The Enneagram Series - Personality Type 4 - The Artist

This article is the 5th in this series of articles on the Enneagram.

The Enneagram Series - Personality Type 4 - The Artist

The Enneagram Series - Personality Type 4 - The Artist

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The Enneagram Series - Personality Type 4 - The Artist

The Enneagram Series - Personality Type 4 - The Artist

Triad: Type 4 is a variant of the core type of the Heart Triad, with Type 3 being the core type.

Core Belief: Others in the world have something that I do not. What is wrong with me?

With this core belief, the Four's focus of concentration is on either they are proper or rejected. This operates below the level of conscious awareness and underlies all that they do.

Whilst Twos learned to get love by giving and Threes learned to earn respect by their achievements, Fours learned to feel proper by being unique and authentic. With this focus, Fours become creative citizen who need to express their uniqueness. They are drawn to the arts, drama and other forms of self expression. You can also find them in jobs which want new or unique solutions.
Fours are warm and kind people, very in touch with their own feelings and able to feel what others are feeling too. Fours are refined citizen with an interest in aesthetics and quality.

Threes will seek to fit into a crowd and will Dress accordingly. Fours will do anything to stand out from the crowd and will Dress to do this. You can often spot a Four in a crowd by their unique Dress sense.

This drive to be unique can become the Fours blind spot in that they institute a great fear of being ordinary. Fours can become depressed, self conscious and withdrawn from the world as they feel the pain of being ordinary. The drive for uniqueness can be exhausting, and any way much they succeed, Fours can still feel there is something still wrong with them. This self absorption can make them stubborn and moody, where their concerns are over dramatised and they can attain a reputation of being a 'drama queen'. Fours feel all very deeply and are often saddened by life.

Fours, in their search for the meaning of life, to understand their feelings and to be understood, have been inspired to originate some of the many works of art, music, poetry and literature. They have poured their hearts into the creation of these unique masterpieces, sometimes to the extent that there was nothing left for them at the end, having expended all their deepest feelings in the act of creation.

Examples of Fours (real and/or fictional)
Singers Elton John and Kate Bush
Salvador Dali
Meryl Streep in the film The French Lieutenant's Woman

Please remember this is a normal introduction to the Personality Types and is help you get a basic level understanding of the Enneagram. For a fuller understanding, I propose added reading, and ideally an sense of an Enneagram course.

The Enneagram Series - Personality Type 4 - The Artist

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