When the One goes to Four

The Direction of Disintegration for the One is to Four. This means that when Ones are under stress or struggling (and most of us, whatever our Type, will be finding life quite a challenge right now!) they act out some of the traits of average to unhealthy Fours. Because of their strong superego Ones are perhaps the most self-controlled of all the Types, feeling that it is up to them to maintain standards, to be responsible and to uphold ideals. When they are under pressure, this feels like a heavy burden to bear. With the move to Four they start to fantasise about being free of all their moral obligations. They become moody and temperamental, feeling that nobody understands the efforts they are making or appreciates how hard it is for them which causes them to become melancholy and self-indulgent in that they allow themselves to break the odd rule as a release from the tensions of living up to their impossibly high standards. However, being a One, this does not make them feel better as their superego then berates them even more for having failed to live up to those standards. This only adds to their anger, expressed more as resentment, so increasing the tension further.

In my next post I will talk about the One's movement towards the Seven.