# Sex, Social, or Self-Preservation



## Palefina (Jan 22, 2015)

I've just begun familiarizing myself with this test, and I haven't gotten a terrible amount farther than where I was. But I read more about it, understanding very rudimentary aspects. I read about multiple types, and came across a test. The test results seem to fit me very well, but then again, I have a very limited understanding of the test. Also, it didn't tell me whether I was leaning toward So, Sx, or Sp. Reading these descriptions, I can honestly see all three fitting myself.

The test describes me as 5w6, 1w9, 2w1. Like I said, I have read a basic summary. I am almost 100% that at least 5w6 is accurate. The others seem correct, I suppose, but I don't really know where else to compare them to (although they do align with me quite nicely). However, I'm still unsure how to determine the So, Sx, Sp. Are there any determining characteristics when paired with my type that could help me narrow this down?
I'm an INTJ, if that helps minimally, as I know there aren't any direct correlations.


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## Zamyatin (Jun 10, 2014)

Rule of thumb for identifying instincts is to look at the topics you tend to gravitate towards when talking with your friends.

Self-preservation types tend to spend a lot of time chatting with their friends about bills, parking problems, heating at your residence, comfort, shopping, food.
Social types tend to talk about other people, friends, what's going on in their social lives, gossip, politics, celebrities, workplace drama, or other people-related topics. They might not like all of these topics (lots of soc-dom people hate gossip or talking about celebrities, for example) but if you listen to their conversation, the focus on what's going on in the social world stands out.
Sexual types tend to spend time talking about experiences, how they felt about them and how intense they were, lots of attraction/repulsion language. ("I loved that movie! It was so powerful" is an sx-sort of comment) Aside from that, their topics tend to be a bit more varied than the previous type instincts, so it's often easier to recognize sx types by their body language or behavior, not their conversation.

While these aren't clear cut and conclusive pointers, if you recognize a given preference in your conversations that's probably a good place to start.


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## MuChApArAdOx (Jan 24, 2011)

Zamyatin said:


> Rule of thumb for identifying instincts is to look at the topics you tend to gravitate towards when talking with your friends.
> 
> Self-preservation types tend to spend a lot of time chatting with their friends about bills, parking problems, heating at your residence, comfort, shopping, food.
> Social types tend to talk about other people, friends, what's going on in their social lives, gossip, politics, celebrities, workplace drama, or other people-related topics. They might not like all of these topics (lots of soc-dom people hate gossip or talking about celebrities, for example) but if you listen to their conversation, the focus on what's going on in the social world stands out.
> ...


I have myself typed as sp , my focus of conversations are not about things described here, with the exception of home and garden, likely decorating , or art, and travel, certainly not bills or parking tickets /....I didn't understand sp had a specific language, I thought it represented safety, or something I valued or was important to me ? I've been thinking for sometime that I'm more sx-so than sp. Its confusing :/


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## Palefina (Jan 22, 2015)

Zamyatin said:


> Rule of thumb for identifying instincts is to look at the topics you tend to gravitate towards when talking with your friends.
> 
> Self-preservation types tend to spend a lot of time chatting with their friends about bills, parking problems, heating at your residence, comfort, shopping, food.
> Social types tend to talk about other people, friends, what's going on in their social lives, gossip, politics, celebrities, workplace drama, or other people-related topics. They might not like all of these topics (lots of soc-dom people hate gossip or talking about celebrities, for example) but if you listen to their conversation, the focus on what's going on in the social world stands out.
> ...


Well, hmm.
Using this as a guide, I can certainly eliminate self-preservation (although I do know many people like this). What sort of nonverbal behavior are you talking about in reference to sexual types? Because if I am judging by my conversation topics, I talk about social issues much more often, _however,_ I find far greater interest in and put more emphasis on speaking about the experiences of others. All of my meaningful conversations revolve around their perceptions, thought constructs, and experiences. I highly enjoy one-to-one modes of conversations over any other, although social issues probably take the front runner in frequency.

What would your take on this be?


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## perpetuallyreticent (Sep 24, 2014)

This might help.

It shows the differences between what a lead-sp Type 5 might be like, versus a lead-sx or lead-so Type 5.


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## Golden Rose (Jun 5, 2014)

Instinctual subtypes

I don't particularly agree with instincts having a specific language because, yes it happens, but it's more a matter of focus and concern rather than interests and conversations. I'm mulling over my instincts too, sp-dom is starting to make more and more sense, so I'd rather focus on Naranjo's instinctual descriptions.


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## Zamyatin (Jun 10, 2014)

Hotaru said:


> Instinctual subtypes
> 
> I don't particularly agree with instincts having a specific language because, yes it happens, but it's more a matter of focus and concern rather than interests and conversations. I'm mulling over my instincts too, sp-dom is starting to make more and more sense, so I'd rather focus on Naranjo's instinctual descriptions.


Oh I agree, it's just a handy way for a third party (like me, when typing others) to identify their instincts with limited information, as well as a good place for someone to start who's just getting into the theory. Your instinct is the sort of thing you pay attention to, so it's commonly reflected in what comes to mind when you're relaxing with your friends.



Palefina said:


> Well, hmm.
> Using this as a guide, I can certainly eliminate self-preservation (although I do know many people like this). What sort of nonverbal behavior are you talking about in reference to sexual types? Because if I am judging by my conversation topics, I talk about social issues much more often, _however,_ I find far greater interest in and put more emphasis on speaking about the experiences of others. All of my meaningful conversations revolve around their perceptions, thought constructs, and experiences. I highly enjoy one-to-one modes of conversations over any other, although social issues probably take the front runner in frequency.
> 
> What would your take on this be?


They tend to be pushier, more emotionally expressive, and driven by a desire to feel personal connection and intensity with others. They tend to be flirtier than the other two instincts, though that's only going to be a meaningful observation if you compare it to other people within their type (an sx 5 may be flirtier than an sp 5, but they're still a 5, hardly a flirty type). They tend to quickly know whether or not they like someone they meet, and develop strong opinions easily.

Just going by what you're saying here, I'd guess you're sx/so. A focus on the personal experiences of others is a good sign of a developed sx instinct. You're trying to connect with other people's individual experiences, which is the "merging" sx types tend to seek.



MuChApArAdOx said:


> I have myself typed as sp , my focus of conversations are not about things described here, with the exception of home and garden, likely decorating , or art, and travel, certainly not bills or parking tickets /....I didn't understand sp had a specific language, I thought it represented safety, or something I valued or was important to me ? I've been thinking for sometime that I'm more sx-so than sp. Its confusing :/


Do you spend a lot of time talking about decorating your house, the new armchair comforters you may have bought that are "just soo comfortable", or cooking? Because those are also signs of of the sp instinct. Basically, sp revolves around comfort and taking care of your needs. SP subtypes kind of want a comfortable cocoon to call their own, where they don't have to worry about not having what they need. Compare that to me, an SP-last. My apartment is completely undecorated and rather spartan. I don't mind comfort, but as long as it works and it's clean I don't pay attention to it. It's a place where I eat breakfast and sleep. Why does it need decoration?


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## Quang (Sep 4, 2014)

Zamyatin said:


> Self-preservation types tend to spend a lot of time chatting with their friends about bills, parking problems, heating at your residence, comfort, shopping, food.
> Social types tend to talk about other people, friends, what's going on in their social lives, gossip, politics, celebrities, workplace drama, or other people-related topics. They might not like all of these topics (lots of soc-dom people hate gossip or talking about celebrities, for example) but if you listen to their conversation, the focus on what's going on in the social world stands out.
> Sexual types tend to spend time talking about experiences, how they felt about them and how intense they were, lots of attraction/repulsion language. ("I loved that movie! It was so powerful" is an sx-sort of comment) Aside from that, their topics tend to be a bit more varied than the previous type instincts, so it's often easier to recognize sx types by their body language or behavior, not their conversation.


Another important note to add is that the instincts operate 24/7 unconsciously as our primitive tool of survival, therefore there may be cases where people aren't even aware of their habitual concerns. We become more particularly stressed and/or behave poorly when our dominant instinctual need isn't fulfilled, much like the fears of the enneagram type.

SX: Feeling disconnected, unattractive, worthless (personal)
SO: Feeling alienated, isolated, inferior, shame (social)
SP: Feeling endangered, loss, lacking the essentials (survival)

A SP-dom can still worry about security issues even when nothing potentially dangerous is occurring and a SX-dom can still focus about issues of personal appeal and stimulation even when they are already appealing themselves. As helpful as it is to identify ones' dominant instinct, some may have it easier to detect their last instinct- which is equally as helpful.


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## Palefina (Jan 22, 2015)

Thank you all for the input! 
@perpetuallyreticent Thank you for this! Very detailed information--which of course has me over-analyzing everything all over again. Based on this, though, I still feel all three, although in a descending order (Sx, So, Sp). Would this make me Sx or Sx/So? 

Also--it's talking of levels of health, yet the link is no longer functional. Would you happen to have any sources to like information?

@Quang Do all of these apply at least in some levels to all people? Once again, these all describe me, but in the descending order listed above.

Also, the 5w4 also described me, although not as completely as 5w6. Is this a normal occurrence?


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## Quang (Sep 4, 2014)

Palefina said:


> @Quang Do all of these apply at least in some levels to all people? Once again, these all describe me, but in the descending order listed above.
> 
> Also, the 5w4 also described me, although not as completely as 5w6. Is this a normal occurrence?


Yes, we have all instincts much like we have a part of the all enneagram types. SO6 and SO9 typically find it the hardest to identify their enneagram type and instinct because they are so well-balanced in all the facets of the personality types. 

SO6/SO9 Exemplar 

http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/4/4c/132Ditto_Ranger3.png/200px-132Ditto_Ranger3.png


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## perpetuallyreticent (Sep 24, 2014)

Palefina said:


> Thank you all for the input!
> @perpetuallyreticent Thank you for this! Very detailed information--which of course has me over-analyzing everything all over again. Based on this, though, I still feel all three, although in a descending order (Sx, So, Sp). Would this make me Sx or Sx/So?
> 
> Also--it's talking of levels of health, yet the link is no longer functional. Would you happen to have any sources to like information?


Levels of health:


* *




*Level 1 (Most Healthy - The Level of Liberation):* Become visionaries, broadly comprehending the world while penetrating it profoundly. Open-minded, take things in whole, in their true context. Make pioneering discoveries and find entirely new ways of doing and perceiving things.

*Level 5 (Average - The Level of Interpersonal Control):* Increasingly detached as they become involved with complicated ideas or imaginary worlds. Become preoccupied with their visions and interpretations rather than reality. Are fascinated by off-beat, esoteric subjects, even those involving dark and disturbing elements. Detached from the practical world, a "disembodied mind," although high-strung and intense.

*Level 9 (Most Unhealthy - The Level of Pathological Destructiveness):* Seeking oblivion, they may commit suicide or have a psychotic break with reality. Deranged, explosively self-destructive, with schizophrenic overtones. Generally corresponds to the Schizoid Avoidant and Schizotypal personality disorders.




And E5 loops (healthy, average and unhealthy):


* *




*Healthy loop:* controlled by Basic Desire: Need to understand the world -> observe -> analyze -> understand the world -> Need to understand the world. In the healthy state, the need to understand the world induces Type Fives to observe and analyze the world, which help them to better understand the world. When Fives reach a good understanding of the world around them, their need is satisfied and a balance is reached.

*Average state:* When Fives' do less of observing and analyzing the world, they start to not understand the world. This increases their need to understand the world, which helps Fives to return to more observation and analysis. Thus the balancing loop can help Fives to recover.

*Unhealthy loop:* controlled by Basic Fear: Fear of being overwhelmed by the world -> detach from the world -> understand the world -> Fear of being overwhelmed by the world. In the unhealthy state, the basic fear of being overwhelmed by the world can cause Type Fives to become detached from the people around them and the world around them as a defense. This unfortunately causes them to understand the world even less, which further increases Fives' basic fear. The cycle continues to build up.
*
Insight:* We can see from the diagram that a way to help break the control of the basic fear is to weaken the unhealthy loop. Fives can stop their detachment from the world, and start to observe and analyze the real world more. This will increase their understanding of the world, and reduce their fear of being overwhelmed by the world.




And in regards to whether you're "sx" or "sx/so". Essentially, you're all of them. We all have aspects of each instinctual variant, but in a descending order from strongest to weakest. What is most important to us, what is natural to us. Chances are if you relate best with sx, then you're sx-lead. If you relate well with so, but somewhat less than you do sx, then you're most likely sx/so/sp. No one is simply sx, so or sp. Some people choose to just put "sx" in their signatures, but you've got qualities of all of them.  Hope that helps.


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## Palefina (Jan 22, 2015)

@perpetuallyreticent Yes that clarifies things.
But I was actually wondering about the missing numbers, as I lean quite heavily towards 9. I was hoping maybe I'm not that bad, and perhaps just an 8, hah.


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## MuChApArAdOx (Jan 24, 2011)

Zamyatin said:


> Oh I agree, it's just a handy way for a third party (like me, when typing others) to identify their instincts with limited information, as well as a good place for someone to start who's just getting into the theory. Your instinct is the sort of thing you pay attention to, so it's commonly reflected in what comes to mind when you're relaxing with your friends.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nope, I don't spend time on materialist details, especially in communication. Not a fan of cooking, and don't spend time talking about it, lol.I do enjoy comfort, who doesn't ? I do focus on my needs, however no more than the average person who takes care of themselves. Although my idea of comfort is very different than my friends for example. I hate trinklets/crafty apparel. I enjoy decorating, not crafty decorations - art, antiques and furniture/culture. This is something I enjoy for myself and don't focus on sharing with others. I enjoy conversations about current events, what's new in the world, people, places and things. Anything that can be theorized or analized.


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## mushr00m (May 23, 2011)

Zamyatin said:


> Self-preservation types tend to spend a lot of time chatting with their friends about bills, parking problems, heating at your residence, comfort, shopping, food.


I don't relate to these except comfort and warmth as I have blood circulation problems. SP looks out for it's wellbeing before anything else is the bottom line, it protects itself like the way the nucleus in a cell does for example.


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## Golden Rose (Jun 5, 2014)

Instinctual theory is truly amazing.
It's easy to err away from your own type or generate misconceptions if you don't ping the instincts right.

This is why I'd rather read type/instinct correlations rather than stopping at general, vague descriptions.


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## Pelopra (May 21, 2013)

Zamyatin said:


> Rule of thumb for identifying instincts is to look at the topics you tend to gravitate towards when talking with your friends.
> 
> Self-preservation types tend to spend a lot of time chatting with their friends about bills, parking problems, heating at your residence, comfort, shopping, food.
> Social types tend to talk about other people, friends, what's going on in their social lives, gossip, politics, celebrities, workplace drama, or other people-related topics. They might not like all of these topics (lots of soc-dom people hate gossip or talking about celebrities, for example) but if you listen to their conversation, the focus on what's going on in the social world stands out.
> ...


This is fairly terrible advice. 

It is particularly inaccurate for sp, whose fixations do not the most interesting topics make. My personal worries are not something I discuss. 

But it's also just generally inaccurate.

Start with whatever one of the three needs you look at and think "meh", or "people worry too much about that, what's up with them", or whichever one you feel rresistant to the idea of you worrying about because it's dumb and overrated, or whatever. Or the one you just don't really think about ever. 

Mark that one tentatively your last, and then, between the remaining two, try to figure out which one upsets you (ie, makes you envious, angry, or anxious) the most. 

That's, tentatively, your primary fixation. 

Then check around to see if it makes sense that you're right.


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## TheVenetian (May 5, 2013)

Palefina said:


> @_perpetuallyreticent_ Yes that clarifies things.
> But I was actually wondering about the missing numbers, as I lean quite heavily towards 9. I was hoping maybe I'm not that bad, and perhaps just an 8, hah.


You may be an intellectual 8; just reading through this thread, I'm noticing moments in your language that are characteristic of an 8 who has also decided to be polite/eloquent.

8s can have a very strong connection to 5 (I do, at least), and as such can display many characteristics of them. Ex: I love to research things I'm interested in (music, history, certain industries), but don't like to get lost in the research -- there's always the subtext of "how was this/is this/can this be applied?". 

Also, that's a badass profile picture and looks pretty 8-y to me. 

Just my two cents.


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## Palefina (Jan 22, 2015)

TheVenetian said:


> You may be an intellectual 8; just reading through this thread, I'm noticing moments in your language that are characteristic of an 8 who has also decided to be polite/eloquent.
> 
> 8s can have a very strong connection to 5 (I do, at least), and as such can display many characteristics of them. Ex: I love to research things I'm interested in (music, history, certain industries), but don't like to get lost in the research -- there's always the subtext of "how was this/is this/can this be applied?".
> 
> ...


I was actually referring to the levels of development, as in I'm an unhealthy type.
I've never really identified with 8, I'm surprised I came across as one hah


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

Palefina said:


> I was actually referring to the levels of development, as in I'm an unhealthy type.
> I've never really identified with 8, I'm surprised I came across as one hah


Well...have you learned about lines of connection yet? :wink:


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## Palefina (Jan 22, 2015)

tanstaafl28 said:


> Well...have you learned about lines of connection yet? :wink:


Hah I have not! I'm very new to the test. I've read about it vaguely through my research, but I've yet to hit that as my main focus. I guess I should start!


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