An Overview of the Instincts
> An Overview of the Instincts In the Enneagram, I’m sure you’ve heard there are 3 distinct and unique “instincts” that each person is composed of: the self-preservation instinct (also referred to as conservation), the social (relational) instinct, and the sexual instinct. Specifically, however, these instincts manifest in the forms of the dominant instinct, the secondary (playground) instinct, and the blindspot (referred to as the blind instinct). Each of these instincts refers to a primal, automated, and therefore instinctual need that people have for different areas of life. These instincts collectively form the basis for our most essential desires, irrespective of the method used to attain them. That method simply being the “core” enneagram type, the neurotic way we attempt to satisfy our base instincts. The instincts are described as such because it is something we don’t need to think about to desire. We simply want it because we have a deep need for it, and we instinctively “