Overview
The three instincts are SP (self-preservation), SO (social) and SX (sexual). The descriptions of instincts by authors are usually good. SO is the most difficult to capture and not always very well explained.
Everyone is fixated in one of these as a primary instinct, the most active and also the most neurotic: our best strength and worst weakness. A second instinct is chosen as a secondary priority, it is sort of lukewarm. The last instinct is mostly repressed. The combination of the first and second instinct is called the “instinctual stacking” or “stack”. For example, a SP/SX 2w1, is a 2w1 with first instinct SP and second instinct SX.
The instincts were first described by Ichazo. He did not call them instincts but something like “areas”. Naranjo emphasized them and called the combination of the type and the first instinct a “subtype”. For example, SP 9 is a subtype of type 9. The instinctual stackings were introduced later.
Subtypes
There are 9 types. Most of them are difficult to understand. Types 7 and 9 are the most common, types 4 and 5 probably the rarest. When it comes to describe 27 subtypes, things become adventurous. Types are subtle to capture; it becomes very difficult to say something reliable about 27 subtypes without significant mistakes or approximations.
Because of their high prevalence, the description of the subtypes of 7 and 9 are usually good. Good descriptions of these subtypes are available here:
- Dr. Tom: Subtypes of Type 9
- Dr. Tom: Subtypes of Type 7
The subtypes of type 1 are fairly well known too.
Even for these well known subtypes, there is always a great margin of differences between people. I guess two SX 9s will never experience or describe fusion the same way. For some SP 9s (appetite), the comfort in food or routines does not even exist. Everything is to be taken with a very open mind.
The imitation game
Some approximations happen mainly with the rare types, as they are most often perceived as a confusion of a more common type. Not only it comes from our difficulty to identify the types of real persons, but also from our almost total inability to form a representation of the inner functioning of a type too far away from us. We kind of fill the void with questionable guesses.
For example, SP 2 is accurately called “me first” or “child” or “privilege”. Let’s start with a generic take from this website:
Excelling in creating warm, personable relationships with many kinds of people, this subtype spends much attention on supporting and nurturing others, which can lead to a feeling of entitlement when it comes to getting one’s own needs met. This can contribute to a prideful attitude, or an insistence on going last that supports another kind of specialness, as in false modesty.
Most of it is true. But it could be interpreted in many different ways.
Now, let’s play an imitation game. I’m writing the following texts with three different types in mind, one of them is type 2, the other two are sneaky rephrasings designed to sound like 2. Rather than generalities about these types, they are possible manifestations.
Which one is the real 2?
| A | SP 2: Like all 2s, he is responsive and personable. A bit childlike, this 2 appears to be slightly naïve and gullible. His nurturing and positive curiosity for others naturally lifts people’s mood. Unlike other 2s, he often puts his own needs first. Quite sociable and very friendly, he often gets a special treatment thanks to his ability to attract attention and to bypass limits using his charm. Generous and positive towards others, sometimes flattering, sometime manipulatively so, he can be quite self-centred and dismiss other people’s needs when focussed on his own wants. |
| B | SP 2: Like any 2, SP 2 wants to be loved and recognized for his doings. But he can be shy or socially uncomfortable. He appears as modest, supportive and prioritizing others at the surface but hides a desire to be recognized. He can choose to stand behind a stronger or more self-assured figure. Instead of serving the group directly, he serves this person with who he builds an almost symbiotic link. He can act as a grey eminence quite inoffensively. This link can feel empowering and nurturing to both persons. But any time the link is threatened to be severed, his modesty seems to have been overestimated. He can expresses a bitter sense of being neglected or undermined. He is subtly jealous. |
| C | SP 2: Very warm and emotionally embracing like any 2, SP 2 sees himself as a selfless helper. SP combined with type 2 gives him a natural physical nurturing capability. He is sincere, does not over-evaluate himself about any capability but is still far from modest and has a high sense of his importance to people. While he is consciously focussed on other’s needs, he becomes blind to what is given to him. Since he is primarily focussed on SP needs like health, possessions and security, his neediness expects more concrete rewards. He not only craves for attention, but also to be taken care of practically. Being lovable like a child is often enough to be taken care of, and sometimes he doesn’t even bother to give in order to get. But he still perceives himself as a selfless helper. |
Answer:
- A are aspects of type 7: a certain style of childlike 7. “Nurturing” is a sneaky rephrasing of “antidepressant”.
- B is an approval seeker. It is an aspect of the 3 > 9 arrow, and fits a 9 with a strong desire for achievement and recognition but a high social anxiety. It is about merging and personal boundaries.
- C is really SP 2: self-worth, inflation and neediness in the context of SP.
Subtypes should be read with more prudence than type descriptions. As a reminder: a subtype is not a different type. SP 2 is not less a self-flattening giver/helper/nurturer than the other 2s. Moreover, the countertypes are not “opposite” to the type, they are only “counter” about one aspect of it.
Enneagram Elements 