The One-to-One (or Sexual) Instinct Panels
Jun 19, 2023
In 2021 The Art of Growth assembled panels of all 27 Subtypes.
Here are the Sexual or One-to-One Instinct Panels:
Instincts Introduction Episode
Integrating the instincts Episode
Sexual (One-to-One) Instinct Key Features
EVOLUTIONARY ENERGY: Ability to push the envelope and go beyond current boundaries. This is the energy that perpetuates the species and adapts to new environments. It's a "push" energy that is willing to take risks and seek new experiences. It needs to break habits and thrives on passion that compels forward movement. Breaks routines and established boundaries.
BROADCASTING/ATTRACTION: Energy of attraction that pulls others toward us using charisma and any tools that draw others in. This energy radiates out and finds others who are broadcasting their own energy. At its best, this energy is the permission to lean into desire and not edit the self.
IMMERSION/FUSION: Ability or passion to fuse with others at depth. This is intimacy energy where we are immersed into oneness with others, activities, projects, work, etc. Our capacity to experience ecstasy and focus attention on what excites us is in this energy.
What are the Instincts
From a psychological perspective, instincts refer to innate, automatic, and unconscious patterns of behavior that are biologically and environmentally formed in humans and other animals. These instincts are essential for survival and play a crucial role in guiding our responses to various situations. They are often deeply rooted in our evolutionary history and have developed over time to aid in the adaptation and preservation of our species.
The instincts add a layer of clarity to the difference between people of the same Enneagram type. When examining instincts through the lens of the Enneagram, a personality system structured into nine different types, we can see how instincts play a vital role in shaping the expression of each type's core motivations and creates nuance to the behavior of the type. The Enneagram adopted the three fundamental instinctual variants: Self-Preservation, Social, and Sexual (also known as One-to-One).
Terms
Enneagram Type: One of the nine points where you fixate as your primary personality structure. Other adaptations and integrations are filtered through the core type.
Instinct: Your dominant instinct is the strongest of the three instincts in your personality structure. Your instinctual stack is the order in which your instincts fall with your dominant at the top and your resisted or repressed instinct at the bottom.
Subtype: The combination of your dominant instinct with primary Enneagram type. ie Sexual 5 or SX5.
Update: What We Have Learned in the Last 5 Years of Studying the Instincts
Since these 2021 panels, our research has continued through more panels, coaching, and assessment data. We now see the description above as the developmental version of the instinct. It describes how the instinct shows up in our personal lives: what we desire, who and what we are drawn to, and where we go deep.
The Hunter Instinct (SX)
We also call this the Hunter instinct. In our book, Hunters, Farmers, and Teamers, we describe it as what happens when this instinct grows up and goes to work.
The Hunter is drawn to pursuit and forward motion. At work, this energy goes after the next challenge, opening, or change. Hunters learn by stepping into the challenge and immersing themselves in it. They want their effort to matter, and they want to see what it moved.
The classic names, Sexual and One-to-One, can make this instinct sound like it is mostly about intimate relationships. The Hunter's pursuit can be aimed at a project, an idea, a goal, or a cause as much as a person.
Beyond the Subtype
Our instinct work started with the subtypes. On our panels, people who shared a subtype had a lot in common. As we listened, we heard the differences grow between people with the same dominant instinct and a different secondary instinct. That led us to look at the full instinct stack.
Each of the three instincts can sit first, second, or third, which creates six stacks. Combined with the nine Enneagram types, that gives us 54 distinct type expressions. We see your instinct stack and your Enneagram type as carrying roughly equal weight.
We have also learned that the instinct at the bottom of the stack is not always repressed. For some people it is neglected. For others it is resisted, avoided, or worried about a lot.
Find Your Stack
- Take the free Instinct Stack test: instinctstack.com
- Instincts class: Enroll here
- Enneagram class: Enroll here
- Read the book: Hunters, Farmers, and Teamers: Harness Human Instincts to Elevate Impact