TYPE FOUR SUBTYPES EXPLAINED

THE SELF PRESERVATION SUBTYPE -

This subtype is known as the "long suffering" Type Four. They tend to play out the drama associated with Type Four internally. Their envy is focused on that which supports bodily survival and the sense of disconnection from all that supports life, such that they need to work to secure it.

These are the stoical fours who look for love and connection from their tanacity to endure. They are the least likely of the Type Fours to share their suffering with others. They project their pain outwards and address it through alleviating the suffering of others. They often have a strong humanitarian intention and protest for the sake of others.

They have a strong need to endure, so they develop an ability to do without. They put themselves in situations that are tough. They test and challenge themselves. but they express a need to be light. As the "sunny" subtype of four they have a need for fun and playfulness as an escape from having to tough things out all the time. 

THE ONE TO ONE (SEXUAL) SUBTYPE -

These Fours don't feel consciously envious so much as they feel competitive as a way of muting the pain associated with envy. If they can compete against another person they perceive as having more than they do and win, they can feel better about themselves. Envy is displaced onto whatever threatens to show up their own shortcomings. It can sometimes take the form of competing with themselves against their inner ideal, and knowing they are bound to lose.

More shameless than shameful, One-to-One Fours are vocal about expressing their needs. This can lead to a vicious cycle when being demanding leads to rejection and protest leads to further separation. In line with their natural intensity these individuals tend to be more present and available in relationships because they don't deny or avoid many of the factors that can inhibit others relationally, like anger, neediness, competitiveness, arrogance, and having to be liked all the time.

THE SOCIAL SUBTYPE

Envy motivates Social Fours to focus on their emotional dissatisfaction and internal lack. For the Social Four there is a sense of comfort and familiarity in suffering- the sweet sadness of poetry, the rich meaning and painful beauty in melancholic music- and an unconscious hope that their suffering will somehow redeem them.

The Social Four feels thing deeply. For this Four, there is a desire to be witnessed and seen in their suffering. Envy fuels a focus on shame and suffering by providing a source of pain: a feeling that others have what the Four wants. They believe that their suffering is also what makes them unique and special- there is a kind of seduction of others through suffering. They want to be seen and accepted for for who they are. They are not competitive but do compare themselves with others and feel personally responsible for any areas where they feel they are lacking.