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SUNNY Temp: 61 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Saturday, May 24, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend April 25, 2003 Understanding personality types The Greeks had it nailed 2,500 years ago with the four basic groups: sanguine, melancholy, phlegmatic and choleric By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune When you just can’t get along with a person, whether it’s a mate, your children or people on the job, it might be time to look at the four basic personality types. Established in ancient Greece and popular during the Middle Ages, these types — sanguine, melancholy, phlegmatic and choleric — can lend a lot of patience and understanding to human behavior. "It helps us accept how people are wired," said counselor Bill Gallagher, who teaches "Understanding Personality Differences" 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Cornerstone Christian Church in Medford. "It’s innate and we can’t change the personality we seem to get at birth." The four types, based on four "humors," or body fluids, were outlined by Hippocrates, the father of medicine in fifth century B.C. Greece and are still popularly accepted as explanations of personality building blocks. A modern equivalent is the Myers-Briggs personality test. Advertisement Sanguine people are popular, hopeful, forgiving, upbeat, colorful, motivated and they love people, but they will get under your skin for being late, shallow, uncommitted, procrastinating and for making light of crises, said Gallagher. Choleric people are powerful, decisive, type-A, go-getters, goal setters, risk-takers and self-starters, who will let you down by being self-righteous, verbally abusive, egotistical and way too intense. Melancholic types are perfectionists, delegators, warm, loyal and caregiving, but they can bug you with their inflexibility, hypersensitivity, inner chaos and by caring too much what others think. Phlegmatic people are peaceful, serene, flexible, quiet, unassuming and they tend to think the best of people. On the down side, they’re unemotional, hard to motivate, aren’t honest with their feelings and don’t give feedback well. If you haven’t found yourself — or your partner or annoying co-worker — look deeper, because people are often a mixture of one main type, plus another type. As further clue, sanguines and melancholics think with their hearts, Gallagher said, while cholerics and phlegmatics see life through their logic. "It really helps to figure out and to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so we comprehend why certain people annoy us. When we understand it’s not personal, we can start getting along with people who are very different from us." Gallagher himself is a sanguine type who loves to host talk radio and give workshops with the medical community, churches and corporations. Once, he just couldn’t get along with a supervisor who was choleric. "His intensity burned me out but my disorganization drove him nuts," said Gallagher. "Sanguine and choleric are like oil and water. It wasn’t till we went on a weekend retreat and got to the bottom of it that we accepted and liked each other." Gallagher will teach participants how to respect and "handle" people of unlike temperaments. Examples: With cholerics, to bring out their best, ask their advice, understand their ethics, be honest and stick with the subject. Avoid being overly emotional, procrastinating or forcing them to verbalize their feelings. With melancholics, keep your word, listen to their feelings and finish projects you said you’d finish. Avoid bringing up their failures, squashing their creativity, changing their routine or breaking their confidence. With phlegmatics, be informal, reduce conflicts, accept what’s unique about them and give them time to process through their frustrations. Avoid forcing them to resolve conflicts, expecting them to be quick on their feet, putting them in the spotlight or expecting them to be decision makers. With sanguines, make projects playful and positive, give them variety, trust them to come through eventually and give them lots of praise and affection. Avoid criticizing their character, making them work alone, expecting detailed future plans or staying distant and unforgiving. To register, call 773-8168. The class is open to the public. Cost $10. John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times