Prologue
I originally wrote my "I believe" blog post on why I think maintaining a good work ethic and social skills are important. Even though I still believe that I wanted to rewrite it on how phlegmatic/quiet people are often under estimated because, society as a whole has been trained and maintains a fixed mindset on how only sanguine/outgoing personality types are intelligent, hardworking, successful, and fun. I believe there is value in being phlegmatic and people with this personality type should be valued more.
Loudly Misunderstood for Being Quiet
I believe there is a value in being phlegmatic and people with this personality type should be valued more. People have such a fixed mindset on individuals who are phlegmatic because we are only seen for what we show at face value, which sometimes isn’t much. There that saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” Maybe if people took the time to have a growth mindset and open the book they would be able to see past the cover.
The term Phlegmatic comes from the psychological study of the human personality. Its earliest researchers were the Greek scientist/philosophers like Hippocrates (470-360 B.C.). Hippocrates believed there were four types of personalities. He associated these four personalities with natural elements. These four personalities were,”Yellow Bile, Red Bile, White Bile, and Black Bile. The Yellow Bile is better known as the chloric. Someone who is chloric is defined as proud, confident, and likes being in control. The Red Bile is the sanguine. Sanguines are people who are boisterous, bubbly, chatty, openly emotional, and very outgoing. The Black Bile is the melancholic. A melancholic is someone who are sensitive, introverted, and perfectionist. Last, but not least there is the White Bile which is the phlegmatic. A phlegmatic is patient, sympathetic, kind, low key, and we keep our emotions hidden well.
The most recent well-known study on the personalities were done in the 1960s by a man named Hans J Eysenck. He wrote two books on the topic. They are The Biological basis of personality and Personality and Individual Differences: A Natural Science Approach. His theory is that temperament and personality are controlled by genetics. Which I think is true to an extent, but I also think people have the ability to change if they want to.
Even though she has no science “credentials” Susan Cain a lecturer and a writer is by far my favorite person who has done research and promotion on the value of being phlegmatic. Back in 2012 she published a book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. She also most well known for her TedTalk video “The Power of Introverts.” Her theory is that if quiet people (or phlegmatics) were given the chance to be put into an environment where we flourish people would see our capabilities and our positive traits. In her research for her book and lectures she’s found that phlegmatics do better educationally and we make better leaders too.
Personally, I think what Susan Cain says is very true. Phlegmatics are stuck trying to connect and adapt to be stimulated in a sanguine world. I’ve experienced it myself as early as pre-school. In Preschool it was petty, but my four-year-old self was pretty bothered.
Me: Hi, can I play play-doh
Sally: No, only us girls can play.
Me: Ok, *goes into the playhouse and plays house by myself*
As I got older in school it was the same thing but, I had friends that I sat with. Among my classmates as a whole there always seemed to be this underlying view that because I am phlegmatic I am unmotivated, unintelligent, and not going anywhere fast. I also think that seemed to be the view for quiet people as a whole.
Socially, even though my friends love me for me and they are good to me I still get treated different because I’m quiet. I’ll be in the conversation and even though I am adding to the topic at hand I slowly get pushed out. All the sudden it is like I’m not even there. I still can’t figure out why.
In my current work environment I think my co-workers and managers understand the phlegmatic personality. At first they didn’t. I would have people mad at me because I wouldn’t say much, so behind my back but loud enough for me to hear they would always say “She thinks she is too good for us” or “She thinks she is better then the job.” Which I don’t, because why would I work there if I didn’t like it? I would also have certain coworkers breathing down my neck if I wasn’t moving fast enough, which never helped because I would end up dropping things. I still don’t do well if people are watching me. We do this thing at my job called “active stations” where we “cook” the food in front of the guest and then plate it pretty and serve it to them during cocktail hour. During this one wedding I was doing the crab cake station, when the salesperson who set up the party come up behind me and tells me to clean up the griddle. The griddle mind you wasn’t that dirty. I did tell him I was going to do it, but I was just trying to get through a line of thirty people and without making them wait. So, instead of leaving me be he was death gripping my station table while smiling at the guest and breathing heavy at me. Which lead me to stutter and fumble with the crab cakes. He wasn’t exactly creating an environment for a phlegmatic to flourish.
Now that I have been there for awhile they understand my personality better and have set me up to work better in our work environment. Whether consciously or subconsciously they realized that I’m best at doing “kitchen work” which is a one person job and gives me a chance to emotionally recharge before working with my coworkers and serving guest. They also have come to realize that if I’m upset to let me be, because I get over it best by going into my head. Which is stereotypical of the phlegmatic personality. So, with a growth mindset of myself and my coworkers the environment changed for the better.
If you are still believing that only sanguine personalities will be successful let me drop a few names for you: Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Ghandi, and Mother Teresa. All quiet phlegmatic personalities who made such an impact on the world. Eleanor Roosevelt was a first lady and activist for women's rights in the workplace. Rosa Parks is known for being “The first lady of the “Civil Rights Movement” because she stood up to bus segregation by not moving from her seat. Gandhi led India to its independence from Britain by leading a nonviolent civil disobedience. Mother Teresa in her quiet way showed us how to truly love the unlovable. So, as you see it is not a requirement to have a sanguine personality to be successful or make a difference.
Every personality even the phlegmatics can make a difference. It only takes a person or group of people to change their view to a growth mindset for the change to happen. If you open up the book sometimes you will be surprised to what is underneath the cover.
Epilogue
I hope that in what I wrote you can see that a Phlegmatic does have value. Not that we should be valued more then other personalities, but seen as equals. I also hope this paper reflects how far I have come even though it isn't always obvious. I really like all people, but being a phlegmatic makes me appreciate other phlegmatics because I'm one too. Understanding my personality has also helped me to see the value in myself too.
I originally wrote my "I believe" blog post on why I think maintaining a good work ethic and social skills are important. Even though I still believe that I wanted to rewrite it on how phlegmatic/quiet people are often under estimated because, society as a whole has been trained and maintains a fixed mindset on how only sanguine/outgoing personality types are intelligent, hardworking, successful, and fun. I believe there is value in being phlegmatic and people with this personality type should be valued more.
Loudly Misunderstood for Being Quiet
I believe there is a value in being phlegmatic and people with this personality type should be valued more. People have such a fixed mindset on individuals who are phlegmatic because we are only seen for what we show at face value, which sometimes isn’t much. There that saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” Maybe if people took the time to have a growth mindset and open the book they would be able to see past the cover.
The term Phlegmatic comes from the psychological study of the human personality. Its earliest researchers were the Greek scientist/philosophers like Hippocrates (470-360 B.C.). Hippocrates believed there were four types of personalities. He associated these four personalities with natural elements. These four personalities were,”Yellow Bile, Red Bile, White Bile, and Black Bile. The Yellow Bile is better known as the chloric. Someone who is chloric is defined as proud, confident, and likes being in control. The Red Bile is the sanguine. Sanguines are people who are boisterous, bubbly, chatty, openly emotional, and very outgoing. The Black Bile is the melancholic. A melancholic is someone who are sensitive, introverted, and perfectionist. Last, but not least there is the White Bile which is the phlegmatic. A phlegmatic is patient, sympathetic, kind, low key, and we keep our emotions hidden well.
The most recent well-known study on the personalities were done in the 1960s by a man named Hans J Eysenck. He wrote two books on the topic. They are The Biological basis of personality and Personality and Individual Differences: A Natural Science Approach. His theory is that temperament and personality are controlled by genetics. Which I think is true to an extent, but I also think people have the ability to change if they want to.
Even though she has no science “credentials” Susan Cain a lecturer and a writer is by far my favorite person who has done research and promotion on the value of being phlegmatic. Back in 2012 she published a book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. She also most well known for her TedTalk video “The Power of Introverts.” Her theory is that if quiet people (or phlegmatics) were given the chance to be put into an environment where we flourish people would see our capabilities and our positive traits. In her research for her book and lectures she’s found that phlegmatics do better educationally and we make better leaders too.
Personally, I think what Susan Cain says is very true. Phlegmatics are stuck trying to connect and adapt to be stimulated in a sanguine world. I’ve experienced it myself as early as pre-school. In Preschool it was petty, but my four-year-old self was pretty bothered.
Me: Hi, can I play play-doh
Sally: No, only us girls can play.
Me: Ok, *goes into the playhouse and plays house by myself*
As I got older in school it was the same thing but, I had friends that I sat with. Among my classmates as a whole there always seemed to be this underlying view that because I am phlegmatic I am unmotivated, unintelligent, and not going anywhere fast. I also think that seemed to be the view for quiet people as a whole.
Socially, even though my friends love me for me and they are good to me I still get treated different because I’m quiet. I’ll be in the conversation and even though I am adding to the topic at hand I slowly get pushed out. All the sudden it is like I’m not even there. I still can’t figure out why.
In my current work environment I think my co-workers and managers understand the phlegmatic personality. At first they didn’t. I would have people mad at me because I wouldn’t say much, so behind my back but loud enough for me to hear they would always say “She thinks she is too good for us” or “She thinks she is better then the job.” Which I don’t, because why would I work there if I didn’t like it? I would also have certain coworkers breathing down my neck if I wasn’t moving fast enough, which never helped because I would end up dropping things. I still don’t do well if people are watching me. We do this thing at my job called “active stations” where we “cook” the food in front of the guest and then plate it pretty and serve it to them during cocktail hour. During this one wedding I was doing the crab cake station, when the salesperson who set up the party come up behind me and tells me to clean up the griddle. The griddle mind you wasn’t that dirty. I did tell him I was going to do it, but I was just trying to get through a line of thirty people and without making them wait. So, instead of leaving me be he was death gripping my station table while smiling at the guest and breathing heavy at me. Which lead me to stutter and fumble with the crab cakes. He wasn’t exactly creating an environment for a phlegmatic to flourish.
Now that I have been there for awhile they understand my personality better and have set me up to work better in our work environment. Whether consciously or subconsciously they realized that I’m best at doing “kitchen work” which is a one person job and gives me a chance to emotionally recharge before working with my coworkers and serving guest. They also have come to realize that if I’m upset to let me be, because I get over it best by going into my head. Which is stereotypical of the phlegmatic personality. So, with a growth mindset of myself and my coworkers the environment changed for the better.
If you are still believing that only sanguine personalities will be successful let me drop a few names for you: Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Ghandi, and Mother Teresa. All quiet phlegmatic personalities who made such an impact on the world. Eleanor Roosevelt was a first lady and activist for women's rights in the workplace. Rosa Parks is known for being “The first lady of the “Civil Rights Movement” because she stood up to bus segregation by not moving from her seat. Gandhi led India to its independence from Britain by leading a nonviolent civil disobedience. Mother Teresa in her quiet way showed us how to truly love the unlovable. So, as you see it is not a requirement to have a sanguine personality to be successful or make a difference.
Every personality even the phlegmatics can make a difference. It only takes a person or group of people to change their view to a growth mindset for the change to happen. If you open up the book sometimes you will be surprised to what is underneath the cover.
Epilogue
I hope that in what I wrote you can see that a Phlegmatic does have value. Not that we should be valued more then other personalities, but seen as equals. I also hope this paper reflects how far I have come even though it isn't always obvious. I really like all people, but being a phlegmatic makes me appreciate other phlegmatics because I'm one too. Understanding my personality has also helped me to see the value in myself too.