Enneagram Lesson 3 - The Instincts (Subtypes)
There are three basic survival instincts that inform the Enneagram
Welcome to lesson three on the Enneagram!
Need to catch up? Unlike most other things I’ve written about, this study will make much more sense if you don’t miss a week. The good news is you can catch up whenever you have time.
You can read the previous posts here:
OK, so you know that scene in the movie Hoosiers where Gene Hackman’s character coaches his first practice? He doesn’t let the players shoot the ball or scrimmage. They just work on fundamentals like passing and dribbling.
That’s how we are approaching this study.
The temptation is to jump right in and assign yourself one of the nine types.
But, there is some fundamental work to do first.
In our last lesson, we looked at the centers that the types are based in — Body, Head and Heart.
Today, we will look at the three “instincts” or “subtypes.”
Is it weird to learn about subtypes before the types?
Maybe, but I’m in charge around here. :)
I didn’t learn about the subtypes until working with the Enneagram for over ten years. I wish I had learned about them first, because I find them more foundational than the types. That is why I prefer to call them “instincts,” but we will use subtype language as well because that’s how most others talk about them. For today, I will mostly be calling them “instincts.”
What are we talking about when we talk about instincts (subtypes)?
Instincts are biological drivers that we inherited as a species that helped us survive, create bonds of belonging, influence others and make decisions. They are primal and deeply rooted in us. We all have all three instincts in us; but much like the three centers, we have a dominant instinct, a secondary instinct and a repressed instinct.
Some say that these three instincts evolved with us — that as a species we started with one, moved to the second, then onto the third. I will explain each of them in their suggested evolutionary order.
The Self-Preservation Instinct (SP) - This is the most primal of all instincts. As the term suggests, this instinct is about making sure we stay alive. On Maslow’s pyramid, it’s all of the base level stuff. This instinct is concerned with physical safety and survival, material and financial security, and comfort. The Self-Preservation instinct is sometimes called the “conservation” instinct because people who are primarily driven by it tend to conserve energy and resources for a future threat. While anyone can have anxiety and anxiety disorders, the SP type is more prone to them.
The One on One Instinct. (SX or 1:1) - Note that you will often see this instinct abbreviated SX because for many years this was called the Sexual Instinct. There is still value in knowing why it was called that, but most modern Enneagram teachers have steered away from sexual language for obvious reasons. This instinct is focused primarily on the intensity of experiences and one-on-one relationships. The “sexual” language developed as seeing this instinct as part of our need to pass along our DNA and reproduce as a species. This, of course, is done through one-on-one bonding; and often through dominance. SX or 1:1 people tend to unconsciously see others as individuals to dominate or emotionally try to “conquer.”
The Social Instinct (SO) - This instinct is mostly concerned with creating or adapting to social orders that create safety and comfort. This instinct is seen as “more evolved” as human beings began to focus more on survival and success as as a social endeavor instead of relying solely on dominance and individuality. (If you are primarily the SO subtype it doesn’t mean you’re more evolved as an individual. We all have all of these, you’ve just focused on this one.) The SO instinct is largely concerned with social norms, status levels, and decisions that lead to the greatest good for the community. In essence, if the tribe survives and thrives, so will I. This is sometimes referred to as the “navigating” or “group” instinct.
Important- these are not personality types!
They are survival and success instincts.
But, each subtype puts a different primal influece on each type or personality.
So for instance, on the Enneagram, you aren’t just a “7.” You are either a SP-7, SX-7 or SO-7.
For me personally, my default setting is SP-7. My dominant self-preservation instinct tempers me, especially compared to SX-7s. This is why I was mistyped for a decade as a 4. I didn’t think I could be a 7 and an introvert because so many people immediately refer to the 7 type as “the life of the party.” And that did’t feel like me at all. (Unless you give me a few bourbons and a microphone, then game on. ) “Life of the party” is a mostly fair way to talk about some aspects of the SX-7 or SO-7, but not always the SP-7.
BUT we are all still 7s — sharing a deep need to avoid pain and seek pleasure, living from our Head Center, expressing some form of constant optimism, often living in the future, fearing being trapped, prone to overindulgence; but at our very best, focusing our often creative talents on worthwhile goals that help others and give us individual joy and meaning.
That’s why the subtypes matter so much.
They can be harder to pin down because we all operate from all three. My experience is that it is best to learn about them before typing yourself, but often easier to pin your primary instinct after typing yourself.
One last thing to understand about our instincts:
Our primary instinct tends to be over-used. We’ve learned to lean into it too much and have fallen into some bad habits or beliefs because of that.
Our third or least accessed instinct tends to be repressed. We don’t lean into it enough. It creates blind spots for us.
Our secondary instinct tends to be our most healthy and balanced. Learning that about ourselves helps us intentionally navigate more often from that instinct.
For today, spend some time thinking about if one of the three instincts seems to feel like how you primarily approach life. We will come back to them after we go through the nine types.
Don’t let this overwhelm you, but this all means there are really 27 “personality” types. (The 9 types x the 3 subtypes.)
But, good news!
We get to shoot baskets tomorrow!
We will be looking at the three Body-Centered Types — the 8, 9 and 1.