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Enneagram Passions

Posted on by DrToni

Enneagram Ones – Anger – Irritated

feeling irritated that there’s a difference between ‘what is’ and ‘what’s right’. It is a chronic dissatisfaction with how things are.

Enneagram Twos – Pride – Being indispensable

feeling more important than one actually is. It is about doing things for other people in order to feel better about yourself.

Enneagram Three – Self-Deceit – False image

deceiving yourself as to who you really are by trying to be someone else. It is about becoming what others admire or value.

Enneagram Four – Envy – Lacking

constantly comparing yourself to others and only noticing what you are lacking or don’t have. It is a constant sense of inner deficiency, wishing for what is “missing” and comparing yourself to someone who has it.

Enneagram Five – Avarice – Closed heart

closing your heart to receiving and giving. It means hoarding one’s time, knowledge, energy and resources out of fear of having nothing.

Enneagram Six – Fear – Anticipation

of apprehension, tension or uneasiness suggest that something is wrong, but the source of danger is not obvious. The heart constantly anticipates the worst

Enneagram Seven – Gluttony – Wanting more

an excessive desire to consume whatever feels good. It is an insatiable and unrelenting need for constant stimulation of any kind – for people, places, experiences and things.

Enneagram Eight – Lust – Being Excessive

‘lust’ is excess; excessive energy and intensity. The craving for intensity spreads across all areas of life for an Eight, for which food, work and pleasure are only some of the ways it manifests.

Enneagram Nine – Sloth – Self-forgetting

doing every action, except the right one – the one that matters most to the Nine.

Which is the Most Difficult Enneagram Type to Type?

Posted on by DrToni

Which is the Most Difficult Enneagram Type to Type?

11 AUGUST 2022 / BY CIANNA GARRISON

Understanding your Enneagram type isn’t always straightforward. You may take the Enneagram test and feel confused about your results because you share similarities with more than one personality type, which isn’t uncommon. That’s because some Enneagram types are more challenging to type than others. But what is the most difficult Enneagram type to type? The answer might surprise you.

What is the most difficult Enneagram type, in a nutshell

Not all Enneagram types are as difficult to type, but there’s one, in particular, that is harder to discern from the others. Drumroll, please…..

Out of the nine Enneagram types, Type 9, “The Peacemaker,” can be the most difficult type to pick out of a crowd.

Why is Type 9 a difficult personality to type?

Type 9s are all about maintaining peace and harmony. As such, they spend much of their time blending in with others and prioritizing other people’s needs over their own — even pretending to like things they do not to help keep the peace and happiness of their group.

The problem is, that few Type 9s are aware of these innate motivational patterns. Because they understand the inner workings of other types and what it takes to keep the peace, they may answer test questions while thinking about the needs of others — and that can lead to a confusing, obscured result when Type 9 isn’t honest with themselves.

Are you a true Type 9 or something else?

To determine if you or someone else is an Enneagram 9, the best thing you can do is to look at the main fear and motivation of Type 9. An Enneagram Type 9 is most afraid of coming across as needy and therefore pushing others away by appearing too clingy or dependent. Because of this fear, Type 9s makes themselves as agreeable as possible, avoiding any upset in relationships or disagreements, even when they feel neglected inside.

As for motivation, Type 9 will strive to create peace in their environment and relationships, and they will not seek out or engage in a conflict where possible because they’d rather keep everyone happy.

If this sounds like you, you might be an Enneagram Type 9 — but you should also look at the other Enneagram types to be sure.

Could you be an Enneagram Type 2?

Type 9 has a lot of overlapping characteristics with the Enneagram Type 2. Both types are kind and easy-going, and they also both put others’ needs ahead of their own. They are similar in their need to please others at the expense of their own needs and to maintain a level of peace and harmony.

Like Type 9s, Enneagram Type 2s struggle with feelings of inferiority when they’ve been pushed away and unaccepted by others. However, their primary motivation is different. For Type 9s, the motivation is to have peace; they’re allergic to conflict and turmoil in relationships and at home, so they’re the most likely to bend over backward to prevent negative emotions from coming through. Because of this, the differences between Enneagram 2 and Enneagram 9 are the easy summary: Type 9 is more passive about things, while Type 2 goes out of their way to engage with people and provide an overall feeling of care.

While Type 9 cares for others, they aren’t as confronting about it. For example, a Type 2 will be the person mothering a group, making treats to send home with others, and asking if anyone needs help, seeking out their friends like a guardian. Meanwhile, Type 9 spends more time agreeing with others’ choices, maintaining a passive attitude, and trying to meditate on scenarios that have gone bad in their inner circle.

Heart versus Body types: how this can help you determine if you’re an Enneagram 9

The Enneagram Type 9 is a Body type, which may also help you discern if your typology is correct. As a Body type, you’ll be more physical in both your and others’ reactions. Physical comfort will mean more to you than anything else, which is apparent in your actions toward others and your desire to stay independent from the outside world.

If, by chance, you’re a Heart type like an Enneagram Type 2, you’ll be more empathetic by nature and strive to understand your feelings and the others around you. Your emotions will rule you more than logic and physical reactions, and you connect more with people who also feel pulled by their hearts over their heads.

The Enneagram Type 9

To discover if the Enneagram Type 9 personality type fits you, you should look at the traits most of them exhibit. A true Enneagram Type 9 will have most of the following traits:

  • A talent for diffusing conflict among others
  • A cool and calm attitude
  • A relaxing voice and demeanor
  • More than a few acquaintances and friends
  • A passive attitude when it comes to decision-making
  • A gentle, agreeable being
  • General avoidance of anger and ill feelings
  • Devaluation of their own feelings and qualms
  • An overwhelming desire to stray from negative emotions

Still having trouble typing yourself?

You may not be able to tell if you’re an Enneagram Type 9 right away. That’s because 9’s are great at sensing other peoples’ problems and are used to melding to whatever their friend group wants them to be to appeal to them as agreeable, easy-going individuals.

However, if you think you might be an Enneagram Type 9, take a look at the main traits of this Enneagram type and think about what motivates you — what makes you seek out friendships, and how do you navigate those relationships? A straightforward answer will point to whether you’re a Type 9 or some other Enneagram type when you analyze your core motivations and fears.

The takeaway

Enneagram Type 9s might be the hardest to type in the Enneagram personality type system, but they’re valuable personalities who sacrifice their own needs to help others feel comfortable. Because it isn’t always easy to type an Enneagram 9, you should question your test results if you receive an answer that doesn’t sound like you. As with all personality tests, though, you should remember your personality type isn’t always infallible, and you can take your results with a grain of salt. No test will pinpoint every instance of your personality because all people have unique traits that shine through, whether they’re an Enneagram Type 9 or anything else in between.

Cianna Garrison

Cianna Garrison holds a B.A. in English from Arizona State University and works as a freelance writer. She fell in love with psychology and personality type theory back in 2011. Since then, she has enjoyed continually learning about the 16 personality types. As an INFJ, she lives for the creative arts, and even when she isn’t working, she’s probably still writing.

11 AUGUST 2022 / BY CIANNA GARRISON

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Categories: Enneagram, Type Nine

Understanding your Enneagram type isn’t always straightforward. You may take the Enneagram test and feel confused about your results because you share similarities with more than one personality type, which isn’t uncommon. That’s because some Enneagram types are more challenging to type than others. But what is the most difficult Enneagram type to type? The answer might surprise you.

What is the most difficult Enneagram type, in a nutshell

Not all Enneagram types are as difficult to type, but there’s one in particular that is harder to discern from the others. Drumroll please…..

Out of the nine Enneagram types, Type 9, “The Peacemaker,” can be the most difficult type to pick out of a crowd.

Why is Type 9 a difficult personality to type?

Type 9s are all about maintaining peace and harmony. As such, they spend much of their time blending in with others and prioritizing other peoples’ needs over their own — even pretending to like things they do not to help keep the peace and happiness of their group.

The problem is, few Type 9s are aware of these innate motivational patterns. Because they understand the inner workings of other types and what it takes to keep the peace, they may answer test questions while thinking about the needs of others — and that can lead to a confusing, obscured result when Type 9 isn’t honest with themselves.

Are you a true Type 9 or something else?

To determine if you or someone else is an Enneagram 9, the best thing you can do is to look at the main fear and motivation of Type 9. An Enneagram Type 9 is most afraid of coming across as needy and therefore pushing others away by appearing too clingy or dependent. Because of this fear, Type 9s makes themselves as agreeable as possible, avoiding any upset in relationships or disagreements, even when they feel neglected inside.

As for motivation, Type 9 will strive to create peace in their environment and relationships, and they will not seek out or engage in a conflict where possible because they’d rather keep everyone happy.

If this sounds like you, you might be an Enneagram Type 9 — but you should also look at the other Enneagram types to be sure.

Could you be an Enneagram Type 2?

Type 9 has a lot of overlapping characteristics with the Enneagram Type 2. Both types are kind and easy-going, and they also both put others’ needs ahead of their own. They are similar in their need to please others at the expense of their own needs and to maintain a level of peace and harmony.

Like Type 9s, Enneagram Type 2s struggle with feelings of inferiority when they’re pushed away and unaccepted by others. However, their primary motivation is different. For Type 9s, the motivation is to have peace; they’re allergic to conflict and turmoil in relationships and at home, so they’re the most likely to bend over backward to prevent negative emotions from coming through. Because of this, the differences between Enneagram 2 and Enneagram 9 are an easy summary: Type 9 is more passive about things, while Type 2 goes out of their way to engage with people and provide an overall feeling of care.

While Type 9 cares for others, they aren’t as confronting about it. For example, a Type 2 will be the person mothering a group, making treats to send home with others, and asking if anyone needs help, seeking out their friends like a guardian. Meanwhile, Type 9 spends more time agreeing with others’ choices, maintaining a passive attitude, and trying to meditate on scenarios that have gone bad in their inner circle.

Heart versus Body types: how this can help you determine if you’re an Enneagram 9

The Enneagram Type 9 is a Body type, which may also help you discern if your typology is correct. As a Body type, you’ll be more physical in both your and others’ reactions. Physical comfort will mean more to you than anything else, which is apparent in your actions toward others and your desire to stay independent from the outside world.

If, by chance, you’re a Heart type like an Enneagram Type 2, you’ll be more empathetic by nature and strive to understand your feelings and the others around you. Your emotions will rule you more than logic and physical reactions, and you connect more with people who also feel pulled by their hearts over their heads.

The Enneagram Type 9

To discover if the Enneagram Type 9 personality type fits you, you should look at the traits most of them exhibit. A true Enneagram Type 9 will have most of the following traits:

  • A talent for diffusing conflict among others
  • A cool and calm attitude
  • A relaxing voice and demeanor
  • More than a few acquaintances and friends
  • A passive attitude when it comes to decision-making
  • A gentle, agreeable being
  • General avoidance of anger and ill feelings
  • Devaluation of their own feelings and qualms
  • An overwhelming desire to stray from negative emotions

Still having trouble typing yourself?

You may not be able to tell if you’re an Enneagram Type 9 right away. That’s because 9’s are great at sensing other peoples’ problems and are used to melding to whatever their friend group wants them to be to appeal to them as agreeable, easy-going individuals.

However, if you think you might be an Enneagram Type 9, take a look at the main traits of this Enneagram type and think about what motivates you — what makes you seek out friendships, and how do you navigate those relationships? A straightforward answer will point to whether you’re a Type 9 or some other Enneagram type when you analyze your core motivations and fears.

The takeaway

Enneagram Type 9s might be the hardest to type in the Enneagram personality type system, but they’re valuable personalities who sacrifice their own needs to help others feel comfortable. Because it isn’t always easy to type an Enneagram 9, you should question your test results if you receive an answer that doesn’t sound like you. As with all personality tests, though, you should remember your personality type isn’t always infallible, and you can take your results with a grain of salt. No test will pinpoint every instance of your personality because all people have unique traits that shine through, whether they’re an Enneagram Type 9 or anything else in between.

Cianna Garrison

Cianna Garrison holds a B.A. in English from Arizona State University and works as a freelance writer. She fell in love with psychology and personality type theory back in 2011. Since then, she has enjoyed continually learning about the 16 personality types. As an INFJ, she lives for the creative arts, and even when she isn’t working, she’s probably still writing.

27 Subtypes

Posted on by DrToni

 

THE 27 SUBTYPES

Subtypes exist within each of the nine types, broken down into three distinct versions according to how the passion of each type combines with one of three instinctual biases or goals that all social creatures share, directed either toward Self-Preservation, Social Interaction, or Sexual (or One-to-One) Bonding.

When the passion and the dominant instinctual drive come together, they create an even more specific focus of attention, reflecting a particular insatiable need that drives behavior. These subtypes thus reflect three different “subsets” of the patterns of the nine types that provide even more specificity in describing the human personality.

For each of the nine types, there is a “countertype” subtype. In every case, with each of the nine points of the Enneagram, there are two subtypes that go with the flow of the energy of the passion and there is one that is upside-down: one that doesn’t look like the others and goes against the main energetic direction of the passion. This “counter-passional” type is called the “countertype” of the three subtypes. For example, the “counter-phobic” Sexual Six is the most well known of the countertypes. It’s a Six who is unafraid. The passion of the Six is Fear but the Sexual subtype goes against fear by being strong and intimidating as a way of coping with fear.

THE TYPE ONE SUBTYPES

SELF-PRESERVATION ONE: WORRY

Self-Preservation Ones are the true perfectionists of the three Ones. They express the passion of anger through working hard to make themselves and the things they do more perfect. In this subtype, anger is the most repressed emotion; the defense mechanism of reaction formation transforms the heat of anger into warmth, resulting in a friendly and benevolent character.

SOCIAL ONE: NON-ADAPTABILITY

Social Ones (unconsciously) consider themselves to be perfect; they express anger through focusing on being the perfect model of “the right way” to be. They have a teacher mentality that reflects an unconscious need for superiority. In the Social One, anger is half-hidden—there’s a transformation of the heat of anger into cold. This is a cooler, intellectual personality type in which the main theme is control.

SEXUAL ONE: ZEAL

The Countertype

Sexual Ones focus on perfecting others; they are more reformers than perfectionists. The only One who is explicitly angry, they act out anger through their intense desire to improve others and get what they want. They feel entitled in the way a reformer or a zealot can feel entitled: they believe they have a right to change society and get what they want because they have a higher understanding of the truth and the reasons behind “the right way to be.” The countertype of the Ones, they are more impulsive and outwardly angry—they go against the “counter-instinctive” tendency of the One to repress anger and impulses.

THE TYPE TWO SUBTYPES

SELF-PRESERVATION TWO: PRIVILEGE

The Countertype

Self-Preservation Twos “seduce” like a child in the presence of grown-ups as a way of (unconsciously) inducing others to take care of them. Everyone likes children, and the SP Two adopts a youthful stance as a way of getting special treatment well beyond childhood. As the countertype, it’s less easy to see pride in this Two because they are more fearful of and ambivalent about connecting with others. The title “Privilege” reflects this Two’s desire to be loved and prioritized just for being who they are, not for what they give to others. Related to the youthful stance, these Twos are playful, irresponsible, and charming.

SOCIAL TWO: AMBITION

The Social Two is a seducer of environments and groups—a powerful, leader type whose pride manifests as a sense of satisfaction in the conquest of an audience. This is a more adult Two in whom pride is the most obvious; the Social Two cultivates an image of being an influential, super-competent person worthy of admiration. The name “Ambition” reflects this person’s desire to “be on top,” and as a result of this lofty position, receive advantages and benefits. This Two “gives to get” the most and always has a strategic angle when expressing generosity.

SEXUAL TWO: SEDUCTION/AGGRESSION

Sexual Twos seduce specific individuals as a way of getting needs met and feeding their pride. Similar to the “femme fatale” archetype (and male equivalent) this Two employs the methods of classical seduction to attract a partner who will meet all their needs and give them whatever they want. The name “Aggressive-Seductive” suggests a character who is appealing, but who also wants to wield some power. Energetically like a force of nature, this is a person who becomes irresistible, who inspires great passions and positive feelings as a way to meet needs in life.

THE TYPE THREE SUBTYPES

SELF-PRESERVATION THREE: SECURITY

The Countertype

Thee Self-Preservation three has a sense of vanity for having no vanity. This Three also wants to be admired by others but avoids openly seeking recognition. Not just satisfied with looking good, the SP three strives to be good. They are determined to be a good person—to match the perfect model of how a person should be. Being the perfect model of quality implies virtue, and virtue implies a lack of vanity. SP Threes seek a sense of security through being good, working hard, and being effective and productive.

SOCIAL THREE: PRESTIGE

Social Threes focus on achievement in the service of looking good and getting the job done. They act out vanity through their desire to be seen and have in-fluence with people. They enjoy being on stage in the spotlight. Social Threes know how to climb the social ladder and achieve success. These are the most competitive and most aggressive of the Threes. They have a driving need to look good and possess a corporate or sales mentality.

SEXUAL THREE: CHARISMA

Sexual Threes focus on achievement in terms of personal attractiveness and supporting others. In this Three, vanity is not denied (as in the SP Three) nor embraced (as in the Social Three), but is somewhere in between: it’s employed in the service of creating an attractive image and promoting important others. These threes have a harder time talking about themselves and often put the focus on others they want to promote. They put a lot of energy into pleasing others and they have a family/team mentality.

THE TYPE FOUR SUBTYPES

SELF-PRESERVATION FOUR: TENACITY

The Countertype

The Self-Preservation Four is long-suffering. As the countertype of the Fours, SP Fours are stoic in the face of their inner pain and they don’t share it with others as much as the other two Fours. This is a person who learns to tolerate pain and to do without as a way of earning love. Instead of dwelling in envy, SP Fours act out their envy by working hard to get what others have and they lack. More masochistic than melodramatic, these Fours demand a lot of themselves, have a strong need to endure, and have a passion for effort.

SOCIAL FOUR: SHAME

The Social Four suffers more, feels more shame, and is more sensitive than the other two Fours. Envy fuels a focus on shame and suffering as they employ a strategy of seducing others into meeting their needs through an intensification of pain and suffering. They experience a sense of comfort in feeling melancholy. Envy also manifests in lamenting too much, taking on the victim role, and focusing on a sense of their own inferiority. Social Fours don’t compete with others as much as they compare themselves to others and find themselves lacking.

SEXUAL FOUR: COMPETITION

Sexual Fours make others suffer as an unconscious way of trying to rid themselves of painful feelings of deficiency. In denying their suffering and being more shameless than shameful, they express their needs more and can be demanding of others. In seeking to be the best, they express envy in its manifestation as competition. They express “an envy that wants,” unconsciously turning their pain at inner lack into feelings of anger about not getting what they need from others.

THE TYPE FIVE SUBTYPES

SELF-PRESERVATION FIVE: CASTLE

The Self-Preservation Five expresses avarice through a focus on boundaries—a need to be “encastled” in a sanctuary where they feel protected from intrusion and have control over their boundaries. SP Fives have a passion for being able to hide behind walls and know that they have everything they need to survive within those walls. They are the least expressive of the three Fives and they try to limit their needs and wants so that they can avoid being dependent on others.

SOCIAL FIVE: TOTEM

The Social Five expresses avarice through a need for “super-ideals,” relating to others with common interests through knowledge and shared values (rather than emotional connection). In this Five, avarice is connected to knowledge. Needs for people and for the sustenance that relationships provide get channeled into a thirst for information. “Totem” refers to a passion for high ideals, the need to idealize experts and seek knowledge connected to whatever ultimate values this Five adheres to. Social Fives engage in a search for the ultimate meaning to avoid experiencing life as meaningless.

SEXUAL FIVE: CONFIDENCE

The Countertype

Sexual Fives express avarice through a search for ideal exemplars of absolute love. This is a Five with a romantic streak. the name reflects their need to find a partner who fulfills an ideal of trust. The most emotionally sensitive of the Fives, they suffer more, resemble Type Four more, and have more overt desires. They have a vibrant inner life that may be expressed through artistic creation but are still cut off from others in many ways.

THE TYPE SIX SUBTYPES

SELF-PRESERVATION SIX: WARMTH

Self-Preservation Sixes express the passion of fear through a need for protection, for friendship, and for banding together with others. In seeking protective alliances, SP Sixes endeavor to be warm, friendly, and trustworthy, which is why they bear the name “Warmth.” This most “phobic” of the Sixes has difficulty expressing anger, feels uncertain, and engages in a lot of self-doubt. For SP Sixes, fear manifests as insecurity, and they focus on relationships as a way of feeling safer in the world.

SOCIAL SIX: DUTY

Social Sixes express fear through a need to deal with anxiety by relying on abstract reason or ideologies as a frame of reference. Obeying authority through knowing the rules helps them to feel safe in the world. Unlike the SP Six, this Six has more certainty and can be “too sure” of things as a way of dealing with the anxiety of uncertainty. Social Sixes focus on precision and efficiency. They adhere to whatever the guidelines are as a form of having a protective authority.

SEXUAL SIX: STRENGTH/BEAUTY

The Countertype

Sexual Sixes express fear by going against fear—by becoming strong and intimidating. Trusting themselves more than others, these Sixes have the inner programming that when you are afraid, the best defense is a good offense. They take on a powerful stance, both in what they do and how they look, as a way of holding the enemy at a distance. Their anxiety is allayed through skill and readiness in the face of an attack.

THE TYPE SEVEN SUBTYPES

SELF-PRESERVATION SEVEN: KEEPERS OF THE CASTLE

The Self-Preservation Seven expresses gluttony through making alliances and creating opportunities for gaining an advantage. Pragmatic and self-interested, these Sevens find safety through networking and being alert to opportunities that support their survival. The name “Keepers of the Castle” refers to their way of establishing a partisan network of allies through which they create safety and satisfy their needs. Cheerful and amiable, they have a love of pleasure and tend to get what they want.

SOCIAL SEVEN: SACRIFICE

The Countertype

As the countertype, Social Sevens go against gluttony through conscientious efforts to be of service to others. Conscious of wanting to avoid exploiting others, they have a need to be good and pure and to sacrifice their own needs in supporting the needs of others. They have a passion for being seen as good for the sacrifice of their own desires. They express an ascetic ideal and make a virtue of getting by on little. They express idealism and enthusiasm as a way of making themselves feel active and valued in the world.

SEXUAL SEVEN: SUGGESTIBILITY

Sexual Sevens express gluttony through a need to imagine something better than ordinary reality. Gluttons for things of a higher world, they are idealistic dreamers with a passion for living in their imaginations. Sexual Sevens look at things with the optimism of someone who is in love; they see the world through rose-colored glasses. “Suggestibility” refers to being somewhat naive and easy to hypnotize. Light-hearted and enthusiastic, they focus on exciting possibilities and pleasurable fantasies, and they believe they can do everything.

THE TYPE EIGHT SUBTYPES

SELF-PRESERVATION EIGHT: SATISFACTION

Self-Preservation Eights express the passion of lust through a focus on getting what they need for survival. SP Eights have a strong desire for the timely satisfaction of material needs and an intolerance for frustration. SP Eights know how to survive in di1cult situations and feel omnipotent when it comes to getting what they need. They are the least expressive and the most armed of the three Eight subtypes.

SOCIAL EIGHT: SOLIDARITY

The Countertype

Social Eights express lust and aggression in the service of others. A social antisocial person, this is the countertype of the Eights, a helpful Eight who appears less aggressive and more loyal than the other two Eight subtypes. The name “Solidarity” emphasizes their tendency to offer help when people need protection.

SEXUAL EIGHT: POSSESSION

Sexual Eights express lust through rebellion and the need to possess everyone’s attention. Sexual Eights are intense, charismatic characters who want to have control and influence. Instead of seeking material security, they try to get power over things and people. The name “Possession” refers to an energetic takeover of the whole scene—a need to feel powerful through dominating the whole environment.

THE TYPE NINE SUBTYPES

SELF-PRESERVATION NINE: APPETITE

Instead of feeling an ongoing connection to their feelings, desires, and power, Self-Preservation Nines focus on merging with physical comforts and routine activities, such as eating, sleeping, reading, or doing crossword puzzles. SP Nines are practical, concrete people who focus on everyday things rather than abstractions.

SOCIAL NINE: PARTICIPATION

The Countertype

Social Nines fuse with groups. They act out laziness when connecting with their own inner life by working hard to be a part of the different groups in their lives. Fun-loving, sociable, and congenial characters, Social Nines can be workaholics, prioritizing the group’s needs above their own. This high level of activity makes them the countertype of the three Nine subtypes.

SEXUAL NINE: FUSION

Sexual Nines express the passion of laziness by merging with the important people in their lives. Sexual Nines unconsciously take on the attitudes, opinions, and feelings of others, because it can feel too hard to stand on their own. These Nines tend to be kind, gentle, shy characters who are not very assertive.

 

Sexual Instinct

Posted on by DrToni

Overview of the sexual instinct

It is frequent that newer students of the Enneagram identify themselves as being dominant in the sexual instinct. The sexual instinct is nothing to do with seeking intimacy or having the preference for one on one conversation/connections. The sexual instinct motivates us to invest energy in ourselves – our passions, our interests and our self-expression – both for the sake of those pursuits and as a way to cultivate fascination and hook potential sexual partners. It leads us to find personal and interpersonal edges. The sexual instinct is aware of our chemistry with others as a means of recognising creative potential.

This instinct is inherently conflictual with the self-preservation instinct because it says “screw safety, give me intensity.” Without the grounding of self-preservation and the contextual awareness of the social instinct, the sexual instinct can render us unconcerned with consequences.

Names given to this instinct

Syntony/adaptation (Ichazo), sexual (Naranjo), the transmitting domain (Mario Sikora)

Names given to sexual subtypes (Russ Hudson’s)

Eight: Taking Charge; Seven: Fascination; Six: Feisty Vulnerability; Five: This is my World; Four: Infatuation; Three: the Catch; Two: Craving Intimacy; One: Shared Standards/Chivalry; Nine: Merging

General characteristics of sexual types

Sexual types – general characteristics

Being identified with the need to elicit the sexual choice of potential mates. For sexual types, much of their identity is organised around being able to win out over the sexual competition.

Attempt to distinguish themselves in a distinct and enticing way, broadcasting a unique and idiosyncratic flavour.

Vacillate between pouring intense focus into the object of desire, and putting energy into interests, traits and talents that function like a peacock’s tail.

Energy galvanises when interested, and contracts when uninterested, abruptly shifting from intense urgency, activation, focus and preoccupation on a specific person to hastily veering attention away/cooling off.

High tolerance for being locked on to a person but thrives on creating tension rather than ease.

Desire for desire leads to an experimental approach to life, and willingness to abruptly change course and follow it to consumption/exhaustion.

Voraciously follow their passion beyond where most have the fire to go. Can have a hard time mobilising energy for practical or social reasons, leading to inability for desires/aspirations to really take off.

Trust pull of attraction without concerning themselves with the hows, few qualms about following inspirations. When inbalanced, they can be slavishly devoted to someone for whom there is attraction but is toxic.

Uninterested in remaining intact, so whatever is established holds little appeal. Can take the direction of needing to escalate situations needlessly.

Typically don’t have a great deal of stability in lifestyle, nor are inclined to cultivate deep roots anywhere.

Characteristics are from John Luckovich’s book, the Instinctual Drives and the Enneagram.

Zones of the sexual instinct

Russ Hudson has identified three zones (or sub-domains) to the sexual instinct:

  1. Broadcasting and charisma
  2. Exploration and edge
  3. Merging

He has broken the categories down further as follows:

Zones of the sexual instinct

=Zone 1: Broadcasting and charisma

Transmitting. Initiating energy that broadcasts. People who have a lot of this often complain that they’re being misunderstood.

Display. Doing behaviours to get yourself noticed. “Check me out”. Need to be seen. Money and wealth as display is self preservation/sexual.

Being attracted and following energy. It is difficult to pay attention when it isn’t there.

Choosing / fitness. Evaluating post attraction. Auditioning and being aware of being auditioned.

Competition/ winning. Aggression.

Zone 2 – Exploration and edge

Activation and arousal.

Taking risks and having adventures.

Getting out of comfort zone. Breaking habits and feeling soggy in routine.

Seeking stimulation.

Following and honouring impulses and inspirations.

Zone 3 – Merging

Disappearing into something or someone. This is restorative as it gets us away from ego self.

Intense focus and concentration applied to activity. But if nothing to lock in on, very distracted and restless.

Losing boundaries and sense of self.

Spending energy. Pouring self into something and giving self wholeheartedly.

Seeking fusion and at oneness.

How it looks when sexual is present, dominant, ‘blind’/repressed

Those of us who are dominant or repressed/blind in sexual experience similar challenges. See the table below.

Present, dominant, blind characteristics

Present

Attraction and magnetism: Being aware of attractions and lack of attraction. Putting energy into being attractive through highlighting strengths/features. Heightened charisma Broadcast a quality of energy that commands attention. We are attracted to people and things that are good for us, that evolve us.

Exploration and edge: More interested in experiencing life powerfully than they are in stability or security. Being drawn to the edges of life and discovering their own edges, energetically. Helps us to get out of our lethargy, our comfortable ‘sleep.’ It activates us and brings us back to the wakeful intensity of this moment.

Fusion/merging: Urge to lose ourselves in something or someone (could be a person, a piece of music or an engrossing book.) We seek conversations where the rest of the world seems to fall away. Leads to a beautiful capacity for focus and for being with the energy of another. Can evolve into a fiery commitment to our awakening, and to staying on track with our practice regardless of what arises.

Dominant/distorted

Attraction and magnetism: We get attracted to people and situations that are repetitions of our narcissistic wounds. We keep signing up for the same hurts and heartbreaks.

Exploration and edge: We are restless and in search of stimulation, distracted from our being.

Fusion/merging: There is a recurrent pattern of losing ourselves in relationships as well as in preoccupations – a difficulty holding a middle ground. all or nothing.

Blind

Attraction and magnetism: Difficult time sensing what turns us on, and getting beyond familiar boundaries and comfort zones. Perceive others’ sexual energy as dangerous and narcissistic.

Exploration and edge: We stay in our comfort zones and are disturbed by others who want to challenge themselves.

Fusion/merging: Appear to have no passion or commitment to anything.

Points to note:

  • Being present in the sexual instinct means being willing to disrupt our routines or risk the disapproval of our social groups for the sake of evolving and transforming. It means being receptive to others’ sexual energy (not judging it) and being tapped into our own. And it means being aware of the charge in our batteries and when it is low, seeking stimulation.
  • Being narcissistically concerned or fearful about sexual matters is a pointer towards the sexual instinct being on overdrive.
  • Being apathetic, negative or judgmental towards others who honor this instinct may indicate a repressed relationship with this instinct.
  • Rarely are we effective across all three of the areas – even when the instinct is dominant or secondary.

Sexual blind characteristics

We develop our habituated stances with the instincts at least partly in response to events and situations in the early nurturing environment.

When you get a clear picture of how you relate to each instinct, often it paints a story/evokes memories of when the instinct priority may have been established.

Related to this idea is the idea that we hold deeply unconscious beliefs about the meaning of this instinct. You may unconsciously believe that by expressing sexual (by being too provocative or unstable):

  • it will create scarcity and harm by undermining resources and foundations. This belief is associated with self-preservation/social types;
  • you will alienate others and be ostracised or abandoned. This belief is associated with social/self-preservation types.

Sexual blind types – general charactersitics

Feel that there is no acceptable arena for relenting to irrational impulses.

There’s a limit to which they won’t let themselves go, or be swept up in something.

Experience the strong obligation to dampen and self-contain, which can effectively limit certain avenues of self-expansion and creativity.

Has the tendency to overemphasise a sense of being consistent, responsible, acceptable and sensible.

Struggle in registering impressions and sensations about what turns them on or trusting chemistry.

Avoids risks to own identity.

Chemistry tends not to be on radar, there is a bluntness to how they approach sex and sexuality, and they can miss or not see the dance of sexual display and attraction.

Appeal of others can be based on affinity and like-mindedness rather than the tension of polarities which sparks chemistry.

Can avoid fully articulating projects and talents for fear of putting others off or offending them. Can be blind to their vibrancy and inadequate attention to self-expression can result in them feeling unremarkable and bland.

May be obsessive about their interests but have the quality of being outside of them.

May experience alienation or lack of comfort with inhabiting the sensation of the pelvis.

Characteristics are from John Luckovich’s book, the Instinctual Drives and the Enneagram.

Development of sexual

Developmental opportunities are more likely than not for dominants and blinds. For sexual types, there may be an issue that is caused by the passion of your type in one of the sexual zones. For sexual blinds, there may be multiple issues caused by neglect in the sexual zones.

Actualised sexual instinct

When the sexual instinct is integrated, it helps us to go for what enlivens and arouses us, invest in ourselves, individuate, develop and express ourselves, and leads us to uncover what expands our felt sense of aliveness.

Russ Hudson describes the transmuted instinct as leading to the unstoppable passion for development and the unwavering devotion to the beloved.

Instinct and type combinations


A note about contradictions with type

For certain types, the sexual focus appears to contradict the passion of the Enneagram type. Building on the work of her teacher Claudio Naranjo, Beatrice Chestnut calls this situation ‘countertype’.

At the end of the day, however, the instincts and the passions are a measure of two different things. Also, there can be unexpected aspects or traits with all the 27 instinct/type combinations.

The best application of the theory of countertype is just to bear in mind that it can be difficult for certain sexual subtypes to identify their core type from the prevalent descriptions. Otherwise, paying too much attention to any contradictions (or allowing for too many) isn’t helpful.

The subtype pattern

Beatrice Chestnut and Uranio Paes have identified some key interventions to do to that counteract or work with the preoccupations of the sexual subtypes. They are not exhaustive.

Sexual subtypes deconstructors (from CP Enneagram Academy, resource from the Workshop ‘Providing Practical Enneagram Solutions’)

Type Eight

Don’t take action, even when you feel a strong impulse to act; exercise discretion when feeling passionate; actively avoid being the centre of attention; be silent and self-contained; hand control over to other people; think more before acting.

Type Nine

Spend more time alone; separate yourself from important others; talk more about desires, wishes, thoughts and feelings; express opinions that are different from those closest to you; be assertive and bossy.

Type One

Own own flaws; smile sweetly when judging and blaming others; loosen rules for others whilst tightening up rules for self, especially around asserting needs and criticising or ‘helping’ others.

Type Two

Do things that will make you be seen as unattractive; talk about things that may disappoint or repel others; directly say when you don’t want to or don’t intend to support someone important.

Type Three

Become non attractive; dress badly; ask for more for yourself in close relationships; allow yourself to displease others; be the center of attention.

Type Four

Become slow and unenergetic; use a low voice; undertake a role of humbly helping others; talk about your pain and sadness; express shyness with soft voice; become a peacemaker; take an inferior position; don’t express anger.

Type Five

Engage in gossip and indiscretion; share deep feelings in group in a direct way before other people do it; be content with basic intimate relationship; express emotions more directly in plain words.

Type Six

Look weak and unattractive; express vulnerability; appear weak and fragile in a threatening situation; be very agreeable; hide or retreat when feeling fearful; share fears with others.

Type Seven

Adhere to routines; be pragmatic; focus on realistic or pessimistic data; stay with the pain and limitations on self and others; ask to see the negative data without looking at the positives.

How the passion manifests for sexual types

To read the three versions of a single type, you can do that on the type-specific pages.

Note that when we move along our connection points, we ‘keep the same instinct’ (and instinctual stacking). So if you hold questions about your type, read the self-preservation versions of the connection points as well. As a reminder:

  • If you are a type Eight, that is types Two and Five
  • For type Nines, that is types Three and Six
  • If you are a type One, that is types Seven and Four
  • For type Twos, that is types Four and Eight
  • If you are a type Three, that is types Six and Nine
  • For type Fours, that is type One and Two
  • If you are a type Five, that is types Eight and Seven
  • For type Sixes, that is types Nine and Three
  • If you are a type Seven, that is types Five and One

How the passion shows up in sexual types

Type Eight: Seek essential power through intense sexual attraction and chemistry, and are excessively forceful in capturing the interest of the desired object.

Type Nine: Look to experience essential harmony through chemistry and sexual relationships, and attraction style tends to be more inviting than pursuing.

Type One: Seeks to experience essential integrity in sexual relationships and displays. Attempts to be best partner and have an untouchable kind of chemistry.

Type Two: Long to find essential love through romantic relationships and attractions.

Type Three: Seeks to experience essential value through desirability and magnestism of displays.

Type Four: Long to experience essential depth through their relationships, creativity and intense experiences.

Type Five: Look to experience essential insight in romantic relationships, chemistry and interests.

Type Six: Seek to experience essential truth through chemistry and in romantic relationships.

Type Seven: Want to experience essential freedom in chemistry, their fascinations and their romantic partnerships.

Self-Preservation Instinct

Posted on by DrToni

 

Overview of the self-preservation instinct

Less easy to confuse than the other two instincts, the priorities and preoccupations expressing the self-preservation instinct revolve around the physical and emotional wellbeing of ‘me and my world’.

This instinct has us pay attention to all things earthly, practical and sensual: health, money, home, family, lifestyle. Sustainability is a big theme, as the material and emotional quality of life, and how to optimise it.

Self-preservation continually monitors and gauges our immediate physical state. It is the drive that motivates us to test and express our physical capacities and aggression, rest and relax.

Names given to this instinct

Conservation (Ichazo), self-preservation (Naranjo), the preserving domain (Mario Sikora).

Names given to self-preservation types (Hudson’s)

Eight: the Survivor; Nine: the Comfort Seeker; One: Self-Control; Two: Entitlement and Rewards; Three: Security; Four: Sensualist; Five: Solitude; Six: Affection; Seven: Getting Mine.

General characteristics of self-preservation types

Self-preservation types – general characteristics

Tend to seek experiences that contribute to a healthy and full life. Their attention naturally lands on what encourages and sustains growth and what allows themselves and others to thrive.

The most focussed on the body’s direct feedback and state, and can easily become preoccupied with it. When healthy, they are skilled in balancing activation with relaxation, value and make time for themselves, and give themselves permission to just be.

Value personal autonomy and self-reliance. Self-preservation types typically have carved out living and working situations where they won’t have to rely on other people to meet their basic needs.

Sensitive to levels of comfort, sensual pleasure, and the emotional associations and impact of food, environments and material things.

Live the struggle in the polarity between indulgence versus abstinence.

Value consistency and stability, but commonly have an athletic or adventurous streak. Self-preservation types often have an outlet that provides a consistent way of engaging the body’s aliveness directly that enhances physical capacity and health.

Enjoy challenging and testing aliveness through acts of endurance.

Usually have a strong capacity for working and for putting effort in a focussed direction. Ambition is a major theme, although it means different things for each type.

One of their great challenges is finding a creative direction to apply their drive. Self-preservation types can struggle to find a meaningful focus for their tenacity.

Characteristics are from John Luckovich’s book, the Instinctual Drives and the Enneagram.

Zones of the self-preservation instinct

Russ Hudson has identified three zones (or sub-domains) to the self-preservation instinct:

  1. Self-care and wellbeing
  2. Maintenance and resources
  3. Domesticity and home

He has broken the categories down further as below.

Zones of the Self-preservation Instinct

Zone 1: Self-care and wellbeing

Diet

Exercise

Sleep/rest

Relaxation (time in solitude, walk in nature, meditation, yoga, etc.)

Adequate stimulation (reading, listening to music, healthy sex life, watching documentaries, etc.)

Zone 2: Maintenance and resources

Money/finances

Time-management (self-management, time to self, time with others, being on time, etc.)

Practical application and skills (being able to address practical needs, fix things, manage life, etc.)

Work habits/persistence (the ability to follow through, finish tasks, discipline, habits around practical ventures, ways you are handy, etc.)

Energy management ((how we use our energy, deal with stress, balance silence with activity, etc.)

Zone 3: Domesticity and home

Comfort/domesticity

Safety/security

Structure supports life/base of operations (home management, home as a solid launchpad).

Beauty and holding (comfortable and inviting living/workspace, feeling held by your home, etc.)

Recharging/restoration (home as a place to restore).

How it looks when self-preservation is present, dominant, ‘blind’/repressed

Those of us who are dominant or repressed/blind in self-preservation experience similar challenges. See the table below.

Present, dominant, blind characteristics

Present

Self-care and health: Listening to body awareness. Genuine self-care. Getting real nutrition and exercise.

Practicality/Resources: Practical streak. Sense of persistence and going for long-range goals Work to maintain the foundations of life

Domesticity and home: Grounded, stable domestic life. Prefer to be at home than to travel or go out. Develops skills for making the home comfortable and practical, sometimes even beautiful.

Dominant (distorted)

Self-care and health: Overeats or starves. No exercise or over exercise.

Practicality and resources: Constant worry about resources and a grasping approach to life, never feel relaxed or sufficiently secure.

Domesticity and home: Talent for domestic order can become a pattern of lethargy and becoming stuck in ruts. Fears of stepping outside of familiar tracks.

Repressed or ‘blind’

Self-care and health: Avoiding medical and dental check ups. Having haphazard relationships with exercise, rest and diet.

Practicality and resources: Lack focus on resources, hoping others will handle this part of life. Overall, our life lacks structure and regularity. We do things more randomly and our schedule tends to be more changeable.

Domesticity and home: Avoid focus on domesticity. Our home may be more of a ‘crash pad’. May fear getting trapped by domestic life, seeing it as drudgery and heaviness.

Points to note:

  • Being present in the self-preservation instinct means attending to these life areas in healthy, non-neurotic, relaxed ways. It is knowing there is a need and meeting it without excess thought.
  • Being neurotically over-concerned or fearful about self-preservation is a pointer towards the self-preservation instinct being on overdrive.
  • Being apathetic, negative or judgmental towards others who honor this instinct may indicate a repressed relationship with this instinct.
  • Rarely are we effective across all three of the areas – even when the instinct is dominant or secondary.

Self-preservation blind characteristics

We develop our habituated stances with the instincts at least partly in response to events and situations in the early nurturing environment.

When you get a clear picture of how you relate to each instinct, often it paints a story/evokes memories of when the instinct priority may have been established.

Related to this idea is the idea that we hold deeply unconscious beliefs about the meaning of this instinct. You may unconsciously believe that by expressing self-preservation (by being too stable and self-sufficient), you:

  • won’t be attractive and will be sexually overlooked. This belief is associated with sexual/social types; or
  • will alienate others and be ostracized/abandoned. This belief is associated with social/sexual types.

Self-preservation blind types – general characteristics

Struggle to undertake sustained efforts that are supportive and beneficial for their own wellbeing. Because self-preservation blind types place so much attention on relationships.

Something about working on their own self-interest can feel selfish and boring, and it can be hard for them to anticipate the benefits. They may rationalise this as selflessness when it’s actually about not wanting to take energy away from their usual instinctual agendas.

Can struggle to muster the force for moving themselves in an independent direction unless there is significant sexual or social interest. They might fail to cultivate self-reliance in a number of areas. They typically might struggle with creating foundations and sustainable pathways towards aims and goals.

May fear that time spent cultivating their foundations and supporting their wellbeing only takes away time and energy from social and sexual pursuits. They fear will make them boring and unavailable for connection.

Resist individuation.

Unconsciously outsource facets of care for their wellbeing onto loved ones, friends and acquaintances. They can therefore become a burden on others. Unaware of the full scope of what is outsourced, they tend to underestimate the toll it takes on others and can feel entitled to others’ support.

Attempts others make to help the self-preservation blind person may actually evoke a feeling of deficiency. This may reinforce a tendency to want to seek out novel connections whilst downplaying the ones they already have as intimates have an ‘inside look’.

Often in the position of waiting for others to initiate new directions and endeavours that lead to growth or sustainable changes.

Often don’t give the task at hand the necessary complete attention for it to unlock, nor do they trust in their own resourcefulness.

They can lack discernment around relationships. There is a lack of input of the self-preservation’s eye to whether a specific connection might be a divergence from one’s own path, a waste of time, or dangerous.

Can stay locked into relationships that seem to support the self-preservation needs they don’t feel prepared to address themselves. Their time tends to be given away to other people rather than treated as something precious.

Can easily become scattered and depleted of energy because they are typically poor at cultivating habits that are restorative or authentically restful.

Frequently mistake ignoring the body as a form of physical resilience and strength, blind to the cost.

Pattern of living can be a consequence of the interpersonal circumstances they find themselves in rather than by intention.

Susceptible to fostering grandiose fantasies about themselves due to a lack of groundedness. They grow from learning to tolerate loneliness by attending to present state.

Characteristics are from John Luckovich’s book, the Instinctual Drives and the Enneagram.

Development of self-preservation

There isn’t a single human that doesn’t need to attend on or develop self-preservation at some point in their lives. That includes self-preservation dominant people.

Developmental opportunities are more likely than not for dominants and blinds. For self-preservation types, there may be an issue that is caused by the passion of your type in one of the self-preservation zones. For self-preservation blinds, there may be multiple issues caused by neglect in the self-preservation zones.

Actualised self-preservation instinct

The awake self-preservation instinct helps us to live and to create the external conditions that allow unconditional presence to thrive within us.

According to Russ Hudson, the ultimate ‘purpose’ of the self-preservation instinct from the spiritual perspective is to create a lifestyle that supports the wellbeing of the soul, a platform for the flowering of who we are.

Instinct and type combinations

A note about contradictions with type

For certain types, the self-preservation focus appears to contradict the passion of the Enneagram type. Building on the work of her teacher Claudio Naranjo, Beatrice Chestnut calls this situation ‘countertype’.

At the end of the day, however, the instincts and the passions are a measure of two different things. Also, there can be unexpected aspects or traits with all the 27 instinct/type combinations.

The best application of the theory of countertype is just to bear in mind that it can be difficult for certain self-preservation subtypes to identify their core type from the prevalent descriptions. Otherwise, paying too much attention to any contradictions (or allowing for too many) isn’t helpful.

The subtype pattern

Beatrice Chestnut and Uranio Paes have identified some key interventions to do to that counteract or work with the preoccupations of the self-preservation subtypes. They are not exhaustive.

Self-preservation subtype deconstructors (from CP Enneagram Academy, resource from the Workshop ‘Providing Practical Enneagram Solutions’)

Type Eight

Go without basic resources; while in a state of need, do not take action; depend more on others; expose yourself as needy; share vulnerable feelings without defending in any way

Type Nine

Be uncomfortable; break out of routines; do things to show off; eliminate individual activities and physical comforts; own and assert power; and express anger directly.

Type One

Be disorganised and irresponsible; be easy on yourself; make light of the inner critic; pamper yourself; go against the rules; be inappropriate.

Type Two

Let others go first (in the food line); mimic self as child in an exaggerated way; figure things out for yourself; take on difficult challenges to step into power; do things to show you are an adult

Type Three

Purposely go slow or don’t do thing; be lazy; don’t take any action towards goals; be financially reckless and waste money on non-essentials; allow others to do things for you; communicate vulnerability; show off – let people know you want to impress them.

Type Four

Be weak and fragile; take it easy on yourself; take things lightly; ask for help; communicate your feelings to others; don’t do anything or go into action – just rest.

Type Five

Invite invasion; share a lot of personal information with others; spend more time physically close to people; spend money on non essentials; invite people over to your place regularly; ask people to surprise you and share their deep emotions with you.

Type Six

Engage in conflict and confrontation; express aggression and confront people with your strong opinions; show certainty and self-confidence; show yourself to be strong, powerful and authoritative; piss off a protector

Type Seven

Make do with less; be more minimalistic; negotiate for less benefits for yourself; prioritise the interests of others; show more dedication in support of others; feel discomfort and pain; and take the less pleasurable option.

How the passion manifests for self-preservation types

To read the three versions of a single type, you can do that on the type-specific pages.

Note that when we move along our connection points, we ‘keep the same instinct’ (and instinctual stacking). So if you hold questions about your type, read the self-preservation versions of the connection points as well. As a reminder:

  • If you are a type Eight, that is types Two and Five
  • For type Nines, that is types Three and Six
  • If you are a type One, that is types Seven and Four
  • For type Twos, that is types Four and Eight
  • If you are a type Three, that is types Six and Nine
  • For type Fours, that is type One and Two
  • If you are a type Five, that is types Eight and Seven
  • For type Sixes, that is types Nine and Three
  • If you are a type Seven, that is types Five and One

How the passion shows up in self-preservation types

Type Eight: Seek essential power through lifestyle and resources. Results in Lust.

Type Nine: Seek essential harmony through lifestyle and interests. Results in Sloth.

Type One: Seek to experience essential integrity through lifestyle and wellbeing. Results in Resentment.

Type Two: Look to experience essential love through attending to wellbeing, comfort and health of others. Results in Pride.

Type Three: Strive to experience essential value in their accomplishments, lifestyle and careers. Results in Vanity.

Type Four: Seek to experience essential depth through their lifestyle, creativity and self-expression. Results in Envy.

Type Five: Seeking essential quality of insight through lifestyles and interests. Results in Avarice.

Type Six: Seek to experience essential truth in their lifestyle, path of personal growth and resources. Results in Angst.

Type Seven: Seek to experience essential freedom through experiences and sensual pleasure. Results in Gluttony.

 

Social Instinct

Posted on by DrToni

Overview of the social instinct

The newest instinctual drive in organisms, the social instinct is our relational drive. It motivates us to create relationships and care for the well-being of others. It includes our desire to positively enhance the lives of those we care for.

When this drive is active in us, we’re interested and curious about people beyond what they can be or do for us. The social drive is what helps us to assess who is and who isn’t a worthy friend, ally or partner, without losing sight of the humanity of those we are in conflict with.

The origin of the social instinct is the creation of the family unit. The social instinct is what makes us seek to represent ourselves in appearance, personal style and body language in a way that’s congruent with our social identity.

Names given to this instinct

Relations (Ichazo), Social (Naranjo), the Navigating domain (Mario Sikora).

Names given to social subtypes (Hudson’s)

Eight: Gusto and Comraderie; Nine: One Happy Family; One: the Crusader; Two: Unconscious Ambition; Three: Prestige; Four: the Outsider; Five: the Specialist; Six: Engaging Support; Seven: Missing Out.

You can read descriptions of the social subtypes below.

General characteristics of social types

Social types – general characteristics

Intensely aware that people are innately connected, rendering them sensitive to a wide range of interpersonal forces between themselves and others.

Attuned to the emotional atmosphere of their social milieu and the needs, agendas and states of others.

Motivated to develop gifts and capacities that contribute to others.

Especially capable in recognising the talents, gifts and contributions of others; better at seeing the values and gifts of others than their own.

Characteristically require a greater deal more interaction and involvement in others’ lives.

When balanced, can care for others and exhibit selflessness in another’s real need. Can become preoccupation with what others are thinking and feeling about them.

Often highly discerning and selective about who they connect with, yet willing to set aside certain prejudices in order to find common ground.

Awareness of attention towards others persists even when heartbroken or let down, and deeply cynical that anything good can come from relationships.

Find it easier to mobilise others than to find their own aim or individual path through life.

Characteristics are from John Luckovich’s book, the Instinctual Drives and the Enneagram.

Zones of the social instinct

Russ Hudson has identified three zones (or sub-domains) to the social instinct:

  1. Reading people and situations
  2. Connecting
  3. Participation

He has broken down the categories further as follows:

Zones of the social instinct

Zone 1: Reading people and situations

Reading facial expressions/body language/tone of voice/moods.

Reading between the lines.

Interest in others/attunement/tuning in.

Empathy/concern.

Adapting to cures/adjusting behaviour.

Zone 2: Connecting

Creating relationships: engaging others.

Sustaining relationships: maintaining connections and knowing when to end them.

Communication—speaking and listening.

Cooperation/reciprocity.

Play/shared enjoyment/celebration.

Zone 3: Participation

Getting involved or not: what do I participate in?

Need to contribute: something beyond my own needs.

Enrolling: getting others interested and involved in what I am passionate about.

Part of something bigger/sense of place.

Belonging and welcoming.

In most cases, you would expect social subtypes, or those for whom social is second in their instinct sequence, to give themselves high scores for these areas, and self-preservation ‘blind’ or repressed individuals to give themselves low scores.

How it looks when social is present, dominant, ‘blind’/repressed

Those of us who are dominant or repressed/blind in self-preservation experience similar challenges. See the table below.

Present, dominant, blind characteristics

Present  

Reading people: We easily pick-up cues from others and can read facial expressions and body language. We can read between the lines of what others are saying and we adapt accordingly. Helps us to navigate relationships and be good parents/caregivers. Helps us adapt and respond to what we detect in others.

Creating and maintaining connections: Work at relationships and strive for reciprocity. Helps us in our ability to engage others, and to strengthen connections when it serves our purposes or desires. We value communication.

Participation and contribution: Passionate about what we contribute to others. Participation also brings a sense of belonging: that we are welcomed and that what we are doing matters. Participation does not mean joining everything or always wanting to be around people. we could be introverts and love solitude but still have a strong drive to contribute. instinct helps us discern what we participate in, helps us realize what is not right for us.  At its best, is the drive that keeps us contributing to the human journey and creating a meaningful life for self and others.

Dominant/distorted 

Reading people: Anxieties and self-defeating behaviors, over-concern about others-fearing exclusion or being devalued. May reject our own knowing to please others.

Creating and maintaining connections: Deteriorate into codependent behaviors and anxious attempts to ingratiate ourselves with others.

Participation and contribution: Constant anxieties about belonging, creating in and out groups, and narcissistic needs to be important.

Blind

Reading people: We may stereotype its energy as exhausting small talk and aimless hanging out.

Creating and maintaining connections: We don’t see a point in connecting.

Participation and contribution: We may perceive ourselves as independent or that nothing we do matters.

Points to note:

  • Being present in the social instinct means attending to these life areas in healthy, non-neurotic, relaxed ways. It is knowing there is a need and meeting it without excess thought.
  • Being fearful about social is a pointer towards the social instinct being on overdrive.
  • Being apathetic, negative or judgmental towards others who honor this instinct may indicate a repressed relationship with this instinct.
  • Rarely are we effective across all three of the areas – even when the instinct is dominant or secondary.

Social blind characteristics

We develop our habituated stances with the instincts at least partly in response to events and situations in the early nurturing environment.

When you get a clear picture of how you relate to each instinct, often it paints a story/evokes memories of when the instinct priority may have been established.

Related to this idea is the idea that we hold deeply unconscious beliefs about the meaning of this instinct. You may unconsciously believe that by expressing social (by being too available and dispersed):

  • it will create scarcity and harm by undermining my resources. This belief is associated with self-preservation/sexual types.
  • you won’t be attractive and will be sexually overlooked. This belief is associated with sexual/self-preservation types.

Social blind types – general characteristics

Operate from a vague notion of the social architecture of interpersonal and group situations alike, so making efforts to connect or trying to participate in a social scene can seem taxing and lacking any clear benefit.

Engaging in the social sphere felt as a distinction dissolving ocean, and to open up to it would be to whitewash one’s uniqueness and focussed attention on personal interests.

There is the assumption that others will require an excessive compromise on boundaries, personal traits and identity.

Trying to keep up with what others and thinking and feeling feels like a fruitless expenditure of energy and is quickly dropped.

Often fail to put in the effort necessary to be involved in the lives of those they care for, leading to the deterioration of their relationships.

Give up on themselves as they can give up on others and assume the same in return.

Are mostly unconscious about their social fears and disappointments except in specific moments when their desire to connect arises.

Generally pretty comfortable with a good deal more isolation and non-interaction.

Underdeveloped relations style undermines aims of the other instincts.

Lack of being bound by social constraints, expectations or the need to anticipate how to remain on good social footing can be enviable to those with more social instinct.

Erase themselves and their contributions simply not seeing that they make an impact or have an impact to make.

Complete obliviousness to how benefiting others increases personal satisfaction.

Blind to how gifts, insight and understanding benefit others and fail to see how loved ones need them to show up.

Narcissism around autonomy including delusions about own self-reliance and of being self-made. Take others for granted out of a failure to recognise how much others actually do for them and accommodate their preferences.

Generally have the suspicion and cynicism around interpersonal gatherings, with a distaste for “everyone gets along with one another” idealism, underneath which is hidden heartbreak and assumption that others don’t value their presence.

Characteristics are from John Luckovich’s book, the Instinctual Drives and the Enneagram.

Development of social

There isn’t a single human that doesn’t need to attend on or develop social at some point in their lives. That includes social dominant people.

Developmental opportunities are more likely than not for dominants and blinds. For social types, there may be an issue that is caused by the passion of your type in one of the self-preservation zones. For social blinds, there may be multiple issues caused by neglect in the social zones.

Actualised social instinct

Russ Hudson describes this as true service in the world. John Lucovich describes it thus: “the immediacy of the awake social instinct brings us into true relationships, where we not only experience nourishment in contributing our values and care, we also feel a larger presence that we are inextricably a part of.”

Instinct and type combinations

A note about contradictions with type

For certain types, the social focus appears to contradict the passion of the Enneagram type. Building on the work of her teacher Claudio Naranjo, Beatrice Chestnut calls this situation ‘countertype’.

At the end of the day, however, the instincts and the passions are a measure of two different things. Also, there can be unexpected aspects or traits with all the 27 instinct/type combinations.

The best application of the theory of countertype is just to bear in mind that it can be difficult for certain self-preservation subtypes to identify their core type from the prevalent descriptions. Otherwise, paying too much attention to any contradictions (or allowing for too many) isn’t helpful.

The subtype pattern

Beatrice Chestnut and Uranio Paes have identified some key interventions to do to that counteract or work with the preoccupations of the social subtypes. They are not exhaustive.

Social subtype deconstructors (from CP Enneagram Academy, Providing Effective Enneagram Solutions Workshop)

Type Eight

Hold yourself back from taking action to protect or support others

Allow yourself to be protected and cared for by others while not doing anything for them

Don’t react when you feel betrayed or insulted by an ally or a friend

Type Nine

Allow yourself to feel sadness and loneliness

Consciously experience being left out or forgotten by others

Focus on yourself as an individual – do things only for yourself

Be inside a group without doing anything

Do more for self and less for others

Verbalise needs in the group

Type One

Be publicly imperfect

Do things the wrong way

Do things according to other people’s right ways

Allow yourself to be taught by others

Type Twos

Make yourself unimportant or anonymous

Show incompetence and fragility

Be out of control

Give over control to others

Confess to manipulation

Type Three

Do things that will make you unpopular in an obvious way

Emphasise your weakness in public

Experience ostracism

Act shy

Be led by others whilst remaining passive

Play a game you will lose at

Do something you will fail at

Type Four

Don’t complain about anything

Be very well and happy

Visualise everything going well

Talk about all the good things happening in your life

Own and emphasis all of your positive qualities

Type Five

Look stupid/arrogant

Ask stupid questions in public

Say ‘I don’t know’ even when you know

Admit to all the things you really don’t know

Speak about superficial things

Talk about personal things to people outside of your special group

Type Six

Be irresponsible and lazy

Trust your instinct and impulses more than your intellect

Confront authority recklessly

Maintain uncertainty about social issues

Break the rules of your chosen authority

Type Seven

Be more selfish

Focus more on yourself than others or groups

Make yourself unavailable for others

Ask for help and for more things for self

Allow yourself to feel pain and discomfort without escaping or making it better

How the passion manifests for social types

To read the three versions of a single type, you can do that on the type-specific pages.

Note that when we move along our connection points, we ‘keep the same instinct’ (and instinctual stacking). So if you hold questions about your type, read the social versions of the connection points as well. As a reminder:

  • If you are a type Eight, that is types Two and Five
  • For type Nines, that is types Three and Six
  • If you are a type One, that is types Seven and Four
  • For type Twos, that is types Four and Eight
  • If you are a type Three, that is types Six and Nine
  • For type Fours, that is type One and Two
  • If you are a type Five, that is types Eight and Seven
  • For type Sixes, that is types Nine and Three
  • If you are a type Seven, that is types Five and One

How the passion shows up up in social types

Type Eight: Looks for the experience of essential power through relationships and having a strong influence.

Type Nine: Seeking to experience essential harmony through their relationships and their contributions to others.

Type One: Looks to essential integrity in relationships, causes and vocation.

Type Two: Seeks to experience essential love in their relationships, vocation and sense of belonging.

Type Three: Looks to experience essential value in their relationships and vocation, particularly with those people with whom they experience belonging.

Type Four: Seeks to experience essential depth in their relationships, creative offerings and social roles.

Type Five: Looks to experience essential insight in and through their relationships, interests and contributions.

Type Six: Wants to experience essential truth in their relationships, contributions and causes.

Type Seven: Wants to experience essential freedom through their relationships and vocation.

Enneagram Virtues

Posted on by DrToni

The Virtues

The Virtues represent who we are in higher emotional awareness. They are expressed when we let go of the emotional vices of our personality, which is who we are in lower emotional awareness. The virtues represent our truest, most authentic expressions of ourselves, and are always the complete opposite of the passions, which represent our less authentic, egoic selves.

The path between vice and virtue requires self-observation, self-awareness, and commitment to growth. Lifelong inner work helps us move toward our virtue.

Type One

THE VICE OF ANGER LOOKS LIKE:

· channeled into hostility toward what is imperfect

· directed at whatever is not ideal and trying to fix it

· marked by criticism, judgment, or a sense of tension in the body

THE VIRTUE OF SERENITY LOOKS LIKE:

· extraordinarily calm, relaxed, and filled with a sense of balance within the body

· allowing life to be exactly what it is, and without containment

· it is freedom

Type Two

THE VICE OF PRIDE LOOKS LIKE:

· a need to be important to people

· cycling through self-elevation and devaluation

· viewing the self as the one who can deliver help without needing anything in return (and yet using expectation as a manipulation tactic)

THE VIRTUE OF HUMILITY LOOKS LIKE:

· knowing how important they are without feeling the need to increase or decrease their self-worth

· letting go of the belief that others need them to survive and allowing the self to be exactly as important & worthy as they are

Type Three

THE VICE OF SELF-DECEIT LOOKS LIKE:

· an over-identification with the personality or outer persona

· believing they have to earn love by being worthy

· being the shape-shifting tendency itself

· taking on the ideas/desires of others as their own personal identity.

THE VIRTUE OF VERACITY LOOKS LIKE:

· being nothing but who they really are without regard of what others think

· pure authenticity

· slowing down and acknowledging their own personal feelings – content to just “be”

Type Four

THE VICE OF ENVY LOOKS LIKE:

· a sense of lack, especially having to do with believing they are missing something that others have, therefore others are happier, better, more deserving, etc.

· a sense of inner deficiency

· feeling inferior OR superior (comparison)

THE VIRTUE OF EQUANIMITY LOOKS LIKE:

· balance in how they see the self and others

· become detached from emotions in a healthy way – emotions exist but not in control

· become more grounded in their bodies and recognize that they have all that they need & nothing is missing

Type Five

THE VICE OF AVARICE LOOKS LIKE:

· withholding out of fear of depletion

· holding too tightly to what they already have (resources, energy)

· the heart shuts down for both giving and receiving

· compulsion to hoard (knowledge, energy)

THE VIRTUE OF NON-ATTACHMENT LOOKS LIKE:

· an open-handedness around emotion, energy, and resources, which leads to a sense of generosity

· in sync with the flow of life – no need to hoard time, knowledge, or energy, for there is no impending impoverishmen

Type Six

THE VICE OF FEAR LOOKS LIKE:

· subconscious need to protect the self from everything happening around them

· accelerating thoughts and conclusions as a result – this acceleration can feel like spinning in their minds

· hesitancy to do anything permanent

THE VIRTUE OF COURAGE LOOKS LIKE:

· taking responsibility for permanent action

· not delegating authority or power to others but taking charge and becoming the leader of their own life

· doing things with the heart open & vulnerable

· giving reassurance to oneself

Type Seven

THE VICE OF GLUTTONY LOOKS LIKE:

· indulgence of life

· a desire to sample everything life has to offer without limitation

· the pursuit of MORE – at least a little bit of everything

· jumping around from experience to experience

THE VIRTUE OF SOBRIETY LOOKS LIKE:

· being grounded in the moment; undistracted

· in touch with the self & with the present, rather than running to the next jolt of excitement or interest

· focused on what is in front of them & truly experiencing their lives

· coming home to a deeper part of the self

Type Eight

THE VICE OF LUST LOOKS LIKE:

· a passion for excess

· “anything worth doing is worth overdoing”

· can be about some sort of physical gratification, but it’s mostly about finding a more intense experience and getting more out of life

· often marked by reactivity

THE VIRTUE OF INNOCENCE LOOKS LIKE:

· responding in a fresh way to each moment without judgment, memory, or expectation

· an openness and vulnerability to be impacted by the moment

· often marked by non-reactivity

Type Nine

THE VICE OF SLOTH LOOKS LIKE:

· a “psycho-spiritual” laziness – the state of not being in touch with the core self

· asleep to the true essence – spend energy outside (to keep the outside world out and the inside world in) rather than paying attention to the self

THE VIRTUE OF RIGHT ACTION LOOKS LIKE:

· really refers to “right action”

· a sense of action that is ingrained in the core sense of self – total engagement with the self and a willingness to act on it

· full commitment of the self to doing what is needed

NOTES:

We (@eqenneagram & @ninetypesco) wrote this post based on our conversations, our individual understandings, and observations of the passions. If you want to learn more about this important piece of enneagram theory, we recommend listening to the Enneagram 2.0 podcast episode called “The passion, the virtue, and the path between them” (May 28, 2020). Uranio Paes and Beatrice Chestnut do an incredible job of explaining the passions in detail in that episode!

Enneagram Passions

Posted on by DrToni

Enneagram Passions

Claudio Naranjo placed great emphasis on the passions as he evolved Ichazo’s ego-types into the Enneagram personality types as we know them today.

Oscar Ichazo‘s Enneagram of Passions lies at the heart of the Enneagram personality types. Whereas the fixations describe the intellectual part of the ego, the passions are described as the emotional part of the ego that supports the fixation.

The passion appears when the corresponding virtue is lacking. The passions were described by some early teachers of the Enneagram personality types as the Enneagram sins (7 deadly sins + 2).

Ichazo’s original passions

Taken from a book called Transpersonal Psychologies edited by Charles T. Tart, the descriptions of the passions below come from John C. Lilly and Joseph E. Hart who attended the 1970 Arica retreat with Oscar Ichazo.

  1. Anger – Again the ego will keep the person in resentful anger because he is not perfect, nor are the people around him.
  2. Pride – The Ego-Flattery is dependent upon the approval and applause of others, and he works hard to get them. The constant approval and flattery of others produce Ego Pride.
  3. Deceit – One who wants to be known for his accomplishments, positions of influence, and efficiency find it difficult to admit anything that might mar his public image, so he often is forced into deceit to protect his ego.
  4. Envy – The Ego-Melancholy person, hoping for the perfect mate or situation in order to feel really real and fulfilled, tends to think most others have achieved this and, of course, is envious of their seeming happiness and earthiness.
  5. Avarice – Anonymity, and security are important to the Ego-Stinge in order that he can safely watch the world from the peephole of his hiding place. Not only is he avid for the means to maintain his corner, he also is greedy for knowledge of what is going on in life, so that he can feel alive.
  6. Fear – There is a necessary instinctive fear of dangerous situations in order to safeguard our physical existence. We wouldn’t last long without it. But for the Ego-Coward, all of life is threatening. Enemies surround him, so he must always be on the alert and find someone stronger to protect him. Though such constant fear is painful, it is familiar and safe. To live without it would leave one too vulnerable to an unexpected attack.
  7. Gluttony – If a little of something is pleasant, then an unlimited amount should bring unheard-of pleasures, so the Ego Plan feels. This projection of present enjoyment into future ecstasy through more and more of the same is a recurring emotional reaction to the good, though each time it ends in uncomfortable satiation and physical distress.
  8. Excess – The person seeking justice and truth very often overdoes his vengeance in his great moral indignation at injustice. Just as he can punish too severely one who he thinks has wronged him, he can be even more punishing to himself when he feels he has failed in justice. Often he will do physical damage to himself.
  9. Laziness – For the ego-indolent, the ego will persuade him to be very lazy in searching for his essence, though he may be hyperactive in finding ways to avoid working toward his essence.

The passions and the personality types

In relation to the Enneagram personality types, the passions can be better understood as representing underlying energy in support of the personality type. The labels used for the passions can’t simply be understood through the common dictionary definition however and need a reinterpretation that aligns with the personality types.

  1. Anger – energy that corrects and improves what’s unacceptable. It’s primarily directed at myself and secondarily at the world around me.
  2. Pride – an inflated feeling of self-importance in the lives of others. Others need me because I uniquely understand and can meet their needs and desires.
  3. Deceit – involves taking on a persona that appeals to an intended audience. I have difficulty knowing who I am separate from the image I’m presenting.
  4. Envy – a one-sided comparison between the positives of others and the negatives of oneself. What’s lacking in me that I don’t have what they have?
  5. Avarice – a hoarding of resources and minimizing of needs in order to avoid intrusions. I’m more comfortable observing the world from a distance.
  6. Fear – arises from a sense of uncertainty and doubt within. I scan others and the world around me to locate dangers and find something to reassure me.
  7. Gluttony – of the mind is the pull felt toward interesting possibilities. Why get mired in boredom or discomfort when pleasurable alternatives are available?
  8. Excess – energy needs to be released through activity and expression. It feels natural for me but I may have to sit on it when others find it too much.
  9. Laziness – a difficulty with defining and accomplishing goals. I tend to go along with what others are doing and lose myself in routine and comfort.
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