An analysis about the Self Appreciation and the Affective Temperament of Nurses in Psychiatric and Mental Health Services, have a crucial importance, because this fact will influence many phenomena's in nursing practice, like the capacity of develop relationships and create resistance to physical and psychological illness. A total of n=47 nurses, of both sexes, with average age of 38,57 years, working in Mental Health and Psychiatry Departments, in three portuguese Hospitals, were inquired through a Questionnaire of direct application. In the Questionnaire, were introduced measures like: TEMPS-A Scale (Akiskal, 1998), translated into Portuguese, by Figueira and Severino (1999) and Scale of Self Personal Appreciation Scale (Ribeiro, 2006). The obtained results indicate that the population, have, majority, a Hyperthymic Temperament. It was verified that the women presents a higher Self Personal Appreciation and his Self Appreciation is statistically related to the Ciclothymic and Anxious temperaments. The results also show that exist an association between the marital status and the Irritable Temperament, and between the Time of Service and the Ciclothymic and Hyperthymic Temperaments.

Affective temperament of nurses seems to be a good predictor of leadership capacity in violence situation at psychiatric services.