Intensive research on affective temperaments began no more than a decade ago as a result of Akiskal's work in the field. Based on ancient Greek and later the Kraepelinian concept of temperament Akiskal created five distinct temperament types (hyperthym, cyclothym, depressive, irritable and anxious) which are now considered to be the preclinical background of affective disorders. In collaboration with an international workgroup, a semi-structured (TEMPS-I) and a self-rated (TEMPS-A) questionnaire was developed and translated into more than 25 languages intensifying research activity in the field. Based upon search of different databases (Scopus, Web of Knowledge, OVID Medline, PubMed, Psychinfo) and hand search of relevant Hungarian language literature, our review article aims to summarize current knowledge on affective temperaments. We cover their role in psychiatric and non-psychiatric disorders, investigate the scientific knowledge on their possible genetic background, highlight their importance on intercultural differences and outline the possibilities for future research discovering the common background between depression and other - non-psychiatric - disorders.