We are all born with them, personalities. Our personality coupled with the way that we were raised is what makes us who we are. If we are asked to describe a friend, we would begin listing the personality traits that are unique to that friend. If we were asked to describe ourselves, we would, more than likely, begin listing our strengths and maybe our weaknesses.
A basic understanding of the personality types
"In Proverbs 30:11-14 the wise man saw four kinds of people. About five hundred years later, the four were given names by Hippocrates, said to be the father of modern medicine." (LaHaye, 1965). "The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates believed that people behave differently because they have a predominance of one type bodily fluid, or humor." (Britannica, 2005). Dr. Tim LaHaye states, "Hippocrates named the temperaments in correspondence with the liquids he thought were the cause. The Sanguine, he thought, is characterized by rich, warm blood. Cholerics must have too much yellow bile, Melancholies he saw as having black or dark blood ? black bile. Phlegmatics he saw as having thick blood, which he called phlegm." (LaHaye, 1965) Dr. LaHaye (1965) goes on to say, "Galen, a Greek doctor, came up with a detailed list of the strengths and weaknesses of the four around A.D. 200. This has remained pretty much intact throughout history and is still the prevailing position in Europe."
Since that time, there have been many different theories and tests regarding personalities and temperaments. Basically, the temperaments have been narrowed down to four, although different psychologists have assigned different names. For simplicity in this paper, we will use the names assigned by Hippocrates; Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy and Phlegmatic ...