Personality Systems Compared
Today there exist many systems for categorizing personality traits into meaningful patterns, most of which trace their roots back to Carl Jung's psychological type theory
Observing Human Behavior
One of the most notable contributions to temperament theory dates back to 460 BC, made by Hippocrates (often referred to as the “father of western medicine”). He observed that people in general seemed to have one of four humors, or approaches to life. This discernment of four groupings is a common theme that connects many of the most predominant personality theories.
Today, there exist many different systems for categorizing personality traits into meaningful patterns. Each of these systems tends to use their own special vocabulary – such as letter codes, colors, names of Greek Gods, or other terms – to describe the four fundamental temperaments. Below are helpful charts for comparing some of the many names used to describe the four temperaments.
Approximate Comparison of Systems
Letter-Code Systems
The most popular letter-code systems for temperament identification are the Myers-Briggs and Keirsey systems. The chart below shows how Myers-Briggs and Keirsey relate to Personality Lingo.
Personality Lingo
Connector
Planner
Thinker
Mover
Myers - Briggs
ENFJ, INFJ,
ENFP, INFP
ENFP, INFP
ESTJ, ISTJ
ESFJ, ISFJ
ESFJ, ISFJ
ENTJ, INTJ
ENTP, INTP
ENTP, INTP
ESFP, ISFP
ESTP, ISTP
ESTP, ISTP
Keirsey Temperament
NF
SJ
NT
SP
Color Systems
Hippocrates was perhaps the first to reference color in connection with his four humors. Over the years there have been numerous systems that have carried on with this approach and attached a color label to a particular personality: Personality Dimensions, Don Lowry’s True Colors, Real Colors and many more. The table below reviews a sampling of those systems and how they correlate to Personality Lingo:
Personality Lingo
Connector
Planner
Thinker
Mover
Hippocrates
Clear
Black
Yellow
Red
Don Lowry's True Colors
Blue
Gold
Green
Orange
Personality Dimensions
Blue
Gold
Green
Orange
Insight Learning
Blue
Gold
Green
Orange
Four Lenses
Blue
Gold
Green
Orange
Four Windows
Blue
Gold
Green
Orange
Real Colors
Blue
Gold
Green
Orange
Spectrum Temperaments
Blue
Gold
Green
Orange
Personality Resources
Blue
Gold
Green
Orange
Color Code
Blue
White
Red
Yellow
Herrmann Brain
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
Ritberger
Green
Orange
Yellow
Red
Birkman
Green
Red
Blue
Yellow
Word-Descriptor Systems
From the names of Greek Gods to the seasons of the year and even animals, many systems have come up with creative names for describing the same thing, the four fundamental personality styles
Personality Lingo
Connector
Planner
Thinker
Mover
Hippocrates/Galen
Phlegmatic
Choleric
Melancholic
Sanguine
Carl Jung
Intuition/Feeling
Sensing(/Judging*)
Intuition/Thinking
Sensing(/Perceiving*)
Seasons/Elements
Winter/Water
Summer/Fire
Autumn/Earth
Spring/Air
Keirsey/Bates
Apollonian
Epimethean
Promethean
Dionysian
Keirsey
Idealist
Guardian
Rational
Artisan
Inner Heros
Helper
Planner
Thinker
Doer
Helen Fisher
Negotiator
(Estrogen/Oxytocin)
Builder
(Serotonin)
Director
(Testosterone)
Explorer
(Dopamine)
Helen Scully
Facilitator
Organizer
Innovator
Liberator
Character Champions
Blue Dolphin
Gold Ant
Green Owl
Orange Wolf
* Jung did not explicitly mention a judging or perceiving attitude. The terms Judging and Perceiving were extrapolated from Jung’s work by Myers-Briggs.
For an article discussing the overlap with DISC Communication Styles see: https://PersonalityLingo.com/DISC-and-Personality-Lingo