood. A person with a choleric temperament achieves the greatest effectiveness in activities that require increased reactivity and significant simultaneous effort.

Phlegmatic temperament

“A phlegmatic person is a calm, always even, persistent and persistent worker of life.”

The reactions of a phlegmatic person are somewhat slow, the mood is stable. The emotional sphere is outwardly little expressed. In difficult life situations, a phlegmatic person remains quite calm and self-possessed; he does not allow impulsive, impetuous movements, since his processes of inhibition always balance the processes of excitation. Correctly calculating his strength, a phlegmatic person shows great persistence in seeing things through to the end. His switching of attention and activity is somewhat slow. His stereotypes are inactive, and his behavior in some cases is not flexible enough. A phlegmatic person achieves the greatest success in those activities that require uniform effort, perseverance, stability of attention and great patience.

Melancholic temperament

“The melancholic temperament is clearly an inhibitory type of nervous system. For a melancholic person, obviously, every phenomenon of life becomes an agent inhibiting him, since he does not believe in anything, does not hope for anything, sees and expects only the bad and dangerous in everything.”

A melancholic person is characterized by increased vulnerability and a tendency to experience deep emotions (sometimes even for minor reasons). His feelings arise easily, are poorly contained, and are outwardly clearly expressed. Strong external influences hinder his activities. He is introverted - busy with his own experiences, withdrawn, refrains from contact with strangers, and avoids new surroundings. Under certain living conditions, he easily develops shyness, timidity, indecisiveness and even cowardice. In a favorable, stable environment, a melancholic person can achieve significant success in activities that require increased sensitivity, reactivity, quick learning, and observation.

Take this temperament type test to evaluate your reactions to current events!

Briefly about the main thing:

1. Is temperament a genetic problem or an acquired gift?
2. How to learn to recognize people by their personality temperament?
3. What are the types of temperament?
4. Evaluate yourself! Temperament type test!

Is temperament a genetic problem or an acquired gift?

The concept of “personal temperament” was introduced by the founder of medicine, Hippocrates. Even then, he divided people into four main categories that are still relevant today.

Sometimes personality temperament is confused with character, but this is not true!

Temperament is congenital features a person, which influence his behavior, speed of reaction to events and stimuli, balance, self-development, etc. And character is a set of acquired qualities, for example, determination, courage, fearlessness, etc.

How to learn to recognize people by personality temperament?

Knowing a person's temperament, you can:

• predict his reaction;
• find out his lifestyle;
• understand what he needs;
• easy to find an approach;
• understand in which areas of activity he will be successful!

In fact, this is the key to anyone! How to choose it? Read below!

What are the different types of temperament?

Sanguine– this is a sea of ​​positivity. The person is cheerful, active, optimistic, quickly and clearly reacts to changes. If he is angry, he does not hide his emotions, studies everything new with interest, and is prone to frequent changes of hobbies.

Choleric, as a rule, is quick-tempered and unbalanced, and can be reckless and unpredictable. He is very emotional, often aggressive, jealous, prone to inflated self-esteem and suppression of others. Choleric people usually have a gloomy appearance, have a negative attitude towards others, and suffer from overwork and mood swings.

Melancholic– a calm and thoughtful person, as a rule, is vulnerable, trusting and slow. Prone to low self-esteem, sudden mood swings for the worse, and prone to depression. He always tries to follow instructions strictly. Any innovation can upset him to tears. Sometimes such people are called homebodies and bores, but they perform best in the household.

Phlegmatic person- balanced and unperturbed, it is almost impossible to anger him. Even if he gets angry, he instantly cools down. He very rarely shows emotions, has difficulty adapting to new circumstances, and is not particularly smart or resourceful. Tries to stick to a strict plan. A phlegmatic person cannot perform several tasks at once, but he is always attentive, persistent and consistent.

How to determine your personality temperament?

Rate yourself! Temperament type test!

A “pure” type of temperament can be found extremely rarely. The vast majority of people have a mixed temperament, which is characterized by features of different personality temperaments, but still one necessarily prevails.

This test contains four groups of statements that describe Various types temperaments. You can either agree with them or not. Record your answers on paper.

So, let's begin self-discovery!

What does a choleric person think to himself?

• I am extremely fussy and restless.
• I often rage and flare up over trifles.
• Patience is not about me.
• I can be harsh and rude when dealing with people.
• I initiate various meetings and events.
• I tend to be stubborn.
• I am resourceful and creative in argument.
• I can't work at a certain pace.
• I'm a risk taker.
• I'm not vindictive at all.
• I have fast and temperamental speech.
• I can be very unbalanced.
• I am unable to put up with other people's shortcomings.
• I like to make cutting remarks.
• I don't hide my emotions.
• I tend to make quick decisions.
• I'm interested in everything new.
• My movements can be abrupt.
• If the goal is set, I am not distracted by anything else.
• My mood can change very dramatically.

What does a sanguine person think to himself?

• I can well call myself a positive person.
• As a rule, I am full of energy and know how to use it.
• I don't often manage to bring things to their logical conclusion.
• I may overestimate my capabilities.
• I can quickly learn new information.
• I don’t get hung up on one thing and am prone to changing hobbies.
• I don't worry about failures, everyone has them.
• I can easily adapt to any conditions.
• I can do anything with passion.
• I can quit what I started when interest in it disappears.
• It is not difficult for me to switch from one job to another.
• I'm tired of monotonous work.
• I easily make acquaintances, I have a lot of friends and acquaintances.
• I am quite resilient and can work as long as necessary.
• I speak loudly and can express my thoughts quickly and clearly.
• I maintain my composure in unexpected situations.
• I am always friendly towards others.
• I fall asleep quickly and wake up easily.
• Sometimes I am prone to rash decisions.
• I can be inattentive in conversation and can lose the thread of the conversation.

What does a phlegmatic person think to himself?

• As a rule, I am balanced and very calm.
• I perform all my actions in the intended sequence.
• I am characterized by prudence and caution.
• I can wait a long time.
• I am not given to idle chatter, let others do the talking.
• I calmly express my thoughts and do not show emotions in conversation.
• I am characterized by patience and restraint.
• I have no unfinished business.
• I don't skimp on trifles.
• If the matter is worthwhile, I can give it my all.
• I try to stick to a plan in everything I do.
• I always control my emotions.
• I usually do not respond to either praise or criticism.
• I am lenient when jokes are made about me.
• I am true to my passions.
• I feel uncomfortable switching to another activity.
• I have the same relationship with everyone.
• I am characterized by pedantry and accuracy.
• I have a hard time getting used to changes.
• I am characterized by endurance and composure.
• I’m gradually getting used to people, I can’t make friends.

What does a melancholic person think to himself?

• I am socially shy and very self-conscious.
• I get lost in an unusual environment.
• I can't easily walk up and talk to a stranger.
• I'm not sure I'm capable of anything.
• Loneliness doesn’t bother me, I take it calmly.
• My failures are overwhelming me.
• I can immerse myself in myself and not come out of this state for a long time.
• I get tired often and quickly.
• I can't talk loudly.
• It’s easier for me to adapt than to defend my point of view.
• I am very impressionable, sometimes I can be moved to tears.
• I am pleased when people praise me.
• I take criticism very painfully.
• I am always strict with myself and demanding of others.
• I am characterized by suspicion and suspiciousness.
• I am easily hurt and offended.
• I get carried away with the offense and worry for a long time.
• I cannot share my thoughts and feelings with others.
• I usually don't show activity, I'm too timid.
• I am not used to arguing and meekly follow any instructions.
• I like it when others show me compassion.

Temperament type test results!

Accordingly, the more positive answers, the more pronounced this type of temperament is.

To determine the percentage, add up the sum of all positive responses. Then multiply the number of positive responses for a particular type by 100% and divide by the total number of positive responses.

What happened?

The type of temperament that scores more than 40% is considered the main one.

The type of temperament that corresponds to from 30 to 39% is considered pronounced.

The type of temperament that scores from 20 to 29% manifests itself only in certain circumstances.

A type of temperament that scores less than 20% manifests itself extremely weakly.

Notes and feature articles for deeper understanding of the material

¹ Hippocrates (about 460 BC, - about 370 BC) is a famous ancient Greek healer, doctor and philosopher. He went down in history as the “father of medicine” (

I.P. Pavlov, Allan Pease, Norbekov, Darwin, Sviyash, Cialdini - this is not a complete list of writers who devoted many years of their lives to studying human behavior. Their contribution to the study of psychology, emotions, and human characters cannot be overestimated. Why? Because each person is a unique individual, each needs a different approach. By knowing the emotions and behavior of the interlocutor, we can avoid a lot of troubles caused by a lack of mutual understanding. Naturally, we will not consider all existing gestures, emotional manifestations and facial features different people. If only because it will take a lot of time.

In this article we will only talk about types of temperaments. I.P. Pavlov believes that there are only 4 of them. Moreover, identifying temperament is already enough to get an idea of ​​a person’s character. As a bonus, let's look at tips for communicating with representatives of different temperaments. Referring to the work “Body Language,” we will point out the basic manners and habits of different people. Based on the “Psychology of Influence”, we will talk about how to negotiate with phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine and melancholic people.

Types of temperaments: description and characteristics

Calm

Phlegmatic person is a person who personifies equanimity, unhurriedness and stability in terms of emotional behavior. People with this type of character show tenacity and perseverance in any operation they undertake. They have a stable psyche. It's hard to piss them off. Phlegmatic people are stingy with emotions. At the same time, leisurely work is compensated by diligence.

Phlegmatic temperament characterizes people who never allow impulsive and sudden movements. As a rule, such individuals have good concentration. If you see a person in front of you whose eyes are located at a relatively large distance from each other, you are probably faced with a phlegmatic person. A striking example is the portrait of Immanuel Kant (the genius of philosophy). Mind your manners. If a person does not allow impetuous movements and stays in one place for a long time - the assumption is correct! Great patience and steady attention will be a clear confirmation of what has been said.

Phlegmatic people are good employees, but not very comfortable partners. You should not expect a quick response from them. If you need to agree on something with a phlegmatic person, constantly speed up the pace of communication so that he becomes more active. By increasing the dynamics of the conversation, you will force the person to react, since a lack of understanding of the situation is considered by a phlegmatic person as a failure.

Imbalance

Choleric- This is a person who is characterized by impetuous, unbalanced behavior. Such people's mood constantly changes. Often one gets the impression that several choleric people live in one person. different people. Emotional outbursts quickly exhaust choleric people, which is why rapid mood swings are observed.

Choleric temperament, as noted by I.P. Pavlov, reflects people with increased emotional activity. They are easy to piss off. They are irritable and take everything personally. The distinctive features of the face include clearly defined contours. Typically, furrowed brows, thin lips and large cheekbones.

An example is the famous film actor Robert Downey Jr. Regarding behavior, choleric people are characterized by sudden movements and a fast pace of communication. It is worth noting that with good motivation, choleric people are able to achieve high achievements in their careers. They are excellent leaders and partners. When trying to get in touch with this type of temperament, it is important to take into account that choleric people analyze how you feel about them from the first minutes of communication. Therefore, you need to be completely focused on your words and behavior.

Optimism

Sanguine is a person characterized by a love of life. People with this type of temperament are impressionable, emotional and mobile. At the same time, they treat everything with a positive attitude, even failures. If a sanguine person is interested in something, he enters a state of excitement.

The sanguine temperament represents good employees and productive partners. If a sanguine person has an interesting business, he will not stop until he completes the project. At the same time, he tries to do everything pedantically, as interesting and unusual as possible. Not at all, if there is no interest, such a person enters a state of peace and becomes indifferent.

Regarding facial features, a striking example is the famous film actor Will Smith. As a rule, people with this temperament have eyebrows that droop down to the tips of the eyes. In this case, there are many wrinkles from the eyes to the hanging area. It is worth adding that sanguine people think a lot, which is why they often have wrinkled foreheads. During an emotional outburst, it is important to understand that such a person is distracted. When communicating with a sanguine person, it is necessary to attract the attention of the interlocutor by changing the tone of the conversation.

As for the face, there are no obvious contours. However, it is very easy to identify a melancholic person, because if he doesn’t like something, his facial expressions perfectly reveal his emotions. Vivid examples include the hero of the matrix - Keanu Reeves. Despite its seriousness and steadfastness, in life it is a sensual talent. Also among the melancholic people is Megan Fox. Behind the proud and serious facial expressions, not many are able to discern a sensitive and vulnerable nature in Megan, but this is so.
Finally, I would like to add that people tend to change, just like their temperament type. And this is reflected in manners and behavior. Even facial features change.

From birth, all people differ from each other in their type of temperament, which remains unchanged throughout their lives; only their traits change under the influence of circumstances. So what is the temperament of a phlegmatic, melancholic, sanguine or choleric person, what characteristic in the description will allow you to accurately distinguish one from the other?

Based on the fact that temperament is a biologically determined feature, many researchers have tried to link it with appearance person. It was not possible to obtain rigorous evidence for this theory, but in practice it often confirms its validity. A description of the appearance of a typical sanguine person, choleric person, melancholic person and phlegmatic person can be found in the table below.

But to accurately determine who is in front of you: phlegmatic, melancholic, sanguine or choleric, appearance alone is not enough; you need to look at the behavior characteristic of the person.

Sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic - characteristics

It is very difficult to find a pure temperament; most often a person exhibits the traits of two, or even three types. But, as a rule, the characteristics of one species prevail over others. So what are distinctive features every temperament.

1. Choleric. People of this type tend to be in constant search of something new; they cannot sit in one place; peace and stability are too boring for them. Practical sociability, determination and exactingness help choleric people achieve a lot, but uncompromisingness and perseverance do not allow them to remain with all their friends. Therefore, they have many enemies and envious people. When communicating with a choleric person, you need to remember his extreme temper. If he raised his voice or stomped his foot, it's just an outburst and not genuine anger at you.
2. Sanguine. True diplomats who can flexibly adapt to any situation. Such people do not like to quarrel, preferring to get their way in a roundabout way. Therefore, they have almost no enemies, everyone has a positive attitude towards them. But sanguine people are characterized by a certain superficiality; they will achieve difficult goals, preferring to choose something that does not require titanic efforts. Communication with a sanguine person does not present any special problems, just remember about his subconscious desire to please everyone, so he will avoid situations that could compromise him.
3. Phlegmatic person. People of this temperament are as persistent as choleric people, but are much more restrained and patient. Phlegmatic people avoid conflicts with all their might, but they will not allow anyone to sit on their necks. These people will not argue, they will simply continue to follow the chosen course, without paying any attention to others. It is extremely difficult to anger such a person, and there is no need to do this, their rage is destructive. When communicating with a phlegmatic person, you should not expect quick reactions, this is not available to him. And never try to crush it under you, this will only cause irritation.
4. Melancholic. They are very vulnerable people; anything can offend them. They usually have poor health, but poor health is not always caused by real illnesses. They often feel deeply unhappy, and it is extremely difficult to shake this belief. But melancholic people know how to empathize like no one else; you won’t find a better comforter. When communicating with such a person, it is necessary to take into account his vulnerability, so he needs praise and encouragement more than others. But you can’t scold him for constant complaints, otherwise you will damage his condition even more.

The ability to determine the type of temperament is needed not only by psychologists; it can also be useful in everyday life. Knowing the innate weaknesses and strengths of a person, you can choose the most favorable tactics for conversation.