"Step Four is our vigorous and painstaking effort to discover what these liabilities in each of us have been, and are." (Page 42) Excessive or misdirected instincts are called by several other names, including "emotional deformities", "maladjustments", human failings", and "personality flaws". The term used most in this chapter is the now-common "character defects", a term not found as such in the Big Book (though "defects" appears in the discussion of Step Five, and we see "defect(s) of character" in Step Six itself and in the Seventh Step Prayer. We are told that "[b]y discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can move toward their correction. Without a willing and persistent effort to do this, there can be little sobriety or contentment for us," (Page 43) and this Step is "the beginning of a lifetime practice." (Page 50) The wording is ambiguous: these statements could call for repeating the Fourth Step, or perhaps the persistent effort and lifetime practice are carried out in the Tenth Step, in which we "continued to take personal inventory."

The author takes a more psychological and perhaps less moralistic approach than in the Big Book by discussing instincts rather than Self-will or Self, which are barely mentioned here (Self-justification and similar terms used, however). Our instincts for sex, society and security, the same three topics of contention in the Big Book, "are perfectly necessary and right, and surely God-given." (Page 42) But these instincts often exceed their proper functions. "Powerfully, blindly, many times subtly, they drive us, dominate us, and insist upon ruling our lives." (Page 42) The Twelve and Twelve views our defects, or excessive instincts, as actively producing "great trouble, practically all the trouble there is." (Page 42) "Nearly every serious emotional problem can be seen as a case of misdirected instinct. When that happens, our great natural assets, the instincts, have turned into physical and mental liabilities." (Page 42)

Examples of instincts gone overboard: "Suppose a person places sex desire ahead of everything else. In such a case, this imperious urge can destroy his chances for material and emotional security as well as his standing in the community. Another may develop such an obsession for financial security that he wants to do nothing but hoard money. Going to the extreme, he can become a miser, or even a recluse who denies himself both family and friends." "How frequently we see a frightened human being determined to depend completely upon a stronger person for guidance and protection. This weak one, failing to meet life’s responsibilities with his own resources, never grows up. Disillusionment and helplessness are his lot." (both Page 43) "Whenever a human being becomes a battleground for the instincts, there can be no peace." (Page 44) Others also suffer and often revolt when we inflict out outsized instincts on them: "Demands made upon other people for too much attention, protection, and love can only invite domination or revulsion in the protectors themselves — two emotions quite as unhealthy as the demands which evoked them... In these ways we are set in conflict not only with ourselves, but with other people who have instincts, too." (Page 44)

This passage reminds us of the Big Book's Step Three discussion on self-will. (Pages 60-62) For example: "Selfishness— self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate." (Page 62) Indeed, the author describes instincts here in a very similar terms to Self-will. Big Book: "First, we searched out the flaws in our make-up which caused our failure. Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways, was what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations." (Page 64) Twelve and Twelve: "By now the newcomer has probably arrived at the following conclusions: that his character defects, representing instincts gone astray, have been the primary cause of his drinking and his failure at life..." (Page 50) It seems a fair interpretation that though the author uses different terminology than we saw in the Big Book, he sees misdirected instincts as having the same consequences as Self-will. He thus seems to be using the terms more or less interchangeably.

"Instincts on rampage balk at investigation. The minute we make a serious attempt to probe them, we are liable to suffer severe reactions." (Page 44-45) The author then describes two different, but typical responses newcomers often have, depending on their personality types. The depressive type may start to wallow in self-pity and dispair when considering his part in past situations. "Here, of course, we have lost all perspective, and therefore all genuine humility. For this is pride in reverse." (Page 45) The self-righteous person may argue that he doesn't need to conduct an inventory since alcohol caused all his problems, or that others caused them. "At this stage of the inventory proceedings, our sponsors come to the rescue. They can do this, for they are the carriers of A.A.’s tested experience with Step Four. They comfort the melancholy one by first showing him that his case is not strange or different", (Page 46) and thus clear away morbidity and help foster a fearless look at the newcomer's defects. The author then suggests perhaps the most active thing a sponsor might do in the recovery process: "The sponsors of those who feel they need no inventory are confronted with quite another problem. This is because people who are driven by pride of self unconsciously blind themselves to their liabilities. These newcomers scarcely need comforting. The problem is to help them discover a chink in the walls their ego has built, through which the light of reason can shine." (Page 46) In the previous Steps, the sponsor suggests solutions to questions the newcomer brings up himself and the sponsor then shares his experience in those areas. Even in Step Five, the sponsor essentially listens to the inventory and may or may not offer feedback in response. Here, however, the sponsor is seen as detecting an issue that the newcomer does not acknowledge, then actively trying to convince the latter to see things differently. This does not seem to happen anywhere else in this book while taking the Steps.

Self-justification, or attention to others' faults must be overcome when taking inventory, according to both books. Twelve and Twelve: "Where other people were concerned, we had to drop the word 'blame' from our speech and thought." (Page 47) Big Book: "Putting out of our minds the wrongs others had done, we resolutely looked for our own mistakes. Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and frightened? Though a situation had not been entirely our fault, we tried to disregard the other person involved entirely. Where were we to blame? The inventory was ours, not the other man’s." (Page 67) This idea appears again in the other inventory Steps, Eight and Ten, later in this book

The author suggests avoiding confusion by starting our inventory with a universally recognized list of defects, the Seven Deadly Sins. Pride heads the list, for "For pride, leading to self-justification, and always spurred by conscious or unconscious fears, is the basic breeder of most human difficulties, the chief block to true progress... When the satisfaction of our instincts for sex, security, and society becomes the sole object of our lives, then pride steps in to justify our excesses... All these failings generate fear, a soul-sickness in its own right. Then fear, in turn, generates more character defects." (Page 49) This passage represents a change in emphasis from the Big Book's treatment of this Step, which states that "Resentment is the 'number one' offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else." (Page 64) The Big Book places secondary importance on fear, but does call it an "evil and corroding thread" and suggests a separate inventory in this area. (Page 67-68) Step Seven here in the Twelve and Twelve also presents fear as the primary driver of character defects. (Page 76)

Instincts may hamper our inventory: "Pride says, 'You need not pass this way,' and Fear says, 'You dare not look!' But the testimony of A.A.’s who have really tried a moral inventory is that pride and fear of this sort turn out to be bogeymen, nothing else." (Page 49) We then see what appears to be another Fourth Step Promise: "Once we have a complete willingness to take inventory, and exert ourselves to do the job thoroughly, a wonderful light falls upon this foggy scene. As we persist, a brand-new kind of confidence is born, and the sense of relief at finally facing ourselves is indescribable. These are the first fruits of Step Four." (Page 49-50) Note that the author mentions confidence, not self-confidence.

The Big Book inventory begins with the people, institutions and ideas we are angry with, continues with the causes, and then thought is given to how these affect us in the areas of sex, society and security. As the final stage of the inventory we then consider our part in each situation by answering several questions posed in the Big Book, our actions and reactions toward others, and fill out the implied 'fourth column' of the inventory list. In contrast, the Twelve and Twelve has us begin with a series of questions regarding our actions in pursuit of the three primary instincts, some of them open-ended and far-reaching:

	When, and how, and in just what instances did my selfish 
	pursuit of the sex relation damage other people and  
	me?  What  people were hurt, and how badly? Did  I  
	spoil my marriage and injure my children? Did I jeopardize my 
	standing in the community? Just how did I react to these 
	situations at the time? Did I burn with a guilt that nothing 
	could  extinguish? Or did I insist that I was the pursued  
	and not the pursuer, and thus absolve myself? How have I 
	reacted to frustration in sexual matters? When denied, did 
	I become vengeful or depressed? Did I take it out on other 
	people? If there was rejection or coldness at home,  
	did I use this as a reason for promiscuity? (Page 50-51)  

The author next discusses emotional insecurity, the common symptoms of which are worry, anger, self-pity and depression. "These stem from causes which sometimes seem to be within us, and at other times to come from without." (Page 52) We are asked to "consider carefully all personal relationships which bring continuous or recurring trouble." (Page 52) The subject of relationships is not explicitly mentioned in the Big Book discussion of Step Four. It is also said to be the concern of Steps Eight and Nine later in this book. (Page 77) "Did these perplexities beset me because of selfishness or unreasonable demands?" If so, the cause of the disturbance is within us. "Or, if my disturbance was seemingly caused by the behavior of others, why do I lack the ability to accept conditions I cannot change?" (Page 52) This appears to be a very important distinction to make in our inventory, and may yield valuable insight. The question regarding acceptance and change reflects our first request in the Serenity Prayer introduced in the last chapter, and prompts this question to ourselves: "If I am unable to change the present state of affairs, am I willing to take the measures necessary to shape my life to conditions as they are? Questions like these, more of which will come to mind easily in each individual case, will help turn up the root causes." (Page 52-53) The emphasized phrase reminds us of the "causes and conditions" mentioned as the objects of inquiry in the Big Book inventory. (Page 64)

The author then considers our everyday relationships, for "it is from our twisted relations with family, friends, and society at large that many of us have suffered the most." (page 53) He again lists a number of behaviors and attitudes similar to those of the self-willed alcoholic, as discussed in the Big Book under Step Three (Pages 60-62). As before, we often lean on others, try to manipulate, make demands, become resentful, redouble our efforts at control, etc., with the added idea that we often become dependent - all with negative consequences for ourselves and others. "We have not once sought to be one in a family, to be a friend among friends, to be a worker among workers, to be a useful member of society. Always we tried to struggle to the top of the heap, or to hide underneath it. This self-centered behavior blocked a partnership relation with any one of those about us. Of true brotherhood we had small comprehension." (Page 53)

The author concludes on Page 53: "Therefore, thoroughness ought to be the watchword when taking inventory. In this connection, it is wise to write out our questions and answers. It will be an aid to clear thinking and honest appraisal." Whether this series of questions is meant to replace or to compliment the graph shown in the Big Book, writing remains an essential part of the Fourth Step Inventory. Citing one of the major spiritual tools mentioned in Step Three, he writes,"It will be the first tangible evidence of our complete willingness to move forward."