27 SUBTYPES | THE THREE INSTINCTS OF THE ENNEAGRAM TYPES
We have three basic instinctual drives that are essential for human experience, all three residing in us as necessary body-based primal forces. They are separate from personality and are behind our life strategies, often unconscious, yet powerfully directing our fundamental way of being. While these instincts are always there, one of the three becomes dominant and is more easily accessed and, therefore, more easily used than the others. When the dominant instinct merges with the core Enneagram a new character structure is formed. These are the 27 Subtypes according to the model of Claudio Naranjo.
The iEQ9 Integrative Enneagram incorporates the ‘instincts of human behaviour’ which overlay our type, merging an instinctual need with the emotional need or fear of the core Enneagram type. If one imagines the Enneagram as a plate of food, the instinct determines what you eat first or last. This relates to what we believe is good for us, or what we believe we require to get what we want and need in this world.
These instincts relate to fundamental instinctual intelligences that have developed to ensure our survival as individuals and as a human species. Recent advances in neuroscience research have confirmed the strong and often-invisible way these instincts ‘show up’ in modern society, for example, how a perceived threat to social status can trigger a primal fight-or-flight reaction.
To explore the 27 Subtypes, select an Enneagram Type below to display that Type’s 3 instinctual subtypes.
SELF PRESERVATION |
We each have a self-preservation instinct, to preserve our body, its life and effective function. This instinct, therefore, focuses us on physical safety, well-being, material security and comfort. Anxiety or stress may combine with this instinct to drive us to conserve or hoard energy and resources in response to demands from the environment or other people. |
ONE-ON-ONE |
We each have a drive to project ourselves into the environment, form alliances and extend ourselves through the generations – either literally by passing on our DNA or more symbolically by passing on ideas, leaving a legacy. This instinct focuses on the intensity of experiences and one-on-one relationships, driving us to actively seek out opportunities that promise strong energetic connections with others. |
SOCIAL |
We each have a social instinct to get along with others and form secure social bonds. This brings a focus on interactions and relationships with communities and groups and a high ‘social awareness’ of norms and status levels in groups. This instinct focuses energy on working towards shared purpose or the greater good. |
