Enneagram Type 4

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Enneagram 4 Nickname: “The Romantic or the Individualist” (also called “The Melancholic”, “The Aesthete”, “The Tragic Victim”, “The Artist”) 4s like to think of themselves as “the special one”.

Type 4s have the ability to go to experience a wide range of deep emotions. They often feel like their emotions define them and look to them to find their identity. Because 4s are not afraid the plumb the depths of painful emotion and sadness, they have a compassion and sensitivity that makes people feel seen and understood. They are well suited for creative and helping professions. The sensitivity of 4s also makes them highly intuitive. 4s can also be moody, self absorbed and stand offish. They fundamentally view themselves as special and different and think that rules don’t apply to them. 4s have highly developed imaginations and are concerned with physical aesthetics. To a 4, the thought of being ordinary or generic and living a mundane life is unbearable.

Enneagram 4 Strengths

Sensitive
Imaginitive
Introspective
Stylish
Dramatic/Expressive
Original
Creative
Intuitive
Compassionate
Artistic

Enneagram 4 Challenges or Weaknesses

Self-Absorbed
Hyper sensitive
Passive aggressive demand for attention
Escapes into fantasy
Tend to get infatuated
Self-indulgent
Over dramatic
Over analyzer
Self conscious
Temperamental
Withdrawn
Elitist
Easily Lost
Moody
Depressed

Enneagram 4 with a 3 wing: “The Aristocrat”
Enneagram 4 with a 5 wing: “The Bohemian”

Biggest fear: Of having no identity or personal significance.
Basic desire: To find themselves and their significance, to create identity out of their inner experience.

When 4s evolve they take on characteristics of type 1
When 4s are under stress they take on characteristics of type 2

Vice: Envy

Unconscious childhood message: It is not ok to be too functional and happy.
Lost childhood message: You are seen for who you are.

Enneagram 4 Careers: Need for careers with flexibility, variety and opportunity for self expression.

Interior Designer
Actor/entertainer/musician
Web/graphic designer
Artist
Massage therapist
Couples counselor
Crisis-line operator
Writer
Life coach
Holistic health practitioner/healer
Psychologist/therapist
Grief Counselor
Dancer/ yoga instructor
Model
Antique Collector

Famous & Fictional Enneagram 4s

Morrissey is the perfect example of a type 4 because of his originality, creativity, melancholic lyrics and moodiness. Morrissey is also a INFJ, which is also called “the Change Agent”.

Alan Watts
Alan Rickman
Alanis Morrisette
Albert Camus
Allen Ginsberg
Ally Sheedy
Anais Nin
Angelina Jolie
Anne Rice
Arthur Rimbaud
August Strindberg
Bette Davis
Billie Holiday
Bjork
Blanche DuBois
Bob Dylan
Cate Blanchette
Charles Baudelaire
Cheryl Crow
Claude Monet
D.H. Lawrence
Diane Arbus
Dusty Springfield
E.M. Forster
Edgar Allan Poe
Edith Piaf
Eric Clapton
Frederick Chopin
Francis Bacon
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Gary Oldman
Gene Wilder
Gustav Mahler
Harvey Keitel
Hermann Hesse
Ingmar Bergman
J.D. Salinger
Jack Kerouac
Jackie Onassis
James Dean
Janis Joplin
Jeremy Irons
Jewel
Jim Morrison
John Malkovich
Johnny Depp
Joni Mitchell
Judy Garland
Julio Iglesias
Kate Bush
Kurt Cobain
Kate Winslet
Laurence Olivier
Liam Neeson,
Marcel Proust
Maria Callas
Marilyn Manson
Martha Graham
Michael Jackson
Michaelangelo
Michael Jackson
Morrissey
Neil Diamond
Nick Nolte
Nicolas Cage
Orson Welles
Oscar Wilde
Paul Simon
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Tchaikovsky
Prince (or The Artist Formerly Known as Prince)
Prince Charles
Rudolf Nureyev
Sarah MacLachlan
Sylvia Plath
Saul Steinberg
Soren Kierkegaard
Stevie Nicks
Tennessee Williams
Vincent Van Gogh
Vivien Leigh
Virginia Woolf
Walt Whitman
William Blake
William Faulkner
Winona Ryder
Yukio Mishima