Keirsey Temperament Sorter

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter is a personality test which attempts to identify which of four temperaments, and which of sixteen types, a person prefers. Hippocrates, a Greek philosopher who lived from 460-377 B.C., proposed four temperaments, which are related to the four humours. These were sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, and melancholic. In 1978, David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates reintroduced temperament theory in modern form and identified them as Guardian, Artisan, Idealist, and Rationalist. After developing modern temperament theory, Keirsey discovered the MBTI, and found that by combining intuition with the judging functions, NT and NF, and sensing with the perceiving functions, SJ and SP, he had descriptions similar to his four temperaments. This chart compares modern and ancient aspects of the theory:

Describing the temperaments

Guardians (SJs) seek membership or belonging and are concerned with responsibility and duty. Their greatest strength is logistical intelligence, which means that they excel at organizing, facilitating, checking, and supporting.

Artisans (SPs) seek freedom to act and are concerned with their ability to make an impact on people or situations. Their greatest strength is tactical intelligence, which means that they excel at acting, composing, producing, and motivating.

Rationals (NTs) seek mastery and self-control and are concerned with their own knowledge and competence. Their greatest strength is strategic intelligence, which means that they excel at engineering, conceptualizing, theorizing, and coordinating.

Idealists (NFs) seek meaning and significance and are concerned with finding their own unique identity. Their greatest strength is diplomatic intelligence, which means that they excel at clarifying, unifying, individualizing, and inspiring.

External links

• Keirsey Temperament and Character The Web Site for the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and Keirsey Temperament Theory.