Type 5. The Observer

overview

Curious,

Fives love to study many things in depth. They are natural researchers, thinkers, inventors who love to use their knowledge in search of truths in order to be well prepared for this complex and hostile world. They love to research, collect information, read and learn. At the heart of their motivation is the desire to learn to fill the void, to have a more holistic view of the world and the knowledge how to survive in it. The feeling of anxiety about this world is the background for Fives.

Because of their love of knowledge and dislike of emotions, they can be fairly objective and can help others to perceive the world more soberly and objectively. They have special, unconventional thinking. Fives can be attentive and excellent listeners.

Fives can flaunt intellectual superiority and even snobbery and arrogance.

Fives are usually very sensitive people, but often the people around them mistakenly interpret their behavior as cold, because they do not show their emotions. They are the most sensitive to the attention from the others, even though they might never say it.

Usually fives are introvert, in great need of privacy and personal territory. They protect themselves from outside invasion by creating their home as a secure fortress with a solid fence, where they can think quietly. They don’t feel lonely in solitude. Fives don’t like to share their personal territory with anyone. The close ones are the first one who can encroach upon it. That is why Fives connect easier with those who are at a distance rather than close, sharing their emotions and other resources more generously as they are not afraid of invasion. It’s safer and easier to regulate the amount of interaction. Many Fives hate words such as “share” or “interact.” Contact with others is usually exhausting for them.

Five love to collect. In childhood, it could have been stamps or stickers, now it can be thoughts, ideas, knowledge, etc.  

Usually five try to avoid anything that might attract attention to them. They love to be in the shadow.

They perceive the situation holistically and they are good at long-term planning. They prefer to work on their own. They are very thoughtful. Before acting out, they thoroughly think it through.

At their best

They are curious, analytical, studious, competent, insightful, inventive, impersonal, self-sufficient

When they are unhealthy

They are reclusive, closed, unfriendly, stubborn, cynical, antagonistic, intellectually arrogant

examples

Famous People:

Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Friedrich Nietzsche, Stanley Kubrick, Bill Gates, Jean-Paul Sartre, Stephen King, Bobby Fischer.

“The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”

– Albert Einstein

From my coaching experience:

A client is an accountant, who loves to work on his own. That’s why he’s chosen self-employment. He has several loyal clients who appreciate his diligence and accuracy. He has a hard time finding a life partner. Since he has a reclusive life, he doesn’t practice his communicative skills often, especially those needed to get acquainted with women. He’s even shy to initiate a conversation with a woman selling him coffee in the coffee shop. Once he registered in a dating app posting unclear photos in shades but shortly after several women contacted him, he signed out as he found them too intrusive. The more he stayed isolated, the more he became misanthropic and less skillful in any types of relationships.

  • Core beliefs:

I must protect my resources by maintaining my boundaries in this unsafe world.

I need more knowledge and resources to survive.

I am my thoughts.

  • Core fears:

I’m afraid to be incompetent, ignorant to cope with this world.

I’m afraid I don’t have enough of resources and others can take even those from me.

  • Basic desire:

To be competent and knowledgeable enough to feel secure.

  • Basic strategy:

Intellectual, emotional and social distancing.

Growth path

The key steps of growth:

(based on my coaching experience of type 5 clients)

  • Be aware of your inclination to distance from others, to withdraw from the contact.

  • Learn to identify and express your emotions. Master emotional self-regulation.

  • Don’t intellectualize your experience. Learn to feel more.

  • Try to share your time, energy and other resources with others.

  • I can help you form key habits for this type that are like antidotes, free you from unhealthy habits. But first it’s better to start from the typing session. 

Subtypes

Self-preservation Five

Self-Preservation Fives build thick walls around their personal physical and psychological territory to protect themselves from the hostile world and “inadequate” people. They are reserved, introverted, autonomous and secretive. They have difficulties with any contact and with expressing themselves in the contact. They are minimalists, sometimes even ascetic, as they limit their needs especially social ones in order to maintain their autonomy. That is why they have a hard time stating their desires to others and also acting on them. They can mimicry their sociability in order to avoid special attention and as a result intrusion into their personal boundaries. They don’t like attention and questions as they find them an aggressive form of intrusion. They prefer to avoid any conflicts and retreat rather than confront someone.

Social Five

Social Fives substitute social needs with the hunger for knowledge. They find people with whom they share their special intellectual values and ideals that must be far from ordinary and banal. It has to be something special, unique and extraordinary. They fancy the idea of being experts and if contacting someone, they would prefer someone more knowledgeable in the field of their interest.

Sexual Five

Sexual Fives are interested in one-to-one safe and special almost idealistic connection. They have high requirements for their special confidant, whether it’s a life partner, or a close friend or a mentor. Secrecy of one-to-one interactions make them even more attractive for Fives. They can relive special meetings again and again remembering them again and again. Sexual Fives are more emotional, expressive in one-to-one relationships showing their sensitive nature to the others.

 
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If you have difficulties identifying your type let me help you in that. You can save time and money, discovering your type as soon as possible. Knowing your type gives CLARITY.