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The Four Tendencies

  • Author: Gretchen Rubin
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  • Theme: Understanding your tendency can help you manage your expectations and motivations more effectively

Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies framework categorizes how people respond to inner and outer expectations. Here's a brief summary:

  1. Upholders: Upholders readily meet both inner and outer expectations. They're self-motivated and disciplined, comfortable with rules and deadlines.

  2. Questioners: Questioners question all expectations, and they'll meet an expectation only if they believe it's justified. They value logic and reasoning and resist anything arbitrary.

  3. Obligers: Obligers meet outer expectations but struggle to meet inner ones. They're motivated by external accountability and may neglect their own needs while prioritizing others'.

  4. Rebels: Rebels resist all expectations, both inner and outer. They value freedom and resist anything that feels constraining, even if it's something they want to do.

Understanding your tendency can help you manage your expectations and motivations more effectively, both personally and professionally.