The 4 types of personality

There is only one you. You are unique, one of a kind, made by God:

“For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.” (Psalm 139: 12-16, NKJV)

Each of us was uniquely created by God for His glory with distinct appearance, characteristics, spiritual gifts, intelligence, abilities, talents, and personality.

There are four distinct types of personality, which include both strengths and weaknesses:

• Popular Sanguine – emotional and demonstrative,talkative, and with one volume only–LOUD–the Sanguine is the life of the party and is all about having fun. They make work into fun, and they love to be with people. They see excitement in each experience and are outgoing and optimistic. They’re often late because who’s in a hurry when you’re having fun? They love colors, are dramatic and prone to exaggeration, and are great on stage, thriving with an audience. They love touching and hugging people. You will laugh and laugh with a Sanguine. They breathe life into you. The Sanguine is like Tigger in the Winnie the Pooh stories – happy, bouncy, often loud, talkative, great storyteller, lots of fun.

• Powerful Choleric – dynamic born leader, dreamer of the impossible dream, always aiming, reaching, and succeeding. The Choleric is ever achieving and gets things done! Everything will be fine as long as you obey her rule: “Do it my way NOW!” He or she is outgoing and optimistic, but has little need for friends (socializing wastes time). She gets more done than the other temperaments and you always know where you stand with her because a Choleric usually tells you exactly what he or she thinks, very bluntly! He or she rises to the top, is goal-oriented, and has innate leadership abilities.The Choleric is like Rabbit in the Winnie the Pooh stories.

• Perfect Melancholy – deep, sensitive, organized, detailed, lover of lists. The Melancholy is quiet, undemanding, and likes to be alone. He or she follows schedules right from the beginning and will not adapt well to having his routine upset. Melancholy personalities are neat, tidy, and perfectionistic. They are frugal and have deep compassion for others. The Melancholy is creative, introspective, and analytical. Without Melancholies we’d have few artists, writers, philosophers, and composers of music. The Melancholy is like Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh stories.

• Peaceful Phlegmatic – buffers for all the other personalities to bring stability and balance. The Phlegmatic is peaceful and the great leveler in life. He says, “It really doesn’t matter that much” – and it usually doesn’t matter! The Phlegmatic is content, easy-going, not pushy, balanced, on an even keel, doesn’t easily offend, and quietly does what is expected of him. “Whatever” seems to be the Phlegmatic’s life motto. They also seem to say, “I don’t know” a lot about where to eat or what to do, but often have a gift of wisdom for important decisions that you can glean much from. He or she is a “learned” leader and with proper motivation, he will rise to the top, because of his outstanding ability to get along with everyone and to avoid conflict. Pooh is an example of the Phlegmatic in the Winnie the Pooh stories.

We need to learn what our strengths are and amplify them, and what our weaknesses are and overcome them with God’s transforming power.

We need to understand the personalities of the people around us as well, to have the best relationship possible with them. Otherwise, they can drive us crazy!

2 Great Books on the Personality Types

Tim LaHaye wrote a book called Spirit-Controlled Temperament, based on the temperaments that originated with Hippocrates’ work four hundred years before Christ was born. A friend gave this book to Florence Littaeur, and she found it fascinating.

Florence and her husband Fred began to teach, research, and write on the temperaments. They started with themselves and their children first. Florence’s book Personality Plus is the culmination of 25 years of her and Fred’s seminar speaking, personality counseling, and day-by-day observation of people’s temperaments.

The Personality Profile inside the book to learn your dominant personality was created by Fred Littauer. He passed away after after 50 years of marriage to Florence. They have three married children and five grandchildren. Florence divides her time between the Las Vegas area and the Palm Spring area.

Florence began her ministry by leading Bible studies in her home, and her love of God’s Word is evident in all her speaking and writing as she applies scriptural truths to today’s world.

Several years ago, I attended a CLASS professional writers/speakers training in St. Louis, MO, and there I had the honor of meeting Florence and her daughter Marita Littauer. They are two of the most anointed speakers I’ve ever heard. It was an incredibly weekend and I learned so much.

A great woman

There have been few people in my life whom I would describe as a “great” person. Great people are like Jesus, the Apostles, Mary the mother of Jesus, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Samuel the Prophet, Queen Esther, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Brother Lawrence, Billy Graham, and Mother Theresa.

I knew I was in the presence of greatness when Florence spoke and when I shook her hand. It was like meeting royalty – a queen.

Florence is a world renown speaker, the founder of CLASS ( Christian Leaders Authors and Speakers Services), and the author of over 30 books, winning many awards.

She is one of only a handful of women to have earned the CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) and CPAE (Council of Peers Award of Excellence) from the National Speakers Association and she has received special honors as a Legend in the speaking profession.

I was astounded at how naturally and effortlessly she spoke to the large audience. She did not have to use notes. Her speech was anointed, wise, gracious and authoritative.

She was extremely interesting and hilarious. The audience was held captive as she spoke. Truly she is a gifted speaker.

After this writers’ and speakers’ training, I went onto Upper CLASS, a weekend professional speakers’ training with a handful of women, that was hosted and taught by Florence and Marita.

They critiqued our speeches and our appearance, and gave us encouragement, tips, and constructive criticism of our presentations.

We were treated like royalty, fed delicious, elegant meals by the host who was an incredible chef, and had a one-on-one consulting session with Florence. We were given a make-over, and Marita helped us with designing our logos and our mission statements.

This weekend in New England in the beautiful fall when the leaves were turning glorious colors is one that I will never forget. I was the “baby” of the group, having the least speaking experience of all the attendees. I was greatly encouraged there and learned so much.

Take the test

I encourage you to buy Florence’s book Personality Plus at Amazon and take the personality profile test inside the book. The test is easy to take and to interpret. No one is 100% of any temperament, but your score will give you an accurate view of your basic strengths and weaknesses.

You’ll know your dominant personality. Usually you have a dominant personality and then a 2nd lesser dominant one. You’ll also find out your least dominant personality type. (That would be phlegmatic for me! I am an almost 50-50 Choleric-Melancholy!)

It’s so interesting finding out what your personality is and the personality of those of your family and friends. It helps you to understand what makes you and others tick. It’s the way God wired you!

Attend a CLASS event

To go deeper, you will need to buy the book and I highly recommend it. Florence and Marita also have numerous other books that you will love, and if you get a chance to attend a CLASS event, I strongly encourage you to do so. Their trainings are some of the best professional training I’ve ever had in my life. I made new friends, met wonderful people there, and had so much fun!

Here is the link for the book: Personality Plus

For a brief overview of the four types of personality, below is a chart which shows the strengths (and a few weaknesses) of the four types of personality.

Just click on the link below for the free Personality chart:

Chart of the 4 Personalities