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[Type 5] 5w6 vs 5w4?

highlander

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
26,562
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
What are the primary differences between a 5 with a 6 wing vs a 4 wing?
[MENTION=5632]VagrantFarce[/MENTION] said this.

Don't focus on interests, instead focus on the subconscious motives of the different types:

  • 4s suffer from character envy - they need to be unique, and jump inside themselves in order to maintain an image that purposefully differs from everyone else.
  • 6s are socially vigilant and anxious; deep down they need to fit in with others, but they have issues with trust that can prevent this from happening.
Combine these with the your compulsion to think things over rather than act, and decide on which one describes you more on a moment-to-moment basis. Try to catch yourself as you're going about on your daily business, eventually a pattern will start emerging.

And don't think you're a 5w4 because you're "sensitive" or "creative" and into abstract stuff - that proves nothing. Same thing with 5w6 and "technically proficient".

Other thoughts?
 

Eugene Watson VIII

Senor Membrae
Joined
Jun 22, 2012
Messages
824
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xxxP
Enneagram
?
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sp/sx
I personally know a 5w4 (ISTP to be specific) and know a few 6s (don't know any 5w6s I believe). I would assume that a 5w6 is more openly anxious (especially 6w7) than a 5w4 and are most probably more aware of group dynamics, having the need to belong. 5w6 is more plainly skeptical of authority figures that hover above them but will probably retreat into a web of 'why's' and 'ifs' than openly act out against them like counterphobic 6s. 5w4s from experience are like a big detatched, sensitive bubble that puts a personal touch to their intellectual thoughts. 5w6s I'd assume (again), would come out as more technically proficient having the need to test the truth and brainstorm all the things that can go wrong. 5w4s I'd say would do that too but would worry less about the possible worst case scenarios that could stem from something. There is little fear in 5w4s and more shame and self-hatred.

I hope that helps a bit. I think I'm just stating the obvious really.
 

PursuitOfHappiness

New member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
14
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Pay attention to how the five responds to stress. It seems to me that a 5w4 appears to withdraw under stress more than a 5w6 that does something more like what I would compare to a shaken soda bottle. In other words, there's a sort of energy created in a 5w6 under stress that is more intense than what is visible in a 5w4, even if the 5w6 tries to keep a lid on the soda bottle figuratively speaking.
 

Doctor Cringelord

Well-known member
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Aug 27, 2013
Messages
20,567
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I
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9w8
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sp/sx
I tend to lean toward a 4 wing, but I can certainly identify with some aspects of type 6.

When under stress, I will generally withdraw first, although there are instances when I will explode into fits of physical rage--these are pretty rare for me and usually only occur when I feel backed into a corner. Generally people need to leave me the fuck alone when I'm under a lot of stress--I will go off by myself and tinker with something or noodle on the guitar until I feel more calm and at ease. Problem is that most of my close family and friends are feeler types and need to continually poke and prod at me when they see I am stressed, thinking that doing so is healthy for me, but this will usually lead to me exploding in a bright, violent ball of fury which frightens EVERYONE around me.
 

Z Buck McFate

Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
6,048
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5w4
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4s suffer from character envy - they need to be unique, and jump inside themselves in order to maintain an image that purposefully differs from everyone else.

I could be wrong, but I don’t think e4 is about maintaining an image- that sounds more e3? Maybe I'm remembering it incorrectly. (Or maybe, it's "an image that purposefully differs from everyone else" sounds off to me because it's not the same thing as saying "maintaining an image of authenticity"- since "authenticity" is not the same thing as "differs from everyone else". Dunno.)

Personally, the thing that makes me believe I’m more w4 than w6 is that I deeply resent any expectation other people may have for me to write over my own authenticity- to feel what they expect me to feel, or to believe what they expect me to believe, anything that runs against my own sensibilities- in order to serve their own needs. I’m ridiculously sensitive to it.

I know a lot of people who seem content being cogs in the machine, and I think I actually envy that more than anything else. Envy isn’t especially a problem for me though.
 

VagrantFarce

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Nov 19, 2008
Messages
1,558
I could be wrong, but I don’t think e4 is about maintaining an image- that sounds more e3? Maybe I'm remembering it incorrectly. (Or maybe, it's "an image that purposefully differs from everyone else" sounds off to me because it's not the same thing as saying "maintaining an image of authenticity"- since "authenticity" is not the same thing as "differs from everyone else". Dunno.)

It's absolutely about image, which is the weird contradiction that 4s embody - they can amplify their own "authenticity" to a disingenuous level. Both 3s and 4s are concerned about the image that others expect of them, but they "feel" different expectations - 3s are concerned about performance and being admirable, whereas 4s are concerned with portraying longing and authenticity.

(mental note - "portrayal" is a good descriptor for Image types)
 
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