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An Enneagram Type 4 possesses a rich inner life. They value authenticity and originality above all else, and live comfortably with melancholy. The intensely-felt sense of lack drives a tireless pursuit of the unattainable ideal in life, relationships, and work. A Type 4's finely-tuned aesthetic sense and willingness to delve into life's darkness leads many to pursue the arts or helping professions.
We have found common key personality traits that this type hold. In general Type 4s:
Figure 1: Global distribution of each Enneagram type.
What this chart shows
This chart shows percentage of the population who are each Enneagram type. We see that 19.6% of the population are Type 4 Enneagram, this is the most common Type from our study. Type 6 was the most rare.
Notes:Figure 2: Regions with highest percent of Type 4s
What this chart shows
This chart shows countries with the five highest and five lowest percent of respondents with Enneagram Type 4 personality type. This helps identify which regions have an above or below average proportion of Type Fours. We see that of those reporting their country as 'Nepal' there is an above average proportion of Type 4s, and of those reporting their country as 'Zimbabwe' there is a below-average proportion of Type 4s.
Notes:Type Fours are engaged in a lifelong pursuit to discovery and understand who they are, in the deepest sense. They spend much of time reflecting on themselves, their sense of impact, and who they feel they are. This quest can sometimes make Type Fours feel as if they are not yet complete or truly finished as a person, and so they can have an innate sense of lacking something ineffable. This lacking ineffability can drive them in their individual, relationship and work pursuits to overcome this sense of incompleteness. Fours can find themselves looking for the thing, person, or vocation that will bring consummation to their life. This connection with their feelings can create highly empathetic helpers. But an over-developed sense of empathy can leave an unhealthy Four completely self-focused.
Their intuition, originality, and authenticity finds the Type 4 in aesthetically-focused professions, with many of the greatest creators and helpers throughout history expressing Four traits. Their art, in whatever form it takes, can be drawn from a well of paradoxical melancholy, or, “the happiness of being sad.” Their connection to, and fearless pursuit of, the deeper feelings in life can produce truly ground-breaking work, celebrating the sometimes terrible beauty of the world.
Type 4's connection to, and fearless pursuit of, the deeper feelings in life can produce truly ground-breaking work, celebrating the sometimes terrible beauty of the world.
Fours can be seen as less practically or pragmatically minded, leading both to grand dramatic gestures and many uncompleted projects. They will tirelessly pursue work or causes in which they find depth and value, but may be less interested in completing more banal tasks.
A Type Four's “push/pull” method of relating can create unnecessary drama for those close to them, and the Type 4's tendency to personally identify with their constantly swirling emotions will leave others never quite knowing where they stand. When pursuing personal equanimity and doing the work of acknowledging their own intrinsic worthiness, Fours’ connection to the world's sadness makes them the best type with whom to grieve.
When we perform factor analysis on the core behaviors of each Enneagram type, we find that Type Fours exhibit positive correlations with two core dimensions (traits). Dimensions are specific behavioral indicators that underpin a person's enneatype. Think of them as building blocks of a person's personality.
The following two dimensions are key to understanding the Type 4's personality.
An Enneagram Type Four will often have high complexity. Spending a lot of time in their head, they are able to develop complex thoughts and ideas. It may seem like a Type 4 is very relaxed or 'not up to much' but their mind will always be working hard on the inside.
An Enneagram Type Four will often have high volatility as they tend to be complex people who often feel that they are lacking in certain areas of their life. This feeling of incompleteness can at times lead them to become frustrated at themselves or the world around them.
An Enneagram Type Four can sometimes show lower levels of self-efficacy than they'd like, making them feel less confident in their ability to control the world around them, and feeling powerless or at the mercy of external factors beyond their control.
An Enneagram Type Four will can sometimes be less principled than they'd like. They can hold critical and nuanced views of moral systems, preferring a pragmatic approach to ethics over blindly following arbitrary rules.
An Enneagram Type Four can sometimes be less cooperative than other Enneatypes. They are fiercely independent, refusing to conform to other people’s standards or to capitulate to other people’s demands.
An Enneagram Type Four show lower levels of altruism than other Enneatypes. They tend to focus on their own problems, objectives, and desires, believing that people should get their own house in order before attempting to help others.
An Enneagram Type Four can be less team-oriented than other Enneatypes. Type Fours are often referred to as “Individualists”, refusing to lose themselves in the crowd or sacrifice individuality for the greater good.
We studied the core personality traits (dimensions) of Enneagram Type Fours. The radar chart below shows the dimensions profile of a statistically average Type Four.
Figure 3: Radar chart of core personality traits (dimensions) of typical Type Fours
What this chart shows
This chart shows how Type 4s score on 14 key personality traits. The scores on each scale are derived from our internal research and present a helpful shorthand to describe the Enneagram Type 4 personality profile. For example we see that Type 4s score high on Complexity and low on Principled.
Notes:
Heart type
Fours’ acute perception of their shifting internal state can lead them to question their decisions; they follow their intuition, but are prone to then endlessly question its signals and motivations. When unhealthy and stressed, they can then spend countless hours re-litigating previous choices and fretting over future ones.
Type Fours are Heart Types. Heart Types make decisions based on their feelings and intuition.
Type 4s are mostly female (56.8%) with 41.9% male and 1.3% non-binary.
Figure 4: Type 4s by gender
What this chart shows
The split between genders across the Type 4 population was 56.8% female, 41.9% male, 1.3% non-binary.
Notes:Are Type 4s more inclined towards certain religions? From our research we see that Sikhs are more likely to be Type 4 than Christians are.
Figure 5: Percent of Type Fours in each major religion
What this chart shows
This chart shows what percentage of eight religions are Type 4, and the global average percent of people who are Type 4. This helps identify whether a particular religion has an above-average or below-average proportion of Type 4s.
Notes:
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Rich internal life | Self-focused |
| Truly unique and creative | Desire for uniqueness leads to envy of others' accomplishments |
| Ability to grieve with others | Over-identification with emotions |
| Pursuit of ideals | Unable to process trauma (or strong emotions) causing susceptibility to becoming overwhelmed |
Note: As with all types, the connection between strengths and weaknesses is one of the trait's strength or presence, based upon personal growth. The strength of originality easily leads to the weakness of envy and self-absorption when the focus moves toward the Four's sense of personal lack, whereas the weakness of identifying with or wallowing in emotions leads to the strength of empathy when others’ needs are considered first.
Each Enneagram type has fears and desires; things to avoid and things to seek out.
Core Fear: To be so broken they will not be understood or seen as unique.
Core Desire: To be fully known yet also mysteriously unique.
We surveyed the age of Type Fours and grouped the data.
Figure 6: Enneagram Type 4 by age
What this chart shows
This chart shows that Type Fours are significantly more likely to be under 21 than other enneatypes. We suspect this is because of the tumultuousness associated with adolescence and early adulthood, which is likely to manifest into neuroticism and emotionality. As teenagers and young adults get older and gain more life experience, they are increasingly likely to lose their emotional volatility and become more stable, reducing (but not eliminating) the likelihood of remaining a Type Four into middle-age.
Notes:Every enneagram type has two potential arrow types that they can achieve according to their state of stress or state of growth. None of us are static personalities, and sometimes we are better versions of ourselves whilst other times we are not achieving our potential.
When a Type Four is in flow, or the Direction of Integration, they become more objective, principled, and dependable, as if they were a healthy Type One.
When a Type Four is out of flow, or the Direction of Disintegration or Stress, they will accentuate the unhealthy traits of Type Twos, such as losing themselves in others.
A Type Four can try to become more like a healthy Type One by being more mindful of their actions. This will help them to make a more positive impact on the world and those around them.
Type 4s can also exhibit traits associated with their adjacent Enneatype. For Type 4 the adjacent Enneatypes are 3 and 5. A Type 4 can either have a Three-wing (4w3) or a Five-wing (4w5). With either of these wings, the Type 4 would then exhibit certain traits of that wing type.
We surveyed sexual orientation amongst Enneagram Type Fours.
Figure 7: Enneagram Type 4 by sexual orientation
What this chart shows
This chart shows what percentage of each a particular sexual preference are Type 4. For example 31.6% of people reporting as lesbian are Type 4. This compares with 19.6% of all people who are Type 4. Lesbians are more likely to be Type 4 than heterosexuals are.
Notes:We surveyed Type 4s on their highest level of academic qualification.
Figure 8: Highest level of qualification held by Type 4s
What this chart shows
This chart shows the percent of the population who reported holding a particular qualification as their highest qualification. By comparing data for Type 4 and all types, we can see whether Type 4s are more or less likely to hold a particular qualification. We see that Type 4s are more likely than the average population to hold as their highest qualification "A Level or equivalent qualification".
Notes:
University of Chichester, Advanced Applied Psychology
Chloe Yarwood, MSc in Advanced Applied Psychology from University of Chichester. Specialist in personality type theory and developing valid personality questionnaires.
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