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Fine Distinctions: Fours
Subtypes
Self Preservation Fours
Self-Preservation Fours are often risk takers
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They take chances to stir up emotional intensity, collect new experiences, play out inner dramas or learn about themselves
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Open advocates of the passionate life
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Social and artistic courage; the high side of this subtype brings daring
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Healthy Fours with this subtype often feel driven to express an inner
vision and find the courage and skill to bring it into the world
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Often exceedingly practical in ways that support their creative enterprises
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For some their home is an aesthetically soothing refuge, for others
home is dank and depressing, prompting fantasies of beautiful places, a
stimulant to envy
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May have possessions they keep for a long time that are charged with symbolism and meaning
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Environmentally sensitive react strongly to their surroundings; fussy and hard to please about new purchases
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When less healthy, they take self-destructive risks or punish other by hurting themselves
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Some can be reckless and openly court disaster while others merely flirt with loss
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Sometimes the connection to One is extra strong. Fours with this
subtype can harangue themselves in a Oneish way and then rebel with
reckless behavior
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Some resist the need to make a living; may hobble themselves with
mystery ailments that prevent them from having a “straight job”
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Self-Preservation Fours can be mistaken for counterphobic Sixes
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Some Fours with this subtype struggle with their weight and body image
as they relate to identity. Anorexia, overeating or obsessions about
food are possible
Intimate Fours
Intimate Fours love others in a deep way, and possess a sensitive, complex, poetic intelligence about matters of the heart
This is a highly romantic subtype, visible in the realms of romantic
poetry, the troubadour tradition and popular music about love,
especially in the lyrics of confessional singers
Often stay friends with ex-lovers
A focus on aesthetics; some Intimate Fours are tasteful, flashy dressers
Can harbor a fantasy of perfect union, a redemptive love that will heal the wound of being an unwanted outsider
Prone to jealousy and may be competitive in close relationships as well
as generally; can feel like there is only so much love to go around
Want to be Number One in their beloved’s heart or the only person their
partner has ever loved; could be jealous of their partner’s past
relationships
A stronger connection to Two
May be surprised to discover that their beloved has different needs;
they assume mutuality of purpose and are unprepared to negotiate
Also prone to professional envy and try to best others at work
May be unable to enjoy their successes without demeaning the achievements of others
Intimate Fours can resemble Eights just as romantic Intimate Eights can resemble Fours
Can believe that without someone to love they are nothing and life is not worth living
When in love, images of their partner fill the Four’s awareness and
attention. The beloved is a muse, necessary to connect Fours to their
own life force
May take no responsibility for their life until Mr. or Ms. Right comes along
There can be a willful immaturity to this stance, a stubborn refusal to face facts no matter what the practical costs
Can be love addicts who lack the memory of being loved and believe they
are condemned to search the world for something or someone to fill them
up
Some Intimate Fours act markedly seductive to stave off being rejected
May engineer rejection by picking unavailable or inappropriate people to become infatuated with
A few have ambiguous, confused or exaggerated sexual identities or a chronic identity crisis around their sexuality
Social Fours
Healthy Social Fours are unusually independent, self-affirming and socially courageous
Willing to take unpopular stands, initiate innovative projects
or create institutions that have humanistic or artistic purposes
They make good teachers especially of art, poetry, spirituality, realms of the heart and the inner life
Can be idealistic, drawn to social causes, with a keen sense of
justice. The connection to One is especially strong with this subtype
May play the role of the critical outsider, dissatisfied with the norm
Prone to shame because they compare themselves with the “normal”
world around them, for deviating from imagined group norms
Highly self-critical although their critical voice often belongs to someone else
To refute the voice’s criticisms, a Social Four may romanticize her defects or snobbishly counter-criticize the group
May seek status or feel driven to achieve to get revenge against those who once laughed at them.
Cover their shame with charm.
Social Fours with a Five wing can grow antisocial and depressed,
bearing their shame in solitude, in tension to a group that they keep
at a distance.
Four with a Three Wing
Fours with a Three wing can seem like Sevens. Can be cheerful, outgoing, with a sense of humor and style
May be “counter depressive,” in that they stay busy and on-task to avoid getting bogged down in melancholy
Healthy Fours with this wing marry art and commerce; they are both creative and effective, intuitive and ambitious
Generally more visual and kinesthetic and have a faster tempo of thought, speech and reaction
Often materialistic, can have elegant or expensive taste; could prize the rare
Might dress flashy – albeit in a color coordinated way – in
contrast to Fours with a Five wing, who try to be socially invisible
Can be conscious of wearing a mask to hide their “true” deformed identity
Some are Three “wannabes”; they imitate Threes to pass in the
“normal” world as high-functioning and well-adjusted citizens;
underneath they feel like ETs
Can be exceptionally competitive, sometimes more so than Threes
Their pleasure in their own achievements may be tainted by jealousy or motivated by revenge
When recognized for what they accomplish, they may feel
celebrated for the wrong reasons or dismiss the recognition as not
enough
Fours with this wing can tend towards melodrama and flamboyance
Get lost in fraudulence, play the role of the artist or the authentic, unique one
Generally more conventional and less original than Fours with a Five wing
May have bad taste but not know it
Four with a Five Wing
Fours with a Five wing are generally more introverted
When healthy they have a rich, complex creativity
Although somewhat intellectual, they have exceptional depth of feeling and insight
May be multi-talented in ways that they take for granted
Fours with this wing are often more original and idiosyncratic, unique to the point of eccentric
Use thinking to suppress or dissociate from their feelings
Often they are more auditory and kinesthetic and less consciously visual
They have a spiritual and aesthetic openness and may also have a
marked need to pour themselves into creative or artistic pursuits
Try to use the strength of their minds to manage their emotional intensity
Some are loners who can seem enigmatic or hard to read
Externally reserved and internally resonant; when absorbed in a
mood they can sit still and expressionless for long periods of time
(hypnotic catalepsy)
An “open or closed” quality; after suddenly breaking hours of silence, the Four won’t stop talking
Fours with this wing will sometimes polarize against their
own Three wing, making Threeness a shadow that they indict
in others
Could see the world as dominated by trashy, materialistic values
and pointless hyperactivity – things the Four secretly envies
Some are nondescript and try to be invisible. Consciously decide to venture into the world
Some are sedentary and, if not overweight, have no muscle tone
Especially prone to feeling alienated and depressed; could isolate themselves
More likely to argue for their limitations or prove they can’t function in the normal world
Might ignore practical matters or unpleasant but necessary chores, citing the strength of their feelings as an excuse
Can be whiny or have an air of sullen, withdrawn disappointment
Prone to sulking and stubborn, passive-aggressive sadness; unusually humorless
Can inhabit a private world of pain and loss or be morbidly in love with death
Might have a well-developed eye for the grotesque and the gothic
Like Sixes they can fear taking action; some complain of having little energy
Four’s Connection to One
A healthy connection to One helps Fours locate and connect to
the objective, factual world, independent of their inner feelings
Helps Fours balance the intensity of their feelings. They think more rationally and keep things in perspective
The connection to One brings discipline and diminishes a Four’s self-indulgence
Brings problem-solving skills and an unexpected practical
streak: Fours can be talented at managing money and handling
realistic details
Oneish Fours tend to be idealistic and work hard for what they believe in; morally courageous expressions of principle
Contributors rather than complainers, committed to living in and improving an imperfect world
When Fours are less healthy the connection to One devolves into being critical, fault finding and nit-picky
After the perfect union of falling in love the Four can turn
critical and disapproving, focusing only on what is missing in his
partner’s behavior
May have idealized, romantic dreams for which there are no
partners or expect so much of partners that they drive them away
Self-critical; may criticize themselves in a Oneish voice that
speaks only of their Four’s flaws, reinforcing their sense of alienated
difference
Oneish Fours can block themselves creatively or set themselves
up to fail because nothing they produce is up to their own impossibly
high standards
May criticize and tear down others, mainly out of jealousy
Sometimes latch onto a grandiose, obsessive Big Idea or believe they are attuned to Absolute Truth
Idealistic and artistic pretentiousness are possible; could feel
they inhabit a lofty plane where their endeavors and aspirations can
not be understood by mortals – The Great Artist Blues
Black and white thinking with a moral cast
Self-punitive and pleasure hating, fanaticism and religiosity are possible
Four’s Connection to Two
Fours have a built-in
connection to Two. When healthy it brings interpersonal skills and the
ability to voluntarily empathize with others
Like Twos, Fours can float over and switch places with others
and intuitively sense how they feel. The Four will then filter and
interpret other people’s feelings through the Four’s own subjectivity
Twoish Fours can be supportive, generous “foul weather” friends who understand and accept the pain of others
May volunteer their services to ease suffering
Act upon ideals, want to make the world a better place
The connection to Two brings the ability to teach or mentor,
especially about subjective matters. Can accurately read the nonverbal
behavior of others
When this connection is less healthy, a Four may compulsively
merge with others, especially their pain, as it unconsciously reminds
the Four of their own
May flatter, charm and placate, hoping to mask their sense of defect
Twoish Fours are prone to moody instability; by turns needy and then aggressive
Can put great demands on their relationships and be easily disappointed
Twoish Fours may flee themselves through codependent service to others
The Four sense of specialness is intensified by Twoish pride
Loud arguments and histrionic dramas are possible
Psychosomatic illness and age regression (becoming younger than your years) are stronger tendencies
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