Source: Eneagrama: Los Engaños del Carácter y Sus Antídotos

SP1: Worry -> Control

In this subtype, anger is transformed into a constant worry about everyone and everything, into a worry that masks aggression, because it gives them the right to intervene in others’ lives, in an imperial need to have everything under control. It is because of this need that we propose the term “Control.” It possesses a strong component of anxiety, insecurity, and preoccupation ensuring that nothing bad happens to them or their loved ones. Maintaining control is a guarantee that nothing bad will happen. Control is related to doing things right, as if it underlies a magic belief about things badly done being catastrophic, while things well done give a type of guarantee. Life will respect me if I do things well. Control, justified by worry, is the distorted form of demonstrating love.

SO1: Inadaptability -> Authority

In this subtype, the satellite passion of inadaptability is manifested through a difficulty in following social customs and traditions, due to a rigid maintenance of their own principles. They are the most rigid form of the type. In their eyes, the world is wrong, with people not following the rules. It appears as if only they know how to do things, as if they are always right. They look for universal and immovable norms and principles and try to implement and impose them. Because of this, we have chosen the term “Authority.” Authority that grants them the fact of knowing how things should/must be. This moralistic attitude leads them to be in opposition to the world, in a form of constant criticism of mistakes committed by everyone else, who they seek to correct so they become better. They set out on a crusade of indoctrination, as if their primary motive were to convince others that their principles are correct and just, and that others should comply. The consequence is inadaptability.

SX1: Zeal -> Submission

In this subtype, there is a strong tension between a high level of natural impulsivity, uncontrollable by nature, and fear of what a loss of control would entail. They make themselves feel safe through maintaining a highly-controlled, Puritan-like attitude, but their fantasies remain full of desires. It is this projection of their impulses that leads to a zealous attitude, believing that others unable to control their own impulses gives them the right to intervene and submit the other to their ideal. This produces a hypervigilant control and, from there, a desire to find someone they can submit to, someone who will take control, and therefore they can not take the blame for their own desire. The fantasies of losing control are as feared as they are desired and, sometimes, they manifest through a type of double life, where they act out everything they consider wrong or dirty, while maintaining it separate from their orthodox daily lives. We propose the term “Submission,” with a double meaning as it alludes to the desire of finding someone who can submit to them, who they can control control, but at the same time, to the desire for someone who is capable of making them submit and lose control a little bit.

SP2: Me First -> Center

In this subtype, pride is manifested as an impulse to be situated in front of others, to maintain scenarios of privilege in reality or imagination. They have a childlike aura, selfish, like the kid who feels righteous, and needs to be spoiled and looked at. They hide this position of dominance through involving the other in their greatness and portraying themselves as naturally empathetic. They need to be the “Center” (term of our choice) and to get it, they develop the most brilliant and seductive traits of their personality. They are equally charming with any person that they want to seduce in some way, no matter what social condition the other has.

SO2: Ambition -> Power

In this subtype, we believe that their true search is for “Power,” which is why we prefer this term. The consequence of this search of power is an ambitious attitude, where true needs are repressed by the eagerness to obtain a position of unarguable dominance, that proves how special they are. The capacity to confront risks gives them an entrepreneurial and adventurous aura, which masks their high level of dependency on people emotionally meaningful to them. But the ambition is oriented toward the recognition of the world or of some people previously regarded as valuable. Getting the approval of these people may become a bigger goal than actually confronting risks and more important than the true realization of the achievement. Maintaining this seductive attitude makes sense because, from it, they can generously and benevolently relate with others, as long as others admire them. If instead of recognition, they find opposition, seduction is substituted with coldness and toughness that make them put personal achievement over everything else.

SX2: Conquest/Seduction -> Conquest

Pride manifests in the scope of love as a constant desire to conquer, for which, we maintain the term “Conquest.” Seduction, present in all subtypes, is applied here to the sphere of romantic conquest. Often, interest is exhausted with conquest. This conquering fantasy feeds the narcissistic image and the desire they create is at its service.

SP3: Security -> Achievements

In this subtype, the need to feel secure through money, possessions, etc., appears in the foreground. Having becomes a symbol of who they are: someone who can take care of themselves and can get what they and others want. Having whatever could be wanted and having achieved it through the capacity to conduct oneself in the world generates a sensation of autonomy and efficacy that allows them to feel secure and not helpless. We propose the term “Achievements” to designate this neurotic need.

SO3: Prestige -> Status

In this subtype, vanity is manifested in the cultivation of a good image in the eyes of others. The confirmation of what they are worth is placed in what is obtained socially. Because of this, the search is for “Status,” a term we use and that Naranjo also used. It implies reaching a social position that others recognize as successful. There is a strong desire for social approval, applause, and being liked. To maintain status, they develop a very particular shine, a capacity to master the right ways of doing things, fashion trends, and social images of success.

SX3: Masculinity/Femininity -> Object of Desire

In this subtype, the passion of vanity dyed by a concern for appearance. Their attitude is flirty and they try to give an image that responds to the model of which society values as “sexy.” The desire to be an “object of desire” (our own terminology) and the way of getting it is an emphatic identification with prevailing masculine/feminine traits. The consequence is a forgetfulness of their own desire since they obtain a lot more importance through being desired. On the other hand, the disconnection that this entails provokes desire to be much more intense and interesting in imagination than in real life.

SP4: Tenacity -> Merits

In this subtype, the need is to obtain “Merits” in order to get what life has not given to them, but that others get without effort. The term “Merits” describes their believe that effort and sacrifice turn them into righteous deservers of love and recognition. The way to become special is through sacrificial effort, chosen and conscious, that makes them better people, and more good-natured than others, at the same time redeeming them from the internal image of badness. It is not possible to deny the sacrifice which makes us special, even if it entails suffering. Tenacity is the attitude derived from this mission that cannot be given up on, given that one day this suffering will have its fruits and they will be recognized by all.

SO4: Shame -> Originality

In this subtype, here is a search for “Originality,” which is our term, implying wanting to be seen as someone special, distinct, exquisite, sensitive, refined, and delicate. This search for originality produces shame. If they are able to appear original and special, they start to feel an ambivalent feeling, a mix of dread and pride. It is not attained, they have to confront the the shame of not meeting their own ideals and self-demands, and therefore, not be able to show themselves to others. There’s a vanity that remains frustrated, a feeling of being vulgar, that generates resentment and hatred toward others for not recognizing them, and toward themselves for not attaining it.

SX4: Hate -> Yearning

In this subtype, the desire to love and be loved turns into “Yearning,” which dyes love with an aura of romanticism. We chose the term “Yearning” because it implies desiring what they do not have. The consequence is hatred caused by not being able to achieve what is so desired. In the early childhood relationship with the mother, the bond that is established is very ambivalent because it has what they desire, so they love her and hate her. They also hate themselves for not having it. When this form of bond is taken to the plane of relationships, it is dyed by admiration towards those who have what they do not have and envy, perpetuating the connection between love and hate. In this sphere, desire is bonded to what is unreachable, therefore it can produce a ferocious battle to obtain the love of someone considered valuable; the more valuable they are, the stronger the rejection. In other cases, the battle has a competitive aspect of trying to get the love of someone already committed, where winning the battle entails claiming their own value and overcoming the envy provoked by what the other has and they lack.

SP5: Castle -> Refuge

In this subtype, we see a person who searches for a refuge, a safe space that they can watch from, creating their walled enclosure that is their territory, their world, where they have their place. Naranjo prefers the word “Lair,” which evokes a weaker position than “Castle,” referring to where an animal hides, scared, looking for protection. In this same line of thinking, we propose “Refuge,” the space where they have their belongings, they are protected from the world and they feel that their needs are taken care of; where they can accumulate whatever they may need in some moment, even if they are truly not useful things and where they can collect their souvenirs, small objects charged with emotional meaning, a place where very few can enter.

SO5: Totem -> Solitude

For this subtype, we are partial to the term “Solitude,” because it alludes to their relationship with the social world, where distance from others is a choice, what they search for. In this chosen isolation, the external world is substituted for the internal world. In their fantasies, they create an imaginary world, with a cryptic language, that hides its contents and becomes a test, a hieroglyphic that allows in whoever can decode it and access their intimacy. In reality, this test of trust is often not passed and doesn’t work much other than to perpetuate isolation. External models, those that one cannot adapt themselves to, that always defraud, are substituted by internal models that become untouchable and untouched totems. They can be ideologies or real people, in some way, distant on the space-time continuum, people highly idealized, with special values, that become models. In this solitude, one stops feeling their relational difficulties, clumsiness, and social inadequacy and projects it into a hostile environment that doesn’t deserve their involvement.

SX5: Confidence -> Exclusivity

For this subtype, we prefer the term “Exclusivity” due to the fact that this confidence is not open to more than one person. The desire is one of an exclusive relationship. Refuge is placed in one person only, someone they can truly trust in, who they can feel safe with, someone who replaces the whole world, with whom intimacy is possible, with whom they can show their true selves. It is a desire impassioned with intimacy, with finding someone that will never fail them, that is always going to be there for them, that accepts them for all that they are. The romantic fantasies play a role in the hallucinated satisfaction of desire, being able to appeal to these fantasies in moments of greatest frustration. In reality, having someone exclusively means empowering themselves through that person. From solitude and defensive isolation, there is a hunger for love, a desire of incorporating the other, of turning them into a part of themselves, as a guarantee of stopping being alone without having to leave their refuge. They therefore establish a spontaneously dependent relationship, but in which the needs of the others do not count.

SP6: Warmth -> Harmony

In this subtype, their fear of the world makes them believethat affection is the only way of security. They need “Harmony” in their environment to get out of the sensation of danger. Warmth is the guarantee for this “Harmony.” Conflict reignites the fear of abandonment; the cultivation of a warm environment guarantees the permanence of bonds. The search for affection becomes a passion, generating an attitude of exaggerated dependency on an adult. They present an intolerance of fear, an angst that makes them be excessively compliant with the expectations of others, in an attempt to avoid conflicts. Hiding behind the other is, sometimes, a way of not making themselves responsible for their decisions. This compliance creates an unconscious rebelliousness, and the intolerance of conflict produces, paradoxically, aggressive responses, out of fear, when “Harmony” is broken.

SO6: Duty -> Order

In this subtype, often called Duty, we believe it is more like a distorted sense of responsibility than a duty. The search is for “Order,” an order that gives them a certain security, a regular way of doing things, an attempt to organize the world that is related to the anxiety that their internal chaos generates. The external disorder also turns out to be unsettling and anxiety-generating, so they try to placate it through finding some sort of tranquilizing order. “Order” takes fear and turns it into something rigid and tough. Naranjo has called this subtype “Prussian.” The passionate sense of responsibility relates to the fear of doing things wrong, with fear of their harsh inner critic and punishment of external authority. The rigid sense of duty sometimes leads to rebellious and Order-breaking behaviors.

SX6: Strength/Beauty -> Protection

Instead of Strength and Beauty, we opt to call this subtype “Protection,” as through Strength and Beauty we see a desire for protection. Strength is translated into an attitude of power which hides the need to be protected. They are looking for protection, on an unconscious level, but adopting at the same time, in the foreground, a protective attitude, as if these relationships, they form a pact of mutual protection. Beauty shows confidence, nonchalance, and solidity, and also has this connotation of power and hiding the desire to be protected, to placate their fear. Through denying their fear, they become the strong one, the beautiful one, stemming from their own desire and valuing of strength. Strength is like a demonstration of courage, where internal fear is neutralized through an externally tough attitude, a need to be a fighter whose origin is feeling threatened. The anxiety of being threatened is drowned through intimidating the other, whatever scares them. When this strength is debilitated by fear, they counteract in a reactive way, not coming from basic instinct, but rather from a type of purpose of not letting anyone or anything inhibit them, the challenge of staying on top and not being crushed down.

SP7: Family

In this subtype, we see a need to unite with their people, with people they can share their world and ideals with. This “Family,” not necessarily based on blood, is a more extroverted equivalent of the refuge searched for by the 5, and also similar to the environment where harmony can be found, as the SP6 so desires. This family can change over time, be substituted, and has as a fundamental mission to maintain hope, necessary to deny the dangerousness of the world and the defenselessness toward it. They take care of their people and they defend them as a way of defending their own world. There is a feeling of protection, of protecting and being protected, an environment of human protection in contact with this family, which stops being it as soon as these shared ideals are broken. There is a notable contrast between their love for their own people and their disinterest for the rest of the world which does not fit in their family ideal. On a deeper level, there is a strong divide between what is loved and recognized and what is aggressive and rejected, which may externally manifest in living with a distinction of what is familial and what is not.

SO7: Sacrifice -> Enthusiasm

In this subtype, although it is commonly called Sacrifice, we find that sacrifice does not correlate to a motivation, which we believe the instincts should describe. We understand that the search is related with enthusiasm, while we have been able to verify the subjective feeling of sacrifice and effort in the 7, when they are unable to be excited, when their illusions are broken, and they have to continue a task from their own will and discipline. In reality, there is an avoidance of effort not connected to enthusiasm that after losing this hope, they degrade their previously accomplished work. Enthusiasm allows great effort to be done in a natural, almost manic way, but they cannot be maintained when the interest fades. Sacrifice, suffering, is the paradoxical consequence of maintaining the illusion of a happy world, where achievements are obtained without effort. This doesn’t allow them to appreciate the gifts of reality as they are focused voraciously on the desire for a future that is purely present. Naranjo did not consider “sacrifice” super appropriate either, and inclined rather for “narcissism.” But the word narcissism may be wrong also at times, given that we tend to use this word in a wide sense, but we use it in a restrictive sense, in the sense that it is a sacrifice placed at the service of their own self-esteem, a great energy at the service of their passion.

SX7: Suggestibility -> Enchantment

The enthusiasm for possibilities turns this type manipulative and gullible. They are so capable of suggesting and installing enthusiasm in others, only to let themselves be dazzled and manipulated by another person, project, or idea. They are searching for someone who will let them live in a continuous ecstasy that confirms to them that the world is an adequate place to be happy. The basis of this suggestion is a type of falling in love with life, where only the good things are seen. They are great enthusiasts that go off-track and take one thing to another, they do not have an energy that leads to dutiful work, but rather to dreams that are lived more intensely than their reality, that substitute reality to an extent. Because of this chased desire, we call them “Enchantment,” in the sense that it is a conquest to show themselves as charming, able to satisfy every need to please the other person, and at the same time charmed by their own enchantment and the enthusiasm another provides for them.

SP8: Satisfaction -> Intensity

Lust is manifested in the direct search for the satisfactions and type of life one deserves, with a complete intolerance for frustration. They cultivate revenge and vengeance in the name of their needs and childlike impotence, feeling righteous to the gratification of their impulses. There is a need for “Intensity,” which although common in the three subtypes, here it takes more relevance. The hedonistic tendency to attain satisfaction is due to this component of intensity, as if they intended to find a total and real satisfaction that fantasy could not cover. The strength of their impulses produce an uncontrolled realization that searches for immediate satisfaction, always justifiable in the intensity of their own needs which gives a special toughness to this type.

SO8: Complicity

The search is for complicit friendships that support and sustain each other on the same principles, often unconventional, even marginalized. Friendships which ask for a total loyalty, through which this bond is legitimized. These bonds are stereotypical mafia bonds, where belonging is what makes you legitimate, and they demand any type of sacrifice and betrayal is punished with death. It is established like a blood pact, a friendship of a complicit and unconditional warmth, at the margin of whatever other social or moral principles. This orientation toward friendship gives them a more human, social, and seductive tint than in the other subtypes; these are fun people, with a great power to captivate.

SX8: Possession + Delivery

Lust is manifested in a total possession of the partner of which they demand unquestioned and absolute delivery to the other. In women, this commitment is seen more than possession, even though it is a devouring delivery, not easily differentiated from possession, as it demands from the other the same they give. There is no shame about this desire, that they go for what they want, guided by instinct with an overwhelming nuance. Possession involves pleasure from their own power, dominance, submission of the other. The fear of being dominated leads them to a dominating presence, from which love may be confused with possession. Desire is finding someone so valuable that they deserve to become part of me and confirm their worth, someone to incorporate and merge themselves with without losing their identity. This possession would confirm this fusion and would allow for their need of delivery to be satisfied.

SP9: Appetite -> Distraction

The satisfaction of needs is substituted with satisfaction of appetites, making do with them. This produces a displacement of one thing to another and a substitute form of satisfaction. “Distraction” is the tool that allows them to escape from the commitment of complying with their true I needs and becomes the need itself that motivates action. Appetite has to do with a desire of something which substitutes, certain satisfactions that do not complicate life too much and that, in some way, are connected with physical satisfactions. There is a making do with having that which permits a kind of comfortable safety, not having to worry. Sometimes, hunger for affection becomes a true hunger for food, for material things, for concrete activities, like games or reading, distractions that all work to cover up deeper needs.

SO9: Belonging

Belonging to a group becomes their most important search. To be accepted by the group, they would do anything. There is a strong need to participate, to be welcomed, not excluded, to feel part of something, and a high level of suffering upon not feeling accepted along with a real difficulty with integration. This difficulty with integration is related to the fear of being fully absorbed and submitted into the group, and then becoming disappointed. At the same time, this difficulty with integration is manifested through maintaining themselves on the margins of the group, in a form of self-exclusion, that is sustained through not being able to believe in their own belonging, in large part due to the sensation of inadequacy that makes them perceive themselves as different from the group. There is a facade, a hiding of who one really is, that originates from the attempt to adapt and makes them fear being discovered and rejected for their true selves.

SX9: Fusion

The desire for “Fusion” is an antidote to the loss of identity provoked by forgetting oneself. This need is lived through the other, losing their own interests to put themselves at the service of the chosen other. There is a tendency toward union, that is polarized when with a partner, whose needs, desires, thoughts, feelings, and actions they live through. The needs of the person they love become their own needs, the needs they forget and only satisfy vicariously, in an active effort to be there for the other. In the term “Fusion,” we see the dissolution of the self, which implies that this fusion has shades of the Delivery of the SX8, as the expectation they have of the supposed unconditionally is transforming the other and subconsciously making the other do what they secretly desire. We also see that this merging attitude presents a possessive person underneath this apparent submission. Deep down, there is no renouncing of their own desire, but rather an expectation that, from merging, the other will realize, legitimize, and follow through with their desire.