Temperament Test
Why am I the way I am? Why do some things come easily to me but not to others? Why do I feel pulled toward frustration, passivity or sadness?
Many things impact who we are — family history, environment, culture and spiritual maturity. One important but often overlooked element is temperament, the unique mix of inherited traits that influences our thoughts, decisions, actions and reactions. Temperament runs deeper even than personality or character. It maps how we’re wired, what makes someone tick. It includes good and bad tendencies, strengths and weaknesses.
Author Ole Hallesby argues in his classic Temperament and the Christian Faith:
The life of the soul is vastly richer than the life of the body. And that feature which we are about to examine — the temperament — is just one of the elements in the life of the soul responsible for developing variations in personality...
That distinctive stamp originating in the soul which we call temperament is inborn. That is to say, it was there in each of us before our consciousness and our wills began to function… Because temperament has its roots in the unconscious, it exerts an inevitable influence on our conscious lives — on our emotions, minds, and wills.
Each person’s inborn traits are unique, but they express as a mix of four main temperaments: sanguine, choleric, melancholy and phlegmatic. People usually have a primary and secondary temperament. We’ll explain more about each on the resources page.
Throughout history, temperaments have gotten a bad rap because of their association with pseudoscience. For example, ancient medicine asserted that people manifested certain temperaments because of how bodily fluids such as blood and bile mixed in the body. Later, psychologists attempted to tie temperament to body structure.
Yet, like all tools, this one works well when used properly. Studying temperaments can help you understand yourself — building on strengths and shoring up weaknesses. It can also sharpen your encouragement and challenges to friends, colleagues and disciples. The Christian worker willing to study temperament will grow in wisdom, tact and discernment.
If you'd like to learn more about your temperament, take the assessment on the link below. Those who already got their results can find further reading and explanation at the resources link.
Take the Test