For Fours to watch for

I thought that over the next few weeks I would look at aspects of the various Types that can cause them difficulties. I will start with Fours because I read an article the other day about someone who may or may not have been a Four but there was some Four-ish behaviour in evidence.

Fours, because of their need to see themselves as different - a strong part of their identity - can often get caught up in their own exceptionalism. If everyone is having fun at a party, for instance, a Four may be determined in their wish not to have fun in order to maintain their feeling of difference, of being the outsider. Because Fours are very in touch with their feelings and are extremely emotionally honest about how they feel, they will probably, to some extent, be aware of the times when they do this sort of thing. However this sensitivity to their own 'emotional weather' can also mean that adherence to their own feelings takes precedence over the feelings of anyone else which can lead to a sense of social obligation that is tenuous at best. ie: I don't feel like seeing your mother today so I'm not going to. This can come across to others as temperamental, selfish or anti-social and create tensions with those close to them. As we will see in the following posts, all the Types have behaviours which can be difficult for others to understand and live with but the more aware we are of those behaviours in ourselves the more able we are to address them for ourselves.