Enneagram Type 4 Overview

This type idealises the universal innate quality of Identity or ‘the Point’ (name given by A.H.Almaas). The personality constellates around manufacturing the quality of identity. How do we embody identity/definition in the world? By attuning to what is missing in us, others and situations, by longing for what we don’t have and perceiving that others do, by magnifying feelings and emotions and through being ‘authentic’. This state of Envy, Enneagram 4s Passion (the Enneagram’s term for a chief feature), manifests most obviously in the domain of the dominant instinct.

Names given to Enneagram Type 4

The Romantic (the Narrative Enneagram), the Individualist (the Enneagram Institute), the Original Person (Jerry Wagner), Striving to be Unique (Mario Sikora), Sensitive Equanimity (Khaled ElSherbini).

Core characteristics of Enneagram Type 4*

*According to Enneagram teacher and seminal author, Beatrice Chestnut from her book, the Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge

Experiencing an inner sense of lack and a craving for what is missing, and yet not allowing for the attainment of what might be satisfying.
Having an ‘inferiority complex’, which often swings into superiority.
Focusing on what’s lacking in them as a step to regaining wholeness.
Identifying with deficiencies and parts of ourselves we’d all rather not see.
Often having a large capacity for emotional sensitivity and depth, and an ability to sense what is going on between people at the emotional level.
Being relatively unafraid of intense feelings, values the expression of authentic emotion and able to support others with great care when they’re experiencing painful emotions. Empowers others to be with their feelings.
Overdoing focus on pain and suffering, and dramatises, as a way of avoiding a deeper of a different kind of pain.
Being able to see what’s missing so clearly that it can stop them from thinking objectively and taking action. Frequently blind to what is good and hopeful in a situation.

One of the Heart Centre types

Along with types 2 and 3, Enneagram type 4s are members of the Heart triad. If you care about inner development and transformation, you want to ensure that you understand the significance of the Centres. If you intend to self-study, I recommend getting a copy of something like the Wisdom of the Enneagram or the Enneagram Triads.

Because each triad share characteristics, this aspect of the Enneagram can also help you to know whether you are the type you think you are, or whether you have mistyped. Below are some general characteristics that have been associated with the Heart types, 2s, 3s and 4s.

Characteristics of Heart triad, from Enneagram teacher Peter O’Hanrahan.

Priority: Relational needs for contact and approval, and establishing personal identity through connecting and being seen.
Strengths: Flexibility and skill in relationships; achieving success by attuning to and meeting social expectations; and access to empathy and the vast potential of the human heart.
Neurotic style: Building up emotional energy and then discharging it unconsciously into the environment (‘hysterical’).
Defence: Emotional intelligence enables the creation of an ‘image self’ in order to gain recognition and approval from others. This helps to overcome internal feelings of deficiency or emptiness. Personal wants and needs are replaced by meeting the expectations of others. Variations of style: helpful (2), successful (3), or authentic (4).
Key phrase: Substitution of value. (Value is not in me, but I can find value in the approval and eyes of others).
Primary emotional layer: Sadness (related to the loss of self).
Life challenge: Balancing self and other, autonomy and dependence.

Enneagram Type 4 Subtypes

As discussed on the instincts page, ‘subtype’ is the name given to what happens when our Enneagram type intersects with the instinctual part of us. Some teachers prefer to simply name this situation as a ‘type/instinct’ combination, versus giving it a special name

Remember that descriptions are approximations. The descriptions below are from Dr Beatrice Chestnut, whose work built upon the teachings of Claudio Naranjo, and Russ Hudson, who has slightly different descriptions (which he shared over a series of Tweets once).

Self-preservation 4

‘Reckless’/’dauntless’ or ‘Tenacity’ – Countertype (Ichazo, Naranjo and Chestnut)

Difficult to identify this person as a 4.
Don’t hang out in longing or dwell in envy but work hard to get what others have.
Stoic, strong, and long-suffering, emotionally sensitive on the inside, often don’t communicate their darker feelings to others.
Feel things deeply and may feel sad inside, but often have a sunny, upbeat exterior, as they often received the message early on that their caretakers couldn’t handle their pain or darker emotions.
Endurance is a virtue and they hope that others will recognize and appreciate their sacrifices.
Demand a lot from themselves, test and challenge themselves. Have a passion for effort and may struggle to slow down.
Tend to be humanitarian with an empathetic and nurturing disposition.
Devalue themselves in important ways.
Habitually postpone actions to help them get what they want and then blame themselves for doing so.
Resembles a type One but is more up and down emotionally than a type 1. Can look like 3s but thwart their own efforts more than a 3 would. Can look like a 7 as they express a need to be light, fun, and playful. However, they have more access to emotions than 7s.

‘Sensualist’ (Hudson)

Reckless for putting emotions above practical needs.
Develop by realizing that they better meet their Self-preservation needs through successful relationships with others.
Discover that their natural introspection is actually a great gift to others and they can contribute much through their insights and creative expression.
Can seek to create environments that are comfortable as well as rich in beauty and symbolic meaning.
The most introverted 4s, tending to prefer time at home or in quiet environments.
Practical in the sense of being aware of resources, but less people-oriented.
Some are athletic, but many have trouble with consistency.
When troubled, get stuck in their private worlds. Nothing feels right. Get lost in self-indulgences which do not help their depression.
At their best, they are profound guides to the inner life and invite others into real human experience.

Sexual 4

‘Competition’ or ‘Hate’ (Ichazo, Naranjo and Chestnut)

More assertive and competitive than the other subtypes.
Don’t so much feel envy but feel competitive as a way of muting the pain of envy.
Not afraid to ask for what they need or complain when they don’t get it.
Can appear aggressive to others, and strive to be the best.
Don’t really care about image management or being liked – it’s better to be superior.
Usually arrogant, and enjoy being part of the elite group.
Epitomize the phrase ‘hurt people hurt people’.
Can be the angriest personality on the Enneagram.
Like and need emotional intensity, without that, life is unbearable dull and boring.
Tend to be very present and available in relationships as they don’t deny or avoid many factors that can inhibit others relationally, including anger, neediness, competitiveness, arrogance, and having to be liked.
Most likely to be confused with 8s and Sexual 2s.

‘Infatuation’ (Hudson)

Can be highly competitive sexually, both overtly and covertly seeking to overcome feelings of inadequacy by winning the sexual competition.
A trap is to become attracted to people that they envy, leading to mixed feelings about the other and to a diet of self-criticism. Lots of healing for sexual 4 comes in seeing through such idealizations.
Don’t think of beauty in terms of classically ‘nice’ things, instead finding it in the rawness of life, even in suffering.
Masters of helping others accept and land in the naked truth of their experience and authentic feelings.
Lives are powerfully directed by what most activates them.
Led by what has energy for them, and willing to live risky lives for the sake of that energy.
Emphasize the edge and fusion zones of the sexual instinct.
Tend to live unorthodox lives – security and stability are not big values for them.
When troubled, Sexual 4s become extremely volatile, going between intense love and hate.
At their best, they are profoundly insightful, humane, and unbridled in their creativity. They welcome us to embrace our messy humanity.

Social 4s

‘Shame’ (Ichazo, Naranjo and Chestnut)

Focus on their emotional dissatisfaction and internal lack.
Appear emotionally sensitive (or over-sensitive), feel things deeply and suffer more than most.
Compare themselves to others and tend to see themselves as less worthy or lacking in some way.
A lot of self-abasement, self-weakening, self-sabotage, and under-estimating themselves. May be competent, attractive, and intelligent and still focuses on deficiency.
Sense of shame about their needs and wants. Fierce competitiveness is underneath the surface.
Tend to be generous towards others but do not take responsibility for their own lives.
Present as sweet, friendly, and soft but can express emotions that they store up in social situations and become aggressive in private.
See themselves as victims and others as perpetrators and don’t always take responsibility for their actions.
May be mistaken for 6s.

‘The Outsider’ (Hudson)

Self-blame that arises in wanting to belong but feeling one doesn’t.
Some overcompensate by seeking to be more glamorous/interesting than others.
Take comfort in finding friends who like them, feel like outsiders.
Can be a great source of healing for others, helping them come to accept who they are, celebrating their ‘quirks’.
Find healing in discovering that they have much to contribute and that their unique sensibilities are much needed, even when not initially accepted.
Profoundly non-judgmental.
More outgoing and adaptable than the other two subtypes, but still melancholic and aware of a longing to find the place where they belong.
Can be cooperative and supportive, but they feel the need to distinguish themselves from the crowd.
Many are drawn to alternative lifestyles, connecting through ‘otherness.’
When troubled, Social 4s feel shut-out, misfits whose envy of others’ contributions can be expressed in bitterness and harsh self-criticism.
At their best, Social 4s are leaders in creating cultures and environments in which creativity, beauty, and respect for the individual can flourish.

Types connected to 4 (and how connected)

Type 2 – the ‘Stress’ (Hudson) or ‘Resolution’ point

The inner lines are important when it comes to a growth path. As a general rule, the more dynamic movement between the arrow points and core point, the less fixated we are in our types. And the more conscious the movement, the greater our depth of presence (and freedom from the patterns).

The lines can also help us to know for sure that we have typed correctly. Following Russ Hudson’s teaching on the lines, moving to this style helps 4s who have been ‘4-ing out’ too much. It’s called the stress point because we tend to go there because the strategy of the core type has been over-exhausted.

When the move to type 2 happens unconsciously, Type 4s “flatter others as a way of ingratiating themselves; focus on others in detriment to self; get overly focussed on gaining the approval of others and present themselves in less authentic ways”.

When the movement is conscious, Type 4s “develop a healthy balance of giving/receiving support; focus on giving, diminish envy and melancholy; focus on cultivating mutual relationships, and being likeable lessens feelings of abandonment” (ideas are those of Paes/Chestnut).

Type 1 – ‘the Security’ (Hudson) or ‘Energising’ (Chestnut) point

Many of us struggle to own the behaviours we see at the security point for our number, in particular the ‘low’ behaviours. However, as discussed elsewhere on this site, the integration of the security point becomes a way of knowing if we’re making progress in our inner work.

When 4s move to 1 unconsciously, they “become more controlling, self-critical, anal and uptight; take action out of stress and fear of not being perfect; get more focussed, but also more irritable and controlling; and are more convinced about being right, less tolerant of views that counter theirs”.

When the movement is conscious/positive, there is “a clearer focus and direction for everything; they finish what has been started; idealism is translated into action and there is a discipline in life and the inner quest” (Paes/Chestnut).

Centre Integration Point – Type 7 (Paes/Chestnut)

Here, 4s have times of incredible lightness of being, especially as they awaken. Focused more on the positives, like the beauty in their lives, or the love that has always been there.

The ‘Wings’ or types on either side – Types 3 and 5

The presence of the attributes of the types on either side of our core type is another way of knowing whether we have typed correctly. When it comes to inner development and transformation, they aren’t as significant.

Enneagram teacher and direct student of Naranjo, Michael Goldberg, teaches that each Enneagram type is formed out of a reconciliation of the forces of the Wings.

Sidenote: long-time Enneagram teacher and direct student of Naranjo, Michael Goldberg, teaches that each Enneagram type is formed out of a reconciliation of the forces of the Wings.

For a 4, this is a pull between the vanity, independent operator, achievement and goals of the 3 and the stinginess, separate entity, isolation, and lack of connection of Type 5. It is a stretch between the nothingness of 3 (hopelessness) and the dryness of 5 (isolated despair), to which the 4 responds with melancholy. There is a feeling of a profound sense of estrangement from life and from people, along with striving to make contact with something authentic within self and others.

When 4s develop their 3 wings, they can execute creativity in practical and engaging ways, draw on 3’s networking ability to broaden their interpersonal world and experiences, and access more of 3’s desire to look good.

When they develop their 5 wings, they balance subjective impressions with reason, logic and objective observation; allow feeling to connect with thinking to become less impulsive and more retrained; and look at things objectively and less personally (Integrative Enneagram Solutions).