Asterion
Ruler of the Stars
- Joined
- May 6, 2009
- Messages
- 2,331
- MBTI Type
- INTP
- Enneagram
- 5
- Instinctual Variant
- sp/sx
Also, I feel the same way about social situations that a 5 would. I guess I like socializing sometimes, but I often feel like I like my mind better, my own little world where I can do whatever I want. When I'm with my friends, a lot of times it feels like I'm just going through the motions, I'm never fully there and fully engaged. I was just walking back from class with a friend earlier, and she kept telling me to "Say something!" when I didn't really have anything to say. My mind doesn't automatically go to conversation topics, but she didn't seem to get that. I like having friends, but I don't like having obligations and expectations placed on me, and I quickly get tired from socializing and need to get away so I can breathe again.
9 and 5 are the most introverted types from the enneagram.
I definitely spaceout in the same way as you, like an autopilot mode. It takes me a lot of effort to snap out of, and I constantly have to remind myself to focus on reality, no matter how stark it is. However, it's a different story at work, or when studying, I can work quite persistently and become focused. There are some things I will just focus on as much as possible and become obsessed and perfectionistic.
For fives, that focus is active far more often, one of my friends feels the need to drink just to dull his focus so he can feel normal. 5s have spent their whole life working out how things work, how reality fits together. Whereas, 9s have spent their life in a wondrous dreamworld. (yeah, I know, that sounds useless compared to 5s).
If you feel like smiling all around the clock, even if you're not actually happy, you're probably a nine. If you're naturally humble, chivalrous and modest and perhaps timid and unassertive, 9. If you're slow to judge people, 9. For example, one of my school friends would defend a criminal with 'what ifs?', and my teacher (a 5) would just smirk knowingly and try to convince her otherwise.
Some of the descriptions for 9 are mostly spot on, other details can be true for some nines, but not for others. There are 9s that act exactly how you describe socially, and there are some that retreat from reality to preserve their inner peace, I think it's similar to the phobic/counterphobic attribute of type 6.
As for conflict, I generally run away. Whenever my parents yelled at me when I was little, I would try to retreat to my head. As soon as I could get away, I'd go to my room and read and get wrapped up into a fantasy novel and just drown out all of the negative thoughts and feelings, or run away from home and climb a tree and dream of something better.
I frequently find myself stealing other types motivations, either directly from other people or when pursuing my own ideology. It's the chameleon quality so commonly discussed on this forum, this makes it hard to work out who you really are because you drown yourself in stolen idealized qualities.
I can't usually demand, or force what I want. For lunch, I will generally tag along with whoever is with me, even if I know I can't afford it, I will go with what they want, because I feel my own want is simply less important.
Keep in mind that a lot of these qualities make their way into INFP descriptions, and people sometimes stereotype INFPs as type 9. I have these qualities, but I'm quite distinctly INTP. MBTI is an entirely different system to the enneagram, look up definitions of each dichotomy and work out all four separately. I think a lot of MBTI descriptions try to weave personality into the system, MBTI is not so much a personality system, it is a series of preferences that define how you think and behave.