The Four Tendencies (Gretchen Rubin)
The Four Tendencies is a personality framework created by writer Gretchen Rubin (introduced around 2015 and expanded in her 2017 book of the same name). It sorts people by how they respond to two kinds of expectations: outer expectations imposed by others and inner expectations they set for themselves.
A self-help framework popularised through Rubin's books and quiz; it is not an academically validated personality model and has not been established through peer-reviewed psychometric research. (Gretchen Rubin, 2015 (formalised in The Four Tendencies, 2017))
Groups
- Upholder — Readily meets both outer expectations from others and inner expectations they set for themselves.
- Questioner — Meets inner expectations they judge to be justified, but questions outer expectations and complies only once convinced of the reasoning.
- Obliger — Readily meets outer expectations from others but struggles to meet the inner expectations they set for themselves.
- Rebel — Resists both outer and inner expectations, preferring to act from a sense of freedom, choice, and personal identity.
Related topics
All topics on ArtaQuest