TYPE 4      THE INDIVIDUALISTS

Fours are one of the more sensitive of the Enneagram types.  They seek authenticity and the missing meaning in life.  Fours are attracted to the unavailable and idealize that which they cannot have.  They have a tendency to feel a great deal of envy and are consistently comparing themselves to others.  Upon evaluation, they either determine their superiority or inferiority.  Many Fours feel like outsiders with family, friends and co-workers.  It is not unusual for fours to be attracted to, and talented in areas of the arts.  They value deep connections, symbolic and aesthetic expression, and deep feelings.  Fours are not afraid to be sad, and in fact embrace melancholy for the insight it brings.

ALTERNATE NAMES OF TYPE FOUR
Tragic-Romantic
Artist
Aesthete

SOME POSITIVE TENDENCIES OF FOURS
Introspective
Intuitive
Compassionate
Creative
Seeks deep connection with others
Expressive

SOME CHALLENGES OF FOURS
Moody
Critical
Intense
Victim
Self-conscious

TRIAD
Two's, Three's and Four's comprise the Feeling Triad. The strengths and challenges of these types are related to their ability to navigate and obtain their sense of identity and value.  Each of these types has a tendency to confuse who they are with the role they play or the images they portray to others.  Fours create an identity of who they are not.  They feel typically feel misunderstood, like an outsider.    
 
WINGS
Those who are influenced by a stronger Three wing can be emotionally volatile.  4w3’s tend to be more extroverted and upbeat than 4w5’s.  They are better able to contain their emotions than 4w5’s.  4w3’s are often ambitious and possibly flamboyant as well as image-conscious.

Those who are influenced by a stronger Five wing tend to be more introverted, reserved and intellectual than 4w3’s.  More notable idiosyncracies.  Enjoy the process of creativity. There is a greater tendency toward depression in this subtype.

DISINTEGRATION POINT (stress point)
Under stress, Four's may begin to display aspects of low side of Type 2.  This may be represented in excessive helping helping behaviors with expectations attached or actions of desperation, a need for reassurance about “where they stand” in a relationship, clingy, possessive, needy behavior. 

INTEGRATION POINT (security point)
When Four’s are feeling more secure they may begin to display aspects of the high side of Type 1. They may be better able to distinguish between feelings and values when at their security point.  They feel more grounded and focused on the objective.

CHARACTERISTICS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT

HIGH FUNCTIONING
Revelatory
Artistically expressive
Self-aware
Vulnerable
Inspired
Creative
Revitalized
Intuitive
Sensitive
Refined
Introspective
Unique
Personal
Accessible
Congruent
Revealing
Imaginative

AVERAGE FUNCTIONING
Self-absorbed
Dramatizing
Enigmatic
Moody
Individualistic
Romantic
Feels different
Tempermental
Dreamer
Special
Uninterested
Emotional

LOW FUNCTIONING
Self-reproachful
Self-pitying
Deeply alienated
Avoid ordinariness
Impractical
Self-neglecting
Melancholic
Despairing
Depressed
Spiteful
Alienated
Fears success
Hopeless
Guilt-ridden
Tormented
Exempt

STRENGTH
Recognize and bring out the unique qualities in both people and situations.

AVOIDANCE
Being ordinary, boring, usual

COMPULSION
Seek an identity that allows them to stand out as special and unique without feeling alienated.

INTERNAL MANTRA
I don’t fit in. 
I am different. 
People don’t understand me.

FALSE BELIEF
I can’t be myself. 
If I am myself, no one will understand me.  I’m different.

FAMOUS FOURS
Cate Blanchett, Gene Wilder, Claude Monet, Melissa Etheridge, Bjork, Angelina Jolie, Alan Rickman, Sarah MacLachlan, Alanis Morrisette,Marilyn Manson, Gary Oldman, Mary Higgins Clark, Isabelle Allende, John Barrymore, Ingmar Bergman, Director Peter Bogdanovich, Marlon Brando, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Prince Charles, Eric Clapton, Kurt Cobain, James Dean, Johnny Depp, Neil Diamond, Isak Dinesen, France, Judy Garland, Martha Graham, Billie Holliday, Julio Iglesias, Michael Jackson, Jewel, Janis Joplin, Naomi Judd, Joni Mitchell, Jim Morrison, Morrissey, Edvard Munch, Liam Neeson, Mike Nichols, Stevie Nicks, Nick Nolte, the music of Pink Floyd, Sylvia Plath, Edgar Allen Poe, Novelist Anne Rice, Paul Simon, Meryl Streep,James Taylor, Spencer Tracy, Vincent Van Gogh, Kate Winslet, Virginia Woolf, Neil Young.

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