Parents: Know The Four Temperaments

Every homeschool parent ardently desires to understand and guide his child with care and love. From the early Greeks through the Middle-Ages, society recognized the four temperaments and their importance in human relationships. Knowledge of these dispositions can enhance proper direction of a youngster and minimize unintentional damage. Familiarity with the four temperaments is a crucial aid to this endeavor.

Several pre-requisite points are needed before study of the temperaments. First, temperament is a pattern of inclination in the soul, pre-disposition. It is inherited and innate and, therefore, cannot be changed. (However, good qualities can be encouraged and bad, discouraged.) One temperament is not better than another. Finally, a person usually is a combination of two types; but, one is dominant.

Temperament should not be confused with character. The latter is the pattern of habits which are formed by education, personal effort and environmental effects.

Reverend Conrad Hock, author of The Four Temperaments, emphasizes that reaction to stimulus and duration of the impression indicate temperament. The response to stimulus is the key. Consider the child’s reaction to a bad storm or new information.

The four temperaments are 1) choleric—strong reaction, lasting impression, 2) sanguine—strong reaction, shallow impression, 3) melancholic—weak reaction, lasting impression, 4) phlegmatic—weak reaction, shallow impression. The first two are usually extroverts while the last are introverts.

The choleric is a dynamo…eg. Julius Caesar. He bristles with ambition and enthusiasm. He aspires to the noble and great, but he is crushed with rudeness and harshness.

The sanguine brings beauty and cheer to the world. Yet, he is inherently fickle…eg. St. Peter. He loves people and is obedient, but he requires vigilant supervision.

The melancholic is a thinker and hence craves solitude…eg. St. Augustine. He is reserved but sympathetic to others. Slowness is not due to laziness or lack of intellect but to thorough consideration. He must be kindly encouraged and not allowed to fall into despair.

The phlegmatic steadies the world. Although he lacks ambition and is not excited by much, he proceeds deliberately and with prudent judgment…eg. St. Thomas Aquinas. His guidance entails many detailed explanations, over and over.

Understanding the temperaments is vital to successful guidance and discipline….and to a happy, fulfilled child.