Type 9 Initial Self-Belief: “I am not in unity as I am.”

Type 9 Compensation: "I must accommodate others' agenda and opinions in order to feel at ease and in harmony with them."

Type 9 Core Focus: Harmony comes from getting along with others and falling into comfortable routines. This requires that I accommodate others by finding common ground and minimizing my own agenda when around others as well as finding comfort and peace of mind for myself.

Personality characteristics that might arise from the type 9 core focus include:

• Loses sight of own agenda in favor of the agenda of others
• Smooths over conflict in order to keep the peace and feel more at ease
• Has difficulty establishing goals and following through on them
• Struggles with inertia: getting going or changing course once underway
• Gets lost in peripheral activities that don't serve the primary objective
• Avoids creating separation from people by going along to get along
• Supresses anger which may surface as stubbornness or passive-aggressiveness
• Finds it difficult to prioritize because everything can seem equally important
• Numbs themself through comfort seeking and getting lost in routine

SP 9 - Appetite, Collector: numbs oneself through eating, physical comfort, and routine activities; collects things and may have trouble deciding what to throw away; substitutes essential needs and wants with non-essentials.

SX 9 - Union, Fusion: sense of being comes from merging with significant others; can have difficulty individuating and standing on their own without reference to other; tendency to lose sight of own needs and desires in favor of other.

SO 9 - Participation (counter-type): participates in order to feel a part of the group; prioritizes group needs above their own and works hard toward those needs; fun-loving, sociable, congenial, doesn’t weigh others down with own woes.

In the average range, Self-Preservation Nines are the pleasant, easygoing Nines who do not ask much from life, preferring simple pleasures that are readily available.¹

In the average range, Sexual Nines want to take on the energetic qualities of the other, often gravitating to aggressive types.¹

In the average range, Social Nines are the Nines most interested in bringing people together and in making peace.¹

Appetite in the Area of Self-preservation:Nines have a habit of replacing essential wishes with inessential substitutes, such as too much food, too much TV, too many novels, or elaborate hobby interests.³

Union in the One-to-One Relationship: For Nines, union is the desire to completely merge oneself with a mate. The preoccupation can also extend to an absorbing wish to unite with the divine.³

Participation in Social Groups: Nines are either totally aversive to joining groups, or they like to hang out with social groups, such as special activity clubs, and with friends.³

Self-Preservation Nines: Preoccupied with physical comfort, maintaining habits and satisfying appetites. Can have a love of the minimal and enjoy the repetition of known routines.⁵

Intimate Nines: Focused on an ideal of romantic union. Get lost in one relationship or in the yearning to have one. Can also deny their partner’s flaws and idealize them to stay in union.⁵

Social Nines: Tend to gravitate toward groups and then have conflicts about joining or staying apart. Can enjoy group energy and interests but may be also aware of the group‘s expectations.⁵

Self-Preservation Nine: "Appetite"
Instead of feeling an ongoing connection to their feelings, desires, and power, they focus on merging with physical comforts and routine activities. They are practical, concrete people who focus on everyday things rather than abstractions.⁴

Sexual Nine: "Fusion"
Expresses the passion of laziness by merging with the important people in their lives. They unconsciously take on the attitudes, opinions, and feelings of others, because it can feel too hard to stand on their own.⁴

Social Nine: "Participation"
They act out laziness when connecting with their own inner life by working hard to be a part of the different groups in their lives. Fun-loving, sociable, and congenial characters, they can be workaholics, prioritizing the group‘s needs above their own.⁴

¹Book: The Wisdom of the Enneagram; Website: The Enneagram Institute

²Book: The Enneagram; Website: The Narrative Enneagram

³Book: The Enneagram Movie & Video Guide

⁴Book: The Complete Enneagram; Website: Chestnut Paes Enneagram Academy

Instinctual Subtype Test
This test compares the three instinctual subtypes for a given type.
Use when you know your type and want to find your instinctual subtype for that type.

Instinctual Variant Stacking Test
This test ranks the three instincts to determine your preferential order of the instincts.
Use when you want to know your instinctual variant stacking independent of type.