Four Temperaments

What's your personality?
Posted by Danielle Bean, Faith and Family Live!

A few months ago, I read "The Temperament God Gave You: The Classic Key to Knowing Yourself, Getting Along with Others, and Growing Closer to the Lord".

I was fascinated.

I quizzed myself, my husband, my kids, and my extended family members. I labeled the temperament of everyone I knew. Some appreciated my analysis. Some didn’t.

“You are such a ... choleric melancholic!” I accused my unsuspecting husband.

Well, he is.

It’s not just about the fun of labeling and name-calling, though. Personally, I find that personality tests and categories are really useful tools. Legitimate personality analysis helps us to better know ourselves and gives us insight into our relationships. It helps us to analyze our tendencies, our strengths, and our weaknesses in an objective manner.

What I found especially helpful about the Bennetts’ book was that it is written from a Catholic perspective. It helped me figure out what my natural strengths and weaknesses are in my relationships with God, with my husband, and with my children.

Once we recognize our personal weaknesses, temptations, and tendencies toward sin, we are in a much better position to do something about remedying them. Conversely, once we recognize our strengths, we are in a better position to maximize those parts of our personality and put them to good use in our work and in our families.

I won’t tell you my temperament yet. I want you to figure out yours and share your findings first. I really do recommend reading the book, but if you are in a hurry, you can use this online quiz. It’s quick and pretty easy. I took it and my results were the same as the ones I got using the book’s more involved questionnaire, so as far as I can report, it’s accurate.

For those of you entirely unfamiliar with the four temperaments, here’s a very basic overview.

So. Two things: What’s your temperament? And I am curious how well you all can know me through blogging—what do you think mine is? I’ll update later with the answer.

What's your personality?
Posted by Danielle Bean
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