Hi everyone. I had it in mind to discuss David Keirsey’s temperament sorter for my letter K post for a while, but when I discussed him with my spouse, my spouse pointed out all sorts of things about Keirsey that make him a rather dubious person. Then again, there’s hardly any topic in this challenge that I haven’t been critical of. So Keirsey it shall be for my title, but I’ll talk about temperaments more broadly.
The first person to describe temperaments was Hippocrates in ancient Greece. He believed that health is based on a balance between the four major bodily fluids and that each person has a dominant personality type based on which fluid is more present. These types are sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic. I looked them up and am definitely a melancholic type.
This idea, though it was used in medicine and psychology for many centuries, was eventually rejected in the mid-1800s. That being said, in anthroposophy and Waldorf/Steiner-based schools, variations are still used.
This brings me to Keirsey. David Keirsey (1921-2013) revised the ancient temperaments and connected them to the Myers-Briggs personality types, which I’ll get to in a few days. He first published his Keirsey Temperament Sorter in his book Please Understand Me (1978). The four Keirsey temperaments are the Artisan, the Guardian, the Idealist and the Rational. I honestly think these names are more positive than the classical ones. At least, I’d rather be called an Idealist than melancholic. That being said, according to Keirsey, the Idealists are not primarily melancholic but hyperesthetic (overly sensitive). Oh, I guess Keirsey didn’t solely think positively of the types.
There’s more controversy associated with Keirsey. At one point, he claimed that ADD/ADHD is a hoax and that children with this diagnosis should not be medicated but instead treated through “logical consequences”. I can understand the idea of not medicating children for a disorder that at this point is still solely diagnosed based on behavior, but I do not agree that the disorder is a hoax.
A Multitude of Musings 
Never heard of him or this theory. I shall read up on it!
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Thanks for commenting. I heard of him when first learning about the MBTI.
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Never heard of him but he sounds like a fruit cake
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LOL yes I agree. Thanks for stopping by.
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Considering how well medication can work for ADD/ADHD, being against that is hard to understand. I mean, has it been over prescribed? Probably. But no meds whatsoever is not the way to go.
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Great point indeed, exactly my thoughts. What I meant with seeing his point about meds, is that ADHD is currently diagnosed based on behaviors and children especially, being less capable of telling others how they feel, run a risk of being overmedicated.
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Why do people always try to put others into neat little boxes? (rhetorical question.) Labels can be helpful but I think they can be harmful also. Thinking of oneself as a label/condition before a human being can be debilitating.
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Well yes, that’s true. I’m not sure what part of my post you’re referring to though, the ADHD bit or the temperaments. Like, I for one see myself as a neurodivergent (autistic among other things) person and that might come across as though I’m putting my condition before my humanity. That isn’t true, but rahter “person first” language is too often used to advocate for interventions that aim to strip the person of their condition without realizing their neurodivergence is an integral part of who they are.
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having taught students with ADD and ADHD, I do not agree that it is a hoax!
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Neither do I! I do feel that the current educational system particularly in public mainstream schools isn’t as suited to students with ADD/ADHD as it could be, but that’s not the same as saying the neurodivergent condition of ADD/ADHD doesn’t exist.
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They believe the crap that it’s new becuase it didn’t exist in the past which is BS. The child was simply beaten into compliance. Schools could do a better job of a lot of things.
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There was also a lot more activity built into the day back when I was in school. We had an hour for lunch. Many kids walked to school in the morning, walked home for lunch and then back to school and then back home. Those who ate in school had time to run around outside or in the gym before afternoon classes. After school there was much playing outside. Now it’s rare to see kids outside playing any time of day. Lunch is not even half an hour. Most people ride the bus or get rides to school as they aren’t in the neighborhood.
Also lots more fast food, additives etc etc. Not that add/adhd didn’t exist, but the present lifestyles now make it worse. My unprofessional opinion.
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Agree, in the sense that the neurodivergence always existed but the current lifestyle makes it harder for people with ADHD to function. Same for autistic people. I for one don’t believe in an autism epidemic but rather I feel that current societal expectations in the developed world make it harder for autistics to get by. Like, my father would likely have been diagnosed with autism had he been of my generation but back when he was a young adult, here in the Netherlands you could literally be in college for a decade without getting a degree and you’d not be in massive debt and could still use whatever college ed you did get to qualify for jobs.
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I do agree with Keirsey in that ADD/ADHD should not be medicated… or at least not over medicated. I do believe it is real though. I know a friend had a son with it and he was on too much medication and was really out of it most of the time… it broke my heart.
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Well, ADHD medication is one of the most effective types of psychiatric meds, so I don’t feel that those with genuine ADHD shouldn’t be medicated. However, I do agree with you that too much medication (of any kind!) does more harm than good.
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