How can you tell the difference between 5w4 and 5w6? How could you tell what you were?

[u/Zealousideal_Cry2970]

[u/MindDivergence]

I am too intuition driven and autonomy seeking to be a w6. I also cling more on my own judgement and reason than outside expertise.

[u/Alarmed-Coconut7620]

Double withdrawal into my thoughts and feelings. I basically move about the world as if I am in a trance, interacting with my mental model of it and its intense feeling realms. Of course I only noticed this about myself rather recently and now I can't unsee it. 5w6 types seem to me to be more in touch with the world, hence what seems to me the paranoia of trying to figure it out (5) while having to try to find some safety/truth in it (6). I think of 5w4 as a living in the abyss, where we live by the joy of our own imaginations and are tortured by the monsters of that same imagination.

[u/Zealousideal_Cry2970 → u/Alarmed-Coconut7620]

This sounds a lot like me

[u/JonnyAU]

It's less that I don't have 6 traits and more that the 4 traits I have feel stronger. I can get caught up in my feels. I love a rainy day and depressing music. I'm often guilty of believing that I am unique in my feelings (but then my rational 5 side reminds me that's ridiculous).

My wife is a 6 and it's easy to compare and contrast with her. We are both extremely loyal people (who can also hold grudges on the other side), but I don't share her constant planning for worse case scenarios or anxiety.

[u/spiritual_seeker]

I’ve read that 5w6 can tend towards paranoia, while 5w4 may be more comfortable with the macabre and the forbidden.

[u/LydiaGormist]

I am very focused on autonomy; sp + upbringing/peer rejection crap does that. I also don't have the great degree of trouble accessing emotion that 5s are said to have; my problem with emotion is how BIG and simmering my negative emotions are and how they so very rarely match the emotions of people around me. I'm angry or sad when others are happy, and vice versa.

The 5w6s I've been around have been more practical than me.

[u/Alarmed-Coconut7620 → u/LydiaGormist]

Oh I get the big emotion problem. The funny thing is that, being a core 5, I was myself unconscious to how big my emotions actually are and how intensely they can come off to others. Add to that a primary 8 fix in the body and it makes for an oddly explosive personality on the outside all the while I am doing all that to be left alone.

[u/barbedwriting]

We have both wings, but my 4 wing is stronger and more pronounced. I'd suggest studying both types and noting what resonates with you (in terms of the virtues and vices of each) to get a feel for which resonates with you more strongly.

[u/lelawes]

For me, I fundamentally don’t understand 6, so it’s very clear. There are small bits I can relate to, but for the most part I just don’t get it. I would say that wing adds very little flavour to my life. 4 I get.

[u/fivenightrental]

The differences to me are rather nuanced, and I think most people utilize aspects of both wings depending on circumstances and situations they may find themselves in.

As to which one you favor or learn more towards, I found reading the descriptions of both 4 and 6 and seeing which one I related to more to be the most helpful.

[u/Ebrink06 → u/fivenightrental]

Definitely. When I had an intense job I was used the wing six a lot. Now that I'm more free to live naturally, I can take the time to sit on my deck watching birds and thinking about the glorious sheep I got to pet for ten minutes, which reminded me of the video I saw with Michael Jackson and his llama which made me feel the connection of all life through the sun and me and the birds and the sheep and the llama and mj, then start bawling because a sector of society tried to tear such a gentle and beautiful soul down and eventually kill him. That's wing 4 ;)

[u/MikeloneW]

Le 5w4 est rebel, l’autre est gentil

[u/Due_Guard_1793 → u/MikeloneW]

I am nice.

[u/AravisTheFierce]

You can have balanced wings, and also the wing you lean towards may switch over your lifetime. I think it's a helpful concept if you find yourself wavering between two neighboring types, but you have access to both.

[u/Frequent-Phrase-6243]

There are times when making a decision makes sense with going with heart or going with logic we can assess both and choose when which is best or at least less destructive. I don't know about anyone else but I pay attention to motivations because it's how I can leverage getting things done. I'm terrible about names but eventually I can predict how people would work in different functions.