Tim LaHaye, Why You Act the Way You Do (1987)
I can not quite remember where I found this book, I may have found it in a Goodwill and bought it for the title without the understanding of both LaHaye’s background and the subtext to the work. The subject itself is certainly interesting and the separation of four named temperaments, the sanguine, chloric, melancholic and phlegmatic provides a basis for more reading on behavioral psychology. The evolution of behavioral psychology and the offerings of tests such as the Myers-Briggs or Enneagram offer as much of an insight as the considerations of this book. However, upon learning about statements and beliefs of LaHaye I can not look at the book without that knowledge affecting my judgement. His statements on a variety of topics especially homosexuality are troubling and his evangelical career highlights the main theme throughout this book.
The four different temperaments have qualities that can be aligned with the results of more modern tests. To start, the separation of extroverted and introverted qualities, the sanguine and chloric are extroverted temperaments, the melancholic and phlegmatic the latter. In other features the four temperaments are separated by the other letters that the Myers-Briggs test incorporates. The temperaments are further separated by qualities such as how expressive certain features are as well as proclivities to certain actions or situations.
The preliminary questions are included below and would be similar to some of those in other personality tests.
1. Are you an extrovert? If so, you are predominantly sanguine or choleric.
2. If “yes” to 1, ask yourself, “Do I lean toward being a superextrovert?” That is, are you generally the first to speak? If so, you are a sanguine.
3. If “yes” to 1, ask yourself if you are a good salesman type. If so, you are predominantly sanguine.
4. If “yes” to 1, but “no” to 2 and 3, ask “Am I a ‘strong natural leader?'” If so, you are probably a choleric.
5. If you answered “no” to 1 – that is, you are not an extrovert – then ask yourself, “Am I a perfectionist, analytical, and somewhat critical?” If so, you are probably predominantly melancholy.
6. If you answered “no” to 1, ask yourself if you are known by others as “very quiet”. Do you rarely get angry but experience many fears and worries? If so, you are probably phlegmatic.
Ultimately the book takes the personality/temperament qualities and makes them about how this can be related to a faith based life. As suggested LaHaye’s background and career can be seen throughout this book so for some it may be more palatable but the discussion of the different temperaments itself is still interesting. LaHaye draws conclusions about how these temperaments then lead to specific actions even suggesting how they influence driving styles. In another similarity to a test such as the enneagram the four temperaments can have a minor temperament such as Sanguine-Melancholy and so on. This is another point of interest since the possible combinations are also explored in detail and I found this the most interesting section. Exploring the variety of combinations left less space for LaHaye to infuse the text with his own slant and it was useful to think about the impacts of ones own temperament on various situations in life.
If a reader is interested in tests such as the Myers-Briggs or Enneagram then this is another option that has interesting conclusions. However, the scientific accuracy of the tests is still debated and there is a sizeable volume of literature and online options that offer more personalized detail than this book. In addition, if not as spiritual or religious an individual may find the thrust and writing style of book grating. The consideration of temperament and thought out combinations is useful for reflection so I still learnt something from the book and it also is not particularly long so is an easy quick read.
The Weekly Book Report 