What Is Temperament? Why One Prescription Doesn’t Fit Everyone

Farzollah Gholizadeh and Fariba Bayrami

The key to understanding the differences between people and to living in harmony with our own nature

Introduction: Why Are People So Different?

Why does one person always feel warm, while another feels cold even on a mild day?

Why does one person feel more energetic after a few hours of activity, while another tires much more quickly?

Why do some people flare up quickly and calm down just as quickly, while others react more slowly but carry a grievance inside for a long time?

Why does a particular food give one person lightness and energy, while the same food leaves another feeling heavy, bloated or uncomfortable?

Why is some people’s sleep naturally lighter and shorter, while others need more of it?

And most importantly:

Why should we expect a single diet, a single exercise plan, a single sleep routine or a single lifestyle to suit everyone equally well?

Avicennian–Greek (Unani) medicine uses one of its most fundamental concepts to understand these differences: temperament (mizaj).

Put simply, temperament is the natural and relatively stable pattern of a person’s physical and mental characteristics. In other words, it describes how a person’s body and mind tend to work in their natural state.

So getting to know temperament is not just learning a concept from traditional medicine. Knowing your temperament means knowing yourself better: understanding how your body interacts with food, climate, the seasons, sleep, movement, rest, emotions, age and environment.

And here one of the most important principles of health emerges:

People are not all the same, so a healthy life does not have to look the same for everyone.

What Is Temperament?

In Avicennian–Greek medicine, the natural world is explained through four basic qualities:

• Heat
• Cold
• Moisture
• Dryness

These should not be understood only as physical temperature or the amount of water in the body. In the language of traditional medicine, they are broad qualities used to explain the characteristics and workings of living beings and of many natural phenomena.

So “heat” and “cold” do not simply mean that something feels hot or cold to the touch. They are part of a much wider language for understanding qualities and movements in nature.

From this point of view, night and day, summer and winter, motion and stillness, activity and rest, and many other natural phenomena can be placed on a spectrum formed by these qualities. In traditional thought, some of the differences between women and men have also been considered, along with other characteristics, in terms of heat, cold, moisture and dryness.

A similar dual principle is expressed in Traditional Chinese Medicine through Yin and Yang. In terms of thermal qualities:

• Yin corresponds to cold.
• Yang corresponds to heat.

Night, stillness, turning inward and coolness are associated more with the Yin pole; day, movement, turning outward and warmth more with the Yang pole.

So when we speak of heat and cold in temperament, we mean concepts much broader than body temperature.

Temperament arises from heat, cold, moisture and dryness combining in different proportions.

So when we say a person has a hot or cold, moist or dry temperament, we are not saying their body temperature is outside normal limits. We are talking about the general tendency and functional characteristics of their nature.

Everyone has a combination of these qualities, but the proportions are not the same in everyone. This is one of the main reasons people differ from one another.

The Historical Roots of Temperament

The classical theory of humours and temperaments has its roots in the Hippocratic tradition of ancient Greek medicine.

In this tradition, the four basic humours — blood, yellow bile, phlegm and black bile (sawda) — were considered together with the qualities of heat, cold, moisture and dryness.

The theory was later developed and systematised, above all by Galen, and in later centuries it was studied, refined and passed on by physicians such as Rhazes (al-Razi), Haly Abbas (Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi), Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd).

So the concept we know today as temperament in Avicennian–Greek medicine is the result of a long history of medical thought and experience. However, the aim of this article is not to examine medical history but to explain what temperament means in practice in people’s lives.

Temperament Is Not a Disease

This point is very important: temperament is not a disease.

Being hot is not bad. Being cold is not bad. Being moist is not bad. Being dry is not bad either.

None of the four basic temperament patterns is by nature better or worse than another. Each has its own strengths, abilities, needs and sensitivities.

Problems begin when a person drifts away from the balance that suits their own nature.

So the aim of a temperament-based approach is not to turn everyone into the same temperament. The aim is for each person to live, as far as possible, in the balance that suits their own nature.

To put it simply:

We don’t all need to be alike. Each of us needs to be the most balanced version of ourselves.

Balance Is Not the Same for Everyone

This is one of the deepest points in understanding temperament. If two people are different, their “balance point” does not have to be exactly the same either.

One person may be naturally warmer than another and perfectly healthy. Someone else may be naturally cooler, and also healthy.

So health does not mean turning everyone into a single standard model. Each person’s balance should be judged according to their own nature.

This changes the way we look at health considerably:

• Instead of asking “What is the best food?” we ask: Best for whom?
• Instead of “What is the best exercise?”: For which person, at what age and under what conditions?
• Instead of “How many hours of sleep are good?”: How much sleep does this person need, given their temperament, age, activity and circumstances?

This is where the temperament-based approach moves from general advice to knowing the individual.

The Four Temperaments

To make the differences between people easier to understand, four basic temperament patterns have been described:

• Hot and moist
• Hot and dry
• Cold and moist
• Cold and dry

In the classical humoral tradition these are known internationally as:

• Sanguine — hot and moist (Demevi)
• Choleric — hot and dry (Safravi)
• Phlegmatic — cold and moist (Balgami)
• Melancholic — cold and dry (Sevdavi)

But a common mistake should be avoided: people are not four separate boxes into which everyone must be sorted.

In real life many people show mixed traits. Someone may be hot and moist, but with heat much more pronounced than moisture. Someone else may sit close to the border between two temperament patterns.

So these four temperaments should be seen not as four cages that confine people, but as a map that helps us understand differences.

The Sanguine Temperament — Hot and Moist

People in whom the hot and moist pattern is more pronounced are usually described in traditional texts as having more energy, mobility and liveliness.

Their skin may be relatively warmer, their face may look more vibrant, and they may enjoy social contact, movement and communication more. Many of them may have good capacity for physical activity and a good appetite.

In their behaviour they may be sociable, cheerful, energetic and open to communication.

But when these traits go out of balance, they can lead to excess in eating, sleeping, excitement or activity. Even a positive trait can upset a person’s balance once it goes beyond its proper limits.

The Choleric Temperament — Hot and Dry

In the hot and dry pattern, speed and intensity may be more evident.

These people may think faster, decide faster and react faster. Mobility, goal-orientation, courage, competitiveness and getting things done quickly may be more marked in some of them.

They may sleep less, and their bodies may be more sensitive to excessive heat.

But as heat and dryness increase, the person may become more easily agitated, more restless or less tolerant. In such a person, constant stress, too little sleep, too much activity and very hot, dry conditions can push the natural balance even further in the same direction.

The Phlegmatic Temperament — Cold and Moist

In the cold and moist pattern, calmness, softness and a relative slowness may be more evident.

These people may move more calmly, think longer before deciding and be more sensitive to cold, damp environments. Some may sleep longer or more deeply and tend to move less.

Patience, calmness and adaptability may be among their positive traits.

But when cold and moisture go out of balance, heaviness, sluggishness, sleepiness and reduced movement may become more pronounced. So a phlegmatic person does not need more inactivity; on the contrary, they need to make sure their life does not become more sedentary than it should be.

The Melancholic Temperament — Cold and Dry

In the cold and dry pattern, attentiveness, order, care for detail and deep thinking may be more evident.

Some of these people may examine a matter in more detail before deciding, and may be more sensitive to order, planning and detail. Some may have a slimmer or drier build.

But as cold and dryness increase, flexibility may decrease, and overthinking, worry or mental preoccupation may increase.

So for such a person, balance is not only about diet. A calm environment, enough sleep, healthy relationships, balanced physical activity and avoiding mental exhaustion also matter.

A Person Is More Than a Few Outward Traits

Temperament cannot be assessed with just a few questions such as “Are your hands warm or cold?” or “Are you heavy or thin?”

Assessing temperament means looking at many characteristics together. Traditional medical sources take all of the following into account:

Body build and tissue, skin and how it feels to the touch, colour and appearance, hair, amount of flesh and fat, sleep and wakefulness, movement and activity, speed of reaction, state of mind, the characteristics of excretion, and how the person responds to heat, cold, foods and different conditions.

No single sign is enough to determine temperament. The overall pattern matters more than any one sign.

Temperament Is Not Only About the Body

One of the most interesting aspects of temperament is that it does not judge a person only in physical terms. Body and mind are not two completely separate worlds.

Speed of reaction, intensity of emotions, ability to cope with pressure, social relationships, sleep pattern, activity level and how a person responds to different situations can all be part of the overall picture.

But this must not lead to psychological oversimplification. We cannot say:

• “Every choleric person is angry.”
• “Every melancholic person is anxious.”
• “Every phlegmatic person is lazy.”

That is not knowledge of temperament; it is labelling.

Temperament is a tendency, not a destiny. Education, culture, experience, family, occupation, environment, a person’s choices and life circumstances also shape personality and behaviour.

Your Basic Temperament and Your Current State Are Not the Same

This is one of the most important points in understanding temperament.

A person may have a particular basic temperament but, because of diet, season, stress, lack of sleep, illness, age or lifestyle, show different characteristics today.

So two things need to be kept apart: a person’s basic temperament and their current state of balance or dominance.

For example, someone may be basically hot and moist but, because of certain conditions, show signs of dryness or cold. If these two concepts are confused, the person may look at their temporary state and conclude that their basic temperament has changed.

Simply put: temperament tells me what my basic nature is like. My current state shows how far I have moved from my natural balance today. These are not the same question.

Age Changes the Temperament of Life Too

At twenty a person does not have exactly the same body as at seventy. In the traditional view, the different stages of life also have different temperamental tendencies.

Childhood is associated more with growth and moisture. Youth usually comes with more heat and activity. As we age, the tendency towards cold and dryness gradually increases.

So a food tolerated easily in youth may not have the same effect in later years. Exercise, sleep, rest and even our living environment should be adjusted with age.

A healthy lifestyle is not fixed; it changes along with the person.

The Seasons Matter Too

The nature outside the body is not separate from the nature inside it. Summer heat, winter cold, humidity and dry air can all affect the body’s needs.

From the point of view of temperament, then, it is not right to eat and live in exactly the same way all year round and expect the body to feel no difference. The seasons can amplify or balance certain temperamental traits.

So rather than cutting ourselves off from nature, we should learn to live with it.

Foods Have Temperaments Too

Nutrition is one of the most practical areas of temperament knowledge.

In traditional medicine, foods are not judged only by calories, protein, fat and carbohydrate. Qualities such as heat, cold, moisture and dryness are also considered for foods.

But here too, oversimplification should be avoided. Calling a food “hot” does not mean it is necessarily good. Likewise, a “cold” food is not necessarily bad.

The right question is: Who is eating this food, how much, in which season, at what time and under what conditions?

Even a suitable food can stop being suitable when eaten in excess. A food that does not suit one person may suit another perfectly well.

So the philosophy of eating according to temperament can be summed up in one sentence:

A healthy food is not only one that is generally considered healthy; it must also be one that suits the person.

Why Doesn’t the Same Diet Make Sense for Everyone?

Two people can eat exactly the same food and feel different things. One may feel energetic and light. The other may feel heavy or uncomfortable.

This difference is not only about temperament. The amount of food, the make-up of the meal, activity, sleep, the state of the digestive system, illness and many other factors also play a part.

But the temperament approach adds one more important question to the picture: Is this food in harmony with this person’s nature?

This perspective moves nutrition from general prescriptions towards personalised nutrition.

Exercise Should Be Personal Too

The idea that the more we exercise, the healthier we will be is not always true. People need movement, but the amount and type of movement should suit the person’s circumstances.

The capacity of an energetic person with a hot temperament may differ from that of someone with a colder nature or less physical strength. Even the same person does not have the same capacity in summer and winter, in youth and old age, in health and during recovery.

So the question is not just “Do you exercise?” The real question is: What exercise, at what intensity, for how long, at what time and for which body?

Sleep Is Not One Prescription for Everyone Either

Some people naturally sleep more lightly; others need more sleep. Age, activity, state of mind, season and temperament can all affect sleep.

But there is one principle common to every temperament: sleep should help the body and mind regain their strength.

If a person regularly wakes up tired, heavy or unfocused, it is not enough to look only at the number of hours slept; the quality and conditions of sleep should also be assessed.

Temperament and Emotional States

In traditional medicine, anger, fear, sadness, happiness, excitement and worry are not just abstract psychological matters. They are part of human life and can also affect the body.

Different people can react differently to the same event. One reacts quickly and calms down quickly. Another says nothing but carries the experience in their mind for a long time.

Knowing your temperament can help you become more aware of your own sensitive points. But the goal is not to say “This is how I am and I can’t change.” The goal is to say “I know my tendencies and I can manage them better.”

This difference is crucial. Knowledge of temperament should not imprison a person; it should make them more aware.

Temperament and the 6 Golden Rules of Health

This is where temperament meets the “6 Golden Rules of Health”. The six rules are:

1. Air and environment
2. Food and drink
3. Physical movement and rest
4. Mental activity and calm
5. Sleep and wakefulness
6. The body’s natural functions of elimination and retention

But these principles are not complete without knowing the individual. Which air and environment suit me best? Which foods? How much movement? What kind of rest? How much sleep? What kind of emotional and physical environment? And how should I protect my body’s natural functions?

The answers should be shaped by the person’s temperament, age, the season, their circumstances and their current state. So we can say:

Temperament is one of the keys to making the 6 Golden Rules of Health personal.

Temperament: A Bridge Between Nature and Lifestyle

Humans are not separate from nature. Light, darkness, the seasons, temperature, food, movement, sleep, emotions and environment all affect us.

Temperament helps us better understand the relationship between a person’s nature and the nature of their surroundings. If the environment keeps pushing a person further in the direction that is already dominant, the chance of losing balance may increase. So one of the key principles of managing temperament is conscious balance and moderation.

Sometimes what we like is not what we need most. Someone naturally inclined to inactivity may love more rest, yet movement may do them more good. A very active person may still choose more activity even when their body needs rest.

Knowing your temperament helps you tell the difference between what you want and what you need.

Does Temperament Change?

A person’s basic temperament is relatively stable, but their current temperamental state can change under many influences. Age, season, climate, where you live, diet, sleep, activity, emotional pressure, illness and lifestyle can all change a person’s current state.

So it is more accurate to see temperament not as a rigid, unchanging label but as a dynamic map that helps us understand human nature.

The map stays the same, but the road conditions change.

Temperament Is Not the Same as Blood Type, Personality Type or Genetics

Sometimes people try to equate temperament directly with blood type, a particular personality type, a hormone or a specific gene. That is an oversimplification. In Avicennian–Greek medicine, temperament is an independent system used to explain a person’s overall characteristics.

Yet the language of temperament can be seen at different levels of nature. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yin corresponds to cold and Yang to heat.

These qualities can also be explained through measurable physiological characteristics. Within this framework:

• Cold — Yin — corresponds to an acidic state.
• Heat — Yang — corresponds to an alkaline state.
• Dryness corresponds to a potassium-dominant state.
• Moisture corresponds to a sodium-dominant state.

This approach helps us consider the qualitative language of traditional medicine alongside the measurable language of modern medicine and physiology.

In this sense, heat and cold are not only about feeling warm or cold, and Yin and Yang are not just two words for temperature. They are broad poles for understanding the qualities of nature and life: night and day, stillness and motion, inside and outside, winter and summer, falling and rising activity and many other natural phenomena can be placed on this spectrum. In different traditional systems, feminine and masculine qualities have also been considered within this framework of qualitative poles.

New research can examine and measure this knowledge and further clarify its physiological, metabolic, genetic, neurological and electrolyte relationships. But we do not need to abandon the underlying philosophy of these systems to understand their historical experience.

What Is the Point of Knowing Your Temperament?

The point of knowing your temperament is not to take a test, say “I’m choleric” and close the subject. That is only the beginning.

Knowing your temperament should answer a practical question: Now that I know myself better, how can I live better?

• Which foods should I eat more or less of?
• How much should I eat?
• When should I sleep?
• How should I exercise?
• In which conditions should I take more care of myself?
• In which season should I change my lifestyle?
• Which emotional tendencies should I manage better?
• And how should I adapt the 6 Golden Rules of Health to my own nature?

If knowledge of temperament does not help us improve our lives, we have only learned a name.

Temperament Is Not for Judging Others

One common danger in the superficial use of temperament knowledge is labelling people:

• “He’s choleric, so he’s angry.”
• “She’s phlegmatic, so she’s lazy.”
• “He’s melancholic, so he’s negative.”

This view is wrong. Every temperament, when balanced, can have valuable abilities and strengths. Speed can become action. Calm can become patience. Attention can become deep analysis. Sociability can become effective communication.

The aim of temperament knowledge is not to judge people but to understand the differences between them.

The Most Important Lesson of Temperament: Know Yourself

Perhaps the deepest message of temperament knowledge is this: before constantly imitating others, we should know ourselves.

A diet that works very well for your friend is not necessarily the best diet for you. An exercise programme that brought results for someone else may need adjusting for you. The amount someone else eats is not the measure of what you need. Even other people’s sleep hours, activity level and way of resting do not have to be your prescription for life.

Health does not begin with constantly comparing ourselves to others. It begins with knowing ourselves.

How Does Temperament Help When We Lose Our Health?

When illness appears, it is not enough just to ask its name. The temperament-centred view asks another question too: In what kind of person has this problem appeared?

Two people may have the same medical diagnosis but differ in age, temperament, sleep, diet, physical strength, state of mind and circumstances. So supportive lifestyle programmes do not necessarily have to be identical.

Of course, temperament knowledge does not replace a medical diagnosis, necessary laboratory tests or necessary treatment. But it can help make lifestyle and health care more personal.

Temperament: An Invitation Back to Balance

In the end, understanding temperament is about more than four names. The real subject is balance: understanding what pulls us away from it and what helps us return to it.

Sometimes we need different foods. Sometimes more movement. Sometimes rest. Sometimes sleep. Sometimes warmth. Sometimes coolness. Sometimes contact with other people. And sometimes silence and time alone.

The art of health is not always doing the same thing. It is understanding what the body needs at the right time.

Final Word: Find Your Own Prescription

No two people are exactly alike. Even two siblings raised in the same home can differ in appetite, sleep, energy, tolerance of heat and cold, behaviour and reactions.

This difference is not a flaw. It is part of the diversity of human nature. The concept of temperament tries to understand exactly this difference. It teaches us to keep asking questions:

• Instead of “What is the best food?”: “Which food suits me best?”
• Instead of “What is the best exercise?”: “What kind of movement does my body need?”
• Instead of “How many hours should I sleep?”: “How much sleep, and what kind, truly restores me?”
• Instead of “Why am I not like other people?”: “What is my nature, and how can I live better with it?”

This is where temperament knowledge turns from an old theory into a practical skill for everyday life. Knowing your temperament is not only knowing your limits; it is knowing your capacity, your needs and your own path to balance.

When temperament is considered together with the 6 Golden Rules of Health, the picture becomes even more complete:

• Air and environment that suit the person’s circumstances,
• Nutrition that suits their needs,
• Movement that suits their capacity,
• Mental activity and calm that suit their nature,
• Sleep that suits their circumstances,
• And regulation of the body’s natural functions of elimination and retention.

In this approach, health is no longer a list of disconnected instructions. Health becomes a way of living consciously.

So perhaps, before the question “What should I do to be healthy?”, there is a more basic one: “Who am I, and what is my nature like?”

Because the better a person knows themselves, the better they can understand how to eat, move, sleep, think, rest and live.

Temperament is not the final point in knowing a person, but it may be one of the best places to start knowing ourselves.

Now It’s Time to Discover Your Own Temperament

Reading about temperament is only the beginning. The real value of temperament knowledge appears when we learn what our own temperament is and bring that knowledge into daily life.

If you don’t yet know your temperament, take the Dr Kalan Temperament Test and answer the questions carefully to get a first picture of your own temperament.

Once you know your temperament, the next step is even more important: adapt your diet and lifestyle to it as far as possible. Learn which foods suit you best, how and how much to eat, which kind of activity suits you, how to sleep and rest, what changes to make in different seasons, and how to apply the 6 Golden Rules of Health to your own nature.

The goal of knowing your temperament is not just to know whether you are sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic or melancholic. The goal is to know yourself better and live more consciously on that basis.

Know your temperament. Eat for your temperament. Live for your temperament. And by keeping your balance, experience more vitality and energy in your life.

To begin, take the Temperament Test and then follow the nutrition and lifestyle courses for your temperament.

References

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• Galen. Kitab fi al-Mizaj (De Temperamentis). Classical discussions on temperament and qualities.
• Al-Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya. Al-Hawi fi al-Tibb. Discussions concerning temperament, humours and individual differences.
• Ibn Rushd. Kitab al-Kulliyat fi al-Tibb (Colliget). Sections concerning temperament, physiology and general principles of medicine.
• Al-Majusi, Ali ibn Abbas. Kamil al-Sina’a al-Tibbiyya (Kitab al-Maliki). Discussions concerning temperament and preservation of health.
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