Evolution of Personality Lingo
Health and Wellness fused with Temperament Theory
The connection between health and personality that Hippocrates theorized centuries ago continues to evolve. There is no denying that an important factor in wellbeing is discovering how to work with your personality strengths instead of against them.
Hippocrates (460-370 BC)
It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has.
– Hippocrates
Often referred to as the “Father of Western Medicine” – Hippocrates is credited as being one of the originators of temperament theory. He observed that people in general seemed to have one of four approaches to life: Phlegmatic, Choleric, Melancholic, or Sanguine – each correlated with a body fluid or “humor”. He theorized that health is a state in which the four humors are balanced and disease is the result of an excess or a deficiency in of one or more of the four humors.
Hippocrates’ aim in recording his observations of character traits was to gather information he believed could assist in determining how to best to treat illness.
Carl Jung (1920's)
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
– Carl Jung
Renowned psychologist Carl Jung is best known for his theory of psychological types. From years of observation and research, he proposed and developed the concepts of Extraversion and Introversion.
He defined the two attitudes of Extravert (E) and Introvert (I) as the focusing of our psychic energy outward or inward.
Jung also proposed two methods of gathering information and two ways of making decisions about that information.
- Sensing (S) Concrete information gathering by means of your five senses
- Intuition (N) Perception of meaning and possibilities by way of insight
- Thinking (T) Decides from detached standpoint of logic and objectivity
- Feeling (F) Decides by associating with situations and considering values and needs of people involved
Jung noticed that many therapists unconsciously treated their own preferred function as the standard for “healthy thinking.” Typology was his solution. He designed it to help psychologists recognize their own lens, understand clients without bias, respect different inner worlds, and tailor treatment to the patient’s actual attitude. His aim was to foster type-informed empathy thus reducing misdiagnosis, easing miscommunication, lowering tension in therapy, and perhaps even quieting the arguments that erupted between theorists who strongly believed their perspective was the only right one.
Myers-Briggs (1950's)
I dream that long after I'm gone, my work will go on helping people.
– Isabel Myers
Fascinated by the research of Jung, Katherine Briggs and Isabel Myers (mother-daughter team) developed the famous Myers/Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). One of the many ways they expanded the work of Jung was by adding two more mental mechanisms. This addition doubled the distinctions designated by Jung and brought us from 8 cognitive functions to 16 personality types. Recognizing that using the four-fold combination of traits as descriptors for each type style would be quite a mouthful, they used specific letter combinations as a shortcut lingo for understanding their system.
Myers’s research goals were oriented towards offering clear pragmatic guidance in seeing our gifts and challenges and using this knowledge to live a life closer to one’s heart’s desires. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment was created in 1943 to help women entering the workforce during World War II find jobs that would be “most comfortable and effective” for them.
David Keirsey (1970's)
Our attempts to reshape others may produce change, but the change is distortion rather than transformation.
– David Keirsey
Embracing the two functions added by Myers-Briggs, Educational Psychologist, David Keirsey returned to classifying personality into four temperament types. In 1978, David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates published Please Understand Me using descriptors based on Greek Gods to represent each type: Apollonian, Promethean, Dionysian, and Epimethean. Continuing to investigate personality differences and refine his theory of the four temperaments, Keirsey updated his terms in 1998 with the release his expanded book, Please Understand Me II. For ease of identification, Keirsey often refers to the letter abbreviations of the MBTI in conjunction with his personality temperament descriptors.
The four fundamental temperaments defined by Keirsey correspond to a subset of the letter-code combinations of the MBTI system.
- Idealist (Apollonian) NF - search for self, helpful
- Guardian (Epimethean) SJ - duty, useful
- Rational (Promethean) NT - abilities, self-judging
- Artisan (Dionysian) SP - free-spirit, impulsive
Keirsey’s research involved correlating observable behaviors (what we say and do) with temperament for the purpose of better understanding and helping at risk youth. He served as a consultant to both educators and psychologists for more than 20 years.
Don Lowry (1970's)
When you know what your core values and needs are, and feel good about them, you can perform at your highest potential in every area.
– Don Lowry
Author, educator, and playwright, Don Lowry popularized the use of the colors Blue, Gold, Green, and Orange with his True Colors model. Don selected the colors to represent a mood or metaphor. What began as a theatre production by Don dramatizing each of the four dominant styles, grew into widespread use of color terms. This popularity brought the concepts into the hands of the general public.
Don Lowry’s color associations for the four fundamental temperaments:
- Blue (NF) - spiritual, emotional, intuitive
- Gold SJ - practical, dependable, consistent
- Green (NT) - inventive, analytical, determined
- Orange (SP) - positive, hands-on, entertaining
Don Lowry’s mission was to simplify the complexities of temperament theory by making personality concepts accessible and enjoyable for everyone in schools and in communities through interactive and engaging edutainment.
Mary Miscisin & Ed Redard (1990's)
How do we bring out the best in each other instead of driving each other crazy? That's the power of knowing your personality.
– Mary Miscisin
With her extensive background in health and wellness education, Mary had been teaching courses on workplace communication and stress management for over a decade when she was introduced to Don Lowry and his True Colors model. Don and Mary shared a passion for teaching through interactive edutainment and they became lifelong friends. Mary intuitively fused knowledge of the four fundamental temperaments into her workplace communication and stress management courses. It was as if she had found the missing element that helped people to walk their own path in life with greater confidence and happiness. In 2001 Mary published the book, “Showing Our True Colors”, helping Don reach a larger audience and contributing her findings for how to apply personality concepts to improving communication and reducing stress.
In 2014, with overwhelming support from colleagues, Mary and Ed decided to bring together their combined wisdom from years of observations using easy to comprehend terminology, so that talking about temperament doesn’t feel like you are learning a new language. It made sense to call their system “Personality Lingo.” Mary’s book was revised and published under the title “Personality Lingo” and an entirely new personality system business model was born – one that lets the audience be the experts and supports the creative freedoms of trainers, empowering them to bring temperament concepts to the leading edge of thought in their own unique ways using a standardized language.
Personality Lingo defines the four fundamental temperaments by thier core values:
- Connector (NF-Blue) - values Relationships
- Planner (SJ-Gold) - values Responsibility
- Thinker (NT-Green) - values Competency
- Mover (SP-Orange) - values Freedom
What began as a commitment to helping individuals improve their health and wellness has evolved into a passion for assisting individuals to succeed at work, in relationships, and throughout other areas of their lives. Mary’s Personality Lingo® training material is used by organizations from around the world to improve workplace communication, enhance employee relations, and foster team synergy through entertaining and highly interactive bonding experiences.