What are enneagram subtypes?
Learning about subtypes can be helpful along our journey to work out our enneagram type, as subtypes can cause the same type to present differently.
In simple terms, subtypes are different expressions of your enneagram type, which are influenced by the instinctual needs you prioritise meeting.
The subtypes of each enneagram type can look quite different from each other, and you can even have countertypes that share the same core motivation but don’t seem to behave in the way you’d expect.
Understanding instinctual needs
According to Beatrice Chestnut in The Complete Enneagram, there are three instinctual goals that all animals seek to meet:
“The Self-Preservation instinct focuses attention on and shapes behaviour around issues related to survival and material security. It generally directs energy towards safety and security concerns, including having enough resources, avoiding danger, and maintaining a basic sense of structure and well-being. Beyond these basic concerns, the self-preservation instinct may place emphasis on other areas of security in terms of whatever that means for a person of a specific type (once it mixes with one of the nine passions).
The Social instinct focuses attention on and shapes behaviour around issues related to belonging, recognition, and relationships in social groups. It drives us to “get along with the herd” - our family, the community, and the groups we belong to. This instinct also relates to how much power or standing one has relative to other members of “the group” in terms of whatever that might mean for a person or a specific type.
The Sexual instinct focuses attention on and shapes behaviour around issues related to the quality and status of relationships with specific individuals. Sometimes referred to as the “One-to-One” instinct, it generally directs energy toward the achievement and maintenance of sexual connections, interpersonal attraction, and bonding. This instinct seeks a sense of well-being through one-to-one connections with people in terms of whatever that means for a person of a specific type.”
Understanding enneagram type structure
These instinctual needs lead to the formation of subtypes, which Beatrice Chestnut describes in this way:
“Subtypes exist within each of the nine types, broken down into three different versions according to how the passion of each each type combines with one of three instinctual biases or goals that all social creatures share, directed either towards Self-Preservation, Social Interaction or Sexual (or One-to-One) Bonding.”
To paint a picture of how these instincts show up in the enneagram, we need to first talk about our type structure. This is because each enneagram type is held in place by a complex psychological structure made up of a few core components. These include:
Focus of attention
Patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving
A passion (or emotional driver)
When it comes to subtypes, the passion is the most important component of our type structure to discuss.
How the passion shows up for type four subtypes
Our type’s passion can be described as our “emotional driver based on an implicit view of what you need to survive and how to get it.” In other words, it’s often the part of our personality steering the ship as we try to navigate the world.
If we take type four as an example, their passion is envy, which can be described as “a painful sense of lack and a craving towards that which is felt lacking.” When expressed as this type tries to meet the different instinctual needs, this forms three distinct subtypes:
The type four with a self-preservation subtype expresses envy in identifying those who seem to be living a special life and wanting the things that seem to be making those people happy - or something even more special. The self preservation instinct is expressed in behaviour that helps the type four to preserve the feeling of the “self” and being alive.
The type four with a social subtype expresses envy in identifying social groups they would like to belong to, where they experience feelings of being both superior and inferior, which leads them to seek to obtain the approval of the group by behaving slightly differently to everyone else, so they can be recognised as an individual but still experience belonging within the group. The social instinct is expressed in the way this subtype relates to groups.
The type four with a sexual subtype expresses envy through identifying the qualities of someone special and using competition and rivalry as a way of gaining a sense of self-worth. The sexual instinct is expressed in the way this type four identifies a significant person to compete with, in the form of wanting to be better or more authentic than the other, and leads them to constantly monitoring who is superior and who is inferior within their rivalry.
And then there are the countertypes
A countertype is the subtype of each enneagram type that behaves in a way that seems to contradict the patterns of that type.
A good example of a countertype is the sexual five, which I identified as for a few years before finally working out my enneagram type.
This subtype sexual five looks different to other fives as they prioritise the sexual instinct, which is the need we all have to experience chemistry and depth within a relationship. This means that the sexual five may present as more outgoing and energetic than the other subtypes of five as they seek to establish that connection with people they find interesting.
While this seemingly contradicts the perspective of the five that is driven by a desire to limit intrusion from a demanding world, it just means they try to meet this need in a way that reflects their perspective of the world - other types would approach this in a different way.
Working with subtypes
It’s usually easy to identify the repressed instinct within your instinctual stack as we know the parts of us that we need to give more attention to then it comes down to working out which of the others is your dominant and supporting instinct. The goal is then to work on easing back on the amount of attention you pay to your dominant instinct and to pay more attention to your repressed instinct so you can balance your attention equally in meeting your instinctual needs.
Hopefully, you’ve found this brief introduction to subtypes helpful, and if you’re still unsure of your enneagram type or subtype, try booking an enneagram typing interview to see what insights you can gain from working with an experienced practitioner. You might be surprised by how much another perspective can offer on your journey to work out your type.
