Keirsey Temperament Sorter
The Keirsey Temperament Sorter is a self-assessed personality questionnaire designed to help people better understand themselves and others. It was first introduced in the book Please Understand Me. It is one of the most widely used personality assessments in the world, and its user base consists of major employers including Bank of America, Allstate, the U.S. Air Force, IBM, 7-Eleven, Safeco, AT&T, and Coca-Cola. The KTS is closely associated with the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator ; however, there are significant practical and theoretical differences between the two personality questionnaires and their associated different descriptions.
Four temperaments
expanded on the ancient study of temperament by Hippocrates and Plato. In his works, Keirsey used the names suggested by Plato: Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, and Rational. Keirsey divided each of the four temperaments into two categories, each with two types. The resulting 16 types correlate with the 16 personality types described by Briggs and Myers.- Artisans are concrete and adaptable. Seeking stimulation and virtuosity, they are concerned with making an impact. Their greatest strength is tactics. They excel at troubleshooting, agility, and the manipulation of tools, instruments, and equipment. The two roles are as follows:
- Guardians are concrete and organized. Seeking security and belonging, they are concerned with responsibility and duty. Their greatest strength is logistics. They excel at organizing, facilitating, checking, and supporting. The two roles are as follows:
- Idealists are abstract and compassionate. Seeking meaning and significance, they are concerned with personal growth and finding their own unique identity. Their greatest strength is diplomacy. They excel at clarifying, individualizing, unifying, and inspiring. The two roles are as follows:
- Rationals are abstract and objective. Seeking mastery and self-control, they are concerned with their own knowledge and competence. Their greatest strength is strategy. They excel in any kind of logical investigation such as engineering, conceptualizing, theorizing, and coordinating. The two roles are as follows:
Understanding the sorter descriptions
- The inner ring: abstract versus concrete
- The second ring: cooperative versus pragmatic
- The third ring: directive versus informative
Each of the four temperaments is subdivided by this distinction for a result of eight roles.
- The fourth ring: expressive versus attentive
Four interaction roles
In his book Brains and Careers, Keirsey divided the role variants into groupings that he called "four differing roles that people play in face-to-face interaction with one another."There are two Proactive Enterprising Roles:
- Initiators : Field Marshal, Supervisor, Promoter, Teacher —Preemptive
- Contenders : Mastermind, Inspector, Crafter, Counselor —Competitive
- Coworkers : Inventor, Provider, Performer, Champion —Collaborative
- Responders : Architect, Protector, Composer, Healer —Accommodative
Temperaments and intelligence types
The following table shows how the four rings relate to one another and to the various temperaments.| Temperament | Role | Role Variant | |
| Concrete or Abstract ? | Cooperative or Pragmatic? | Informative or Directive? | Expressive or Attentive? |
| Observant | Guardian Logistical | Conservator Supporting | Provider : Supplying |
| Observant | Guardian Logistical | Conservator Supporting | Protector : Securing |
| Observant | Guardian Logistical | Administrator Regulating | Supervisor : Enforcing |
| Observant | Guardian Logistical | Administrator Regulating | Inspector : Certifying |
| Observant | Artisan Tactical | Entertainer Improvising | Performer : Demonstrating |
| Observant | Artisan Tactical | Entertainer Improvising | Composer : Synthesizing |
| Observant | Artisan Tactical | Operator Expediting | Promoter : Persuading |
| Observant | Artisan Tactical | Operator Expediting | Crafter : Instrumenting |
| Introspective | Idealist Diplomatic | Advocate Mediating | Champion : Motivating |
| Introspective | Idealist Diplomatic | Advocate Mediating | Healer : Conciliating |
| Introspective | Idealist Diplomatic | Mentor Developing | Teacher : Educating |
| Introspective | Idealist Diplomatic | Mentor Developing | Counselor : Guiding |
| Introspective | Rational Strategic | Engineer Constructing | Inventor : Devising |
| Introspective | Rational Strategic | Engineer Constructing | Architect : Designing |
| Introspective | Rational Strategic | Coordinator Arranging | Fieldmarshal : Mobilizing |
| Introspective | Rational Strategic | Coordinator Arranging | Mastermind : Entailing |
Historical development
Keirsey became familiar with the work of Ernst Kretschmer and William Sheldon after WWII in the late 1940s. Keirsey developed the Temperament Sorter after being introduced to the MBTI in 1956. Tracing the idea of temperament back to the ancient Greeks, Keirsey developed a modern temperament theory in his books Please Understand Me, Portraits of Temperament, Presidential Temperament, Please Understand Me II, Brains and Careers, and Personology. The table below shows how Myers' and Keirsey's types correspond to other temperament theories or constructs, dating from ancient times to the present day.Myers–Briggs types versus Keirsey's temperaments
The type descriptions of Isabel Myers differ from the character descriptions of David Keirsey in several important ways:- Myers primarily focused on how people think and feel; Keirsey focused more on behavior, which is directly observable.
- Myers's descriptions use a linear four-factor model; Keirsey's descriptions use a systems field theory model.
- Myers, following Jung's lead, emphasized the extraversion/introversion dichotomy; Keirsey's model places greater importance on the sensing/intuition dichotomy.
- Myers grouped types by ‘function attitudes’; Keirsey, by temperament.
Myers paired ESTJs with ENTJs, ISFPs with INFPs, INTPs with ISTPs, and ENFJs with ESFJs because they share the same dominant function attitude. ESTJs and ENTJs are both extraverted thinkers, ISFPs and INFPs are both introverted feelers, INTPs and ISTPs are both introverted thinkers, and ENFJs and ESFJs are both extraverted feelers. Keirsey holds that these same groupings are very different from one another because they are of different temperaments. ESTJs are Guardians whereas ENTJs are Rationals; ISFPs are Artisans whereas INFPs are Idealists; INTPs are Rationals whereas ISTPs are Artisans; and ENFJs are Idealists whereas ESFJs are Guardians.