How Instinctual Centers Work
Enneagram scholars are in agreement that triads exists — and concur on how it simultaneously energizes and restricts our personality and suppresses our true self — but they often name them differently.
FIGURE 6-2 Triad 1 = relationship instinct, triad 2 = fear instinct, triad 3 = anger instinct
Source: Your Secret Self
In Your Secret Self, authors Fensin and Ryan refer to triads within their Enneagram model as “emotional centers” (see Figure 6-2), which they label and define as follows:
1. Relationship: This is equated with the “heart” group. People in this category frequently appear to be more focused on human emotions and interrelationships than the other types. It is important to note that the appearance of a heart or emotional orientation is not always integrated. Relationship types do tend to feel and display their emotions more readily than others. They are also more interested in how others perceive them and will dress to impress. Enneagram types Two, Three, and Four fall into this category.
2. Fear: This is equated with the “head” group. People in this category tend to live inside their own heads, trying to make logical sense out of life. While they may appear coolly rational, logical, and objective, ironically, they spend most of their time thinking about the success or failure of their relationships. Enneagram types Five, Six, and Seven fall into this category.
3. Anger: This is equated with the “gut” group. People in this category frequently respond to their initial gut reaction to people or events. They usually have highly developed intuitive skills and react instinctively, even impulsively, to situations. Their expression or repression of anger is usually an issue in interrelationships. Enneagram types Eight, Nine, and One fall into this category.
In What's My Type?, authors Hurley and Dobson refer to this same triad as “the three centers of intelligence, each with its own true purpose and its own everyday functions.” They see the “true purpose” as achieving our ultimate wholeness and spiritual awareness and the “functions” as the adaptable ways we use our intelligence to navigate the world. They label these three intellectual centers as affective, theoretical, and effective and define their true purposes as follows:
Affective center: To achieve healthy, perfect union with others, the universe, and with spirit; to understand the stages of human development that create maturity and wholeness. Twos, Threes, and Fours are focused on their affective center.
Theoretical center: To develop creative vision and open you up to the real meaning of life; to be fully conscious of the true nature of self and others. Fives, Sixes, and Sevens are focused on their theoretical center.
Effective center: To motivate and energize you to actively live your life as it was intended — according to your true purpose and vision; to actively create and complete the work you are meant to do. Eights, Nines, and Ones are focused on their effective center.
FIGURE 6-3 Triad 1 = affective, triad 2 = theoretical, triad 3 = effective
Source: What's My Type?
Unfortunately, according to Hurley and Dobson, the vast majority of people don't awaken to their true purpose. They limp along married to the illusion that they are just fine and that most problems generate from others. This leaves them with the misappropriate or dysfunctional use of their centers of intelligence, as follows:
Affective: To manipulate your — and others' — way of feeling, including emotions within relationships.
Theoretical: To think, plot, and make intellectual decisions limited to your narrowly defined universe.
Effective: To protect and preserve your physical body and achieve your basic needs, no matter the cost to others.
Hurley and Dobson believe that each instinctual center has a divine purpose: affective or feeling-based types are symbolized by the ear because they can “hear deep movements of the soul”; theoretical or thinking-based types are symbolized the eye because they “see the nature of reality”; and effective or belly-based types are symbolized by the mouth because they are “the center of expression.”
Now that your head is probably spinning, it's time to go back to the basics and explain the specifics of the three instinctive triads and how they can help you understand yourself and others, as well as the underlying motivations and the resultant behaviors unique to each type within the triad.
