The Hornevian Groups and the Imbalance of the Centers

When you learned about the nine types, you learned that each type is in one center (or corner) of the enneagram. These corners are the Head (thinking) Center, the Heart (feeling) Center, and the Instinctive or Body (doing) Center. In each enneagram type, these centers become unbalanced in particular ways. Psychologist Karen Horney was the first to describe the imbalance of the centers, and so they are called the Hornevian Groups.

Each enneagram type is balanced to favor one of the centers over the other two. A second center will support the primary center, and the third center tends to be underused. There are three Hornevian groups: Withdrawn, Aggressive, and Compliant.

Along with descriptions of the three Hornevian Groups, I’ve provided activities to help you develop your underused center. There is exciting research that shows that we can actually strengthen the neural pathways for these underused functions. This can be done directly, though practice, or by making use of our mirror neurons, which strengthen our own pathways when we watch others engaging in feelings or activities.

The Withdrawn Types are balanced to prefer the thinking or feeling centers, and to be out of touch with the body, or doing center. They tend to underuse their bodies and avoid acting meaningfully in the world.

For example a Type 5 is overidentified with the thinking center, and uses their feeling center to support their thinking processes. Type 5s withdraw to protect themselves from the demands of people, and from the chaos in the external world.

Type 4, on the other hand, prefers the feeling center, and uses the thinking center and imagination to ramp up the intensity of feelings. Type 4s withdraw to protect their feelings and to live in their imaginary worlds.

Type 9 is in the center of the Instinctive Corner, and is therefore the most out of touch with the Doing Center. They may seem plenty busy, but since they have difficulty figuring out what is important for them to do, they spend a lot of time in time-wasting activities. Type 9s withdraw from conflict to protect their own sense of inner peace.

Exercises for the Withdrawn Types – Getting in touch with the body and the world
Practice looking around you and doing what needs to be done. Pick up the pop can, throw it in the recycling. Clean your room. Fix the car. You CAN make a difference to those around you.

Move your body. Feel your body. Dance, walk, do Tai Chi, learn Martial Arts, do Dance Dance Revolution on the Play Station. Swim and feel the water on your skin. Breathe.

Get out and be with people once in a while. People probably like being around you.

Learn to take pride in your accomplishments.

Speak up for yourself. If this is impossible, take an assertiveness training class.

If you meditate, make it an active form, such as walking meditation. Keep your eyes slightly open, so you don’t completely tune out the world.

Express your rich inner lives in the form of music, art, writing, or poetry and show it to people.

The Aggressive Types are balanced to prefer the thinking or doing centers, and to be out of touch with the feeling center. There is a tendency to act without regard for emotions – their own and those of others.

Type 7, in the thinking center, prefers to live in the world of plans and activity, to avoid becoming trapped in their own pain. Type 7s are aggressive about meeting their own needs for stimulating activities.

Type 8, in the doing center, prefers action, and uses thinking as a support function. Type 8s like to make a big impact in the world through their actions.

Type 3, in the heart center, are the most out of touch with their feelings. Threes can set their feelings aside to aggressively pursue their goals.

Exercises for the Aggressive Types – Getting in touch with the heart
Practice active listening with someone – listen without interjecting your own stuff. Really hear the person and try to understand. (Advanced work: do this with someone you don’t really like or agree with.) As an alternative, watch movies that have a deeply emotional plot and try to empathise with the characters.

Be gentle with yourself and love yourself. Write a biography of yourself from a neutral perspective. You will realize how hard you are on yourself.

Work on sitting still and relaxing, without wanting to be somewhere else or doing something else. Take deep breaths to calm yourself. Notice how and where you tense your body when you have to sit still. Pay attention and relax.

Do something you don’t want to do, just because it will make someone else happy. Do it without expecting anything in return.

Slow down your pace and really experience you life. Take time to smell the roses, walk barefoot in the sand, or enjoy your family. Have some playtime.

Learn to put your feelings into words. Write them down or talk with someone about them.

The Compliant Types are balanced to prefer the feeling and doing centers. They are compliant to the demands of the superego, and the most out of touch with their own quiet minds.

Type 1s, in the Instinctual Center, is extremely in touch with the superego messages of parents and sources of wisdom. They have taken on these messages as their own, and are on a mission to reform the world to the way it “should” be.

Type 2s, in the Heart Center, are driven by the superego message to be loving and helpful to others. Type 2s tend to “do their feelings.” Instead of feeling their feelings they immediately put them into action.

Type 6s, in the Thinking Center, are the most out of touch with their own thinking processes. Type 6s internalize all kinds of beliefs and messages from various sources, in order to protect their own security. Sixes have a variety of superego messages, and sometimes talk about having an “inner committee.”

The Compliant Types: Things to do to get in touch with the quiet mind
Mindfulness meditation – pay attention to what is going on around you right now. Focus on breathing. Watch where your thoughts go. Keep bringing them back to the present.

Learn to turn off the mind. As Eckhardt Tolle said, for many of us, our minds use us, rather than us using our minds. Find the off switch. Learn to quiet it down. If we truly use our minds, rather than the other way around, we can turn it off.

Question your thoughts. The Dalai Llama says to ask “Are you sure?” Byron Katie does an exercise where you ask yourself “Is it true?” and “What would I be like without that thought?”

Observe yourself when you’re with other people – Notice the judgments you make about them. Also notice how you accommodate yourself to others and lose your own point of view.

Notice how often you use conditional words like maybe, sort of, probably, likely, it depends. Can you make up your own mind?