# Is your instinctual variant stacking the same for every type in your tritype?



## an absurd man (Jul 22, 2012)

For example, if you identify with so/sx and your tritype is 135, is your tritype 1 so/sx, 3 so/sx, 5 so/sx?

Or does instinctual variant stacking apply only to your core type? or does every type in your tritype have a different stacking?

Is it more helpful to start with identifying your instinctual variant stacking, and then looking for your core type?


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## Swordsman of Mana (Jan 7, 2011)

Striver said:


> For example, if you identify with so/sx and your tritype is 135, is your tritype 1 so/sx, 3 so/sx, 5 so/sx?
> Or does instinctual variant stacking apply only to your core type? or does every type in your tritype have a different stacking?
> Is it more helpful to start with identifying your instinctual variant stacking, and then looking for your core type?


I've considered this myself. if my fixes each had their own variant, I'm not sure what variant my 1w9 fix would have, but my 3w4 fix would definitely be 3w4 Sx/So


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## The Exception (Oct 26, 2010)

My core type is 5w6, leaning towards sp/so stacking with a possibility of so/sp.

My gut fix is 9w1, which I would also guess sp/so stacking.

I'm less confident of my heart fix. I've tentatively decided on 4w5. I do not relate to SP 4 descriptions though. SO/SX for the 4 stack.


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## meridannight (Nov 23, 2012)

i don't experience having different stackings at different times or under different circumstances. from my experience my stacking appears to be constant and nonchanging.

tritype doesn't influence you that much anyway. it's just a small bit of flavor that can distinguish you from others of the same core type. it's not really that significant. saying your subtypes have a whole type of their own is going a bit too far, i find. you don't have differing personalities vying for dominance (unless you're schizophrenic or something) inside you. and stacking is a pretty significant influence on its own. 

to put it mathematically: wing, connection points, and stacking have much more influence on you than your tritype. if one says tritype influences you to somewhere in the range of 1-3% approx, the wings of those types there will influence you way below 1%. trace amounts. i think this is overcomplicating things. enneagram is complex but not for the sole purpose of it.


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## Paradigm (Feb 16, 2010)

Most people subscribe to the theory that they are the same. I believe instincts are too deeply held to change from fix to fix.

A _much _smaller population theorizes that our instincts "cycle" from fix to fix. My tritype is 614 sp/sx, so my cycle would be:
6w7 sp/sx/so
1w9 sx/so/sp
4w5 so/sp/sx
I don't like this theory, as it seems too much like cherry-picking traits and a shortcut for self-exploration.

As for randomly changing, no, it's most commonly only newcomers who believe in that, usually because of misinformation.


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## Dyidia (May 28, 2010)

Instincts are meant to be the most stable part of what we are. If it changes at all, it would be because each instinct is associated with a given center. Ichazo spoke of three instincts similar to what we use now. His correlation was...
Physical Center - Conservation Instinct
Emotional Center - Relation Instinct
Intellectual Center - Adaptation Instinct

However, this is different from the instincts as they are now understood. I've tried to summarize Ichazo's Trifix here.


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## Doll (Sep 6, 2012)

I ave a hard time associating my other types with other instinctual stackings. I think they'd all be sx-first, at the very least. That never really changes for me... even though 7 sx/so and 9 sx/so are different than a 4 sx/so.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

I think I'm pretty consistently sx/sp for all my fixations.


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## an absurd man (Jul 22, 2012)

The "Enneagram with Instinctual Variants" test at eclecticenergies.com gives results as a list indicating your core enneagram type along with the dominant instinct in descending order of likeliness. The dominant instinct may be different for each possible type on that list.

Now, I'm wondering if those core type/dominant instinct pairings only apply to your possible core type, OR if you can directly infer your tritype from the list. If the latter is true, then apparently each type in your tritype has a different instinct. 

Or, the test is just bunk...


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## Paradigm (Feb 16, 2010)

Striver said:


> [snip]


I think (I didn't make the test, so I might be wrong) that test runs off the idea that each instinct can manifest differently according to type. This theory is Naranjo's, who is a prominent Enneagram author, and can be viewed in summaries here: http://personalitycafe.com/enneagra...inctual-variants-stackings-2.html#post2986192. 

In any case, it sounds to me like your speculation here is putting too much stock in test results. The results only show you probability of being X type at that particular time, so they're more of a starting point. I test as a 594 when I'm really a 614, so inference can go wrong at times


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## an absurd man (Jul 22, 2012)

Paradigm said:


> I think (I didn't make the test, so I might be wrong) that test runs off the idea that each instinct can manifest differently according to type. This theory is Naranjo's, who is a prominent Enneagram author, and can be viewed in summaries here: http://personalitycafe.com/enneagra...inctual-variants-stackings-2.html#post2986192.
> 
> In any case, it sounds to me like your speculation here is putting too much stock in test results. The results only show you probability of being X type at that particular time, so they're more of a starting point. I test as a 594 when I'm really a 614, so inference can go wrong at times


So you're saying the results indicate possible core type and dominant instinct only? My results from that test were consistent, giving me 5w4 sx as most likely, every time, even though I think that's wrong. 

I have read about the instinctual variants and stacking descriptions for each type from that thread, at least only for the ones that most concerned me. I have read about some type descriptions in detail from _Wisdom of the Enneagram _by Riso & Hudson, but I also refer to tests for some reference.


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## Paradigm (Feb 16, 2010)

Striver said:


> So you're saying the results indicate possible core type and dominant instinct only? My results from that test were consistent, giving me 5w4 sx as most likely, every time, even though I think that's wrong.


Yeah, that's how I interpret it. To give an example: An SP-first 1 can look like a SOC-first 6, so you might get a result of 90% SP1 and 89% SOC6.



> I have read about the instinctual variants and stacking descriptions for each type from that thread, at least only for the ones that most concerned me. I have read about some type descriptions in detail from _Wisdom of the Enneagram _by Riso & Hudson, but I also refer to tests for some reference.


_Wisdom_ is a good book to start with, though they have inaccurate interpretations of certain types. Many people like Naranjo, but they report feeling like he punched them in the stomach when they read their chapter. I think Palmer is pretty good, too, and Maitri is supposed to be good.

I would suggest rethinking your "likely types," as sometimes we can get stuck on certain types while not realizing how much we're like others. I thought I was 9-fixed for over a year until people pointed out how 1-like I am. But, on a similar note, it's best to disregard tritype until you understand your core type well... Otherwise it's too easy to rationalize your core type based on tritype. Your core type should, ideally, stand on its own and explain the vast majority of your personality.


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## Varyafiriel (Sep 5, 2012)

I'm pretty sure my tritype is 641. I think the instincts change from fix to fix. 

I have the following stacking: 6w5 sp/so - 4wx so/sx - 1w2 so/sp. I don't relate to the 4 sp description at all, so there has to be a change or I don't have Four in my tripype, but I would rule that out.


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## Flaming Bassoon (Feb 15, 2013)

It's interesting theory. For me the stackings would probably be 4w5 so/sx, then 6w7 so/sx, and 9w1 sx/so.


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## Jerdle (Dec 30, 2015)

I'm clearly sx/sp for all 3 fixes.


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## Skeletalz (Feb 21, 2015)

This is a bit too fractal imo but whatever: 1w9 sx/sp, 4w5 sx/so, 5w4 sx/sp


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## piscesfish (Nov 30, 2013)

I think each of my fixes (1w2-4w5-6w7) is sp/so. Reading individual descriptions for each fix with my normal instinct, it's pretty clear for me at least that they're all the same (especially 4 sp/so-- it seems almost 1-like)


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