Skip to content

Not accepting new patients.

Tests & Questionnaires

TEMPS-A

Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego: Autoquestionnaire version. A validated self-report scale for identifying affective temperament patterns.

Answer each item based on how you have been for most of your life, meaning the past several decades, not how you currently feel or how you have felt in the last few months.

Do not answer based on your current mood or recent episodes.

  1. I am the kind of person who doesn't like change very much.

  2. I can really like someone a lot, and then completely lose interest in them.

  3. I often get many great ideas.

  4. I often feel wound up.

  5. I put the needs of others above my own.

  6. My moods and energy are either high or low, rarely in between.

  7. When angry, I snap at people.

  8. My mood often changes for no reason.

  9. My feelings are easily hurt by criticism or rejection.

  10. I am totally comfortable even with people I hardly know.

  11. I often give in to others.

  12. I'm the kind of person who believes everything will eventually turn out all right.

  13. I often feel tired for no reason.

  14. I love to tackle new projects, even if risky.

  15. When crossed, I could get into a fight.

  16. In a group, I would rather hear others talk.

  17. I sometimes go to bed feeling great and wake up in the morning feeling life is not worth living.

  18. I daydream a great deal about things that other people consider impossible to achieve.

  19. I can accomplish many tasks without even getting tired.

  20. I am by nature a dissatisfied person.

  21. I feel all emotions intensely.

  22. I am always on the go.

  23. I often feel on edge.

  24. I go back and forth between being outgoing and being withdrawn from others.

  25. I'm usually in an upbeat or cheerful mood.

  26. I get sudden shifts in mood and energy.

  27. I am a very skeptical person.

  28. The way I see things is sometimes vivid, but at other times lifeless.

  29. I have great confidence in myself.

  30. I often get so mad that I will just trash everything.

  31. I often start things and then lose interest before finishing them.

  32. Once I decide to accomplish something, nothing can stop me.

  33. I constantly switch between being lively and sluggish.

  34. I can get so furious I could hurt someone.

  35. My ability to think varies greatly from sharp to dull for no apparent reason.

  36. I love to be with a lot of people.

  37. I have abilities and expertise in many areas.

  38. I am the kind of person you can always depend on.

  39. I go back and forth between feeling overconfident and feeling unsure of myself.

  40. I often have a strong urge to do outrageous things.

  41. I am a grouchy (irritable) person.

  42. I am the kind of person who falls in and out of love easily.

  43. I have always blamed myself for what others might consider no big deal.

  44. I am the kind of person who can be sad and happy at the same time.

  45. People tell me I blow up out of nowhere.

  46. Normally I can get by with less than 6 hours of sleep.

  47. I am so jealous of my spouse (or lover), that I cannot stand it.

  48. I would rather work for someone else than be the boss.

  49. Life is a feast which I enjoy to the fullest.

  50. I feel very uneasy meeting new people.

FAQ

Common questions about the TEMPS-A

The Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego, autoquestionnaire version (TEMPS-A) is a validated 50-item self-report scale that identifies four affective temperament patterns: dysthymic, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, and irritable. It measures how a person has functioned across most of life, not how they feel right now.

The original instrument was developed by Hagop Akiskal, MD, and colleagues at the University of California San Diego in the 1990s and has been translated and validated across many populations. The version used here was prepared by Nassir Ghaemi, MD, and is publicly available at psychiatryletter.com/temps-scale/.

Each item is answered True or False based on lifelong patterns. Items mapped to each temperament are summed, and the score is reported as the percentage of items endorsed within that scale. A score of 50% or more suggests the temperament pattern is present; 75% or more suggests it is prominent.

No. Temperament is a stable, lifelong baseline, not a psychiatric diagnosis. A high score on any TEMPS-A scale describes the texture of a person's emotional life; it does not establish bipolar disorder, depression, or any other clinical condition. Discuss results with a clinician as part of a full evaluation.

Temperament shapes how mood episodes look when they occur and how a person responds to treatment, especially antidepressants and mood stabilizers. Identifying a cyclothymic or hyperthymic temperament can change the differential diagnosis for what looks like depression, and can change medication choice. The page on mood temperament at /resources/temperament/ explains the clinical reasoning.

The TEMPS-A scale was originally developed and validated by Hagop Akiskal, MD, and colleagues at the University of California San Diego. The electronic adaptation used here was prepared by Nassir Ghaemi, MD, and is publicly available at psychiatryletter.com/temps-scale/. This adaptation is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute clinical diagnosis or treatment recommendations. Discuss results with a qualified mental health clinician.

Related
From the practice

These guides are educational. Care at Cognia Health is built on continuity: one clinician across your whole course of treatment. Read about our approach to care or explore services .