Interpersonal Strategy and Associated Irrational Ideas

Fixation represents the core cognitive distortion of character. It is a coherent interpretation of reality, constructed by the child throughout childhood into adulthood, adapting to family mandates and social messages, which becomes an "objective" truth that feeds their passion. This creates a vicious cycle, where beliefs and perceptions of reality reinforce behavioral strategies congruent with these interpretations, causing the individual to become more and more passionate about this way of being, losing sight of the context.

The False Abundance of the Social 2

The false abundance is the cognitive fixation of E2. It is the distorted belief that they have more than others, that they are overflowing, when in reality, they have the same as others. The proud individual represses their needs to believe that they don't need anything. The abandonment they suffered is unconscious, and it conditions their way of acting. They present themselves as abundant precisely because, internally, they feel less. It is a mirrored condition to that of the E4, with the difference that E2 finds an outlet in repressing the lack and identifying with an idealized and grandiose image of themselves.

The false abundance of the ambitious individual is, naturally, socially oriented. It is a narcissistic response, where they need to be seen as they ideally see themselves. This idealization disconnects them from their deep feeling of being, in reality, a fraud, and reactively interprets all their actions and behaviors within the framework of a great enterprise and a benevolent attitude toward others. They seek appearances where they will be seen as they desire to be recognized, avoiding failure and emptiness, entering the vicious cycle of their character.

The Self-Image

The Social 2 sees themselves as someone who, in the future, will achieve their goals, for which people close to them will praise their qualities. They project onto others the gaze that confirms their ideal image, since their internal gaze is insufficient. They permanently lie to themselves, fantasizing about actions that will place them where they believe they deserve to be. Ultimately, their belief is that they are superior to others and that sooner or later, people will have to recognize them.

The narcissistic layer is a compensatory reaction to their egoic shadow, in which they devalue themselves. In other words, they need to fantasize about having superior abilities because, deep down, they do not value the ones they already possess, as they don’t see or acknowledge them.

Irrational, or "crazy," ideas that the Social 2 has about themselves touch on themes of grandiosity, omnipotence, being a messiah, and also the fallacy that their love has a unique quality. They believe they possess a universal love that sets them apart from the rest of the world and that they can make everything change.

Interpersonal Strategy

The Social 2 feels deeply alone, even though they are seemingly always in contact with all kinds of people and appear available, helpful, and kind. They isolate themselves because

they struggle to tolerate the flaws they see in others, and they are frustrated by not seeing their idealized image recognized. Both this isolation and the extreme emotionalization of what they feel are their defenses in case physical, psychic, or emotional experiences, such as illness or emotional or work-related failures, might put them in touch with their limits and "defects." It is their way of escaping depression.

Moreover, they are a person who exerts themselves a lot because their willpower alone is not enough to achieve the goals they constantly pursue. This is why they become workaholics, relentlessly striving to be recognized.

The Vision of Others

The Social 2 sees others as means to achieve their ends. Their goals are often strategic: having friends to feel supported; having a partner for sex; having good contacts to be boosted; maintaining good relationships with others to avoid conflicts. There is very little space for others because their ambition makes them lose sight of the fact that they are people. In fact, the Social 2, although they claim to have many friendships, is neglectful of them, especially when they believe they have nothing to gain.

In groups, the ambitious individual is excellent at attracting attention. With their emotional speech, you hardly get bored; they know where to put the emphasis to maintain external attention. This is a great way to captivate in casual encounters, but over time, it becomes inconvenient because it seems like they always need to be the center of attention, and they are eventually seen as tiresome and deceitful.

The Social 2’s instinct to understand the bond helps them give the other person what they need so that the relationship doesn’t generate difficulties. However, due to their own anesthesia, they struggle to maintain that bond in a connected way. In fact, they are hyper-demanding of others, and not only do they find it difficult to admire others—confusing admiration with envy—but they also subtly despise others to put them in a lower position, where they secretly feel superior and dominant.

The Vision of the World

With respect to the world, the Social 2 appears generous, adopting a behavior designed to last. At their core, it is like a search for immortality through kind deeds that echo in society.

For the ambitious person, the world is a great ladder to climb, a vast terrain to conquer. They believe there are always more groups to reach and become known by, and they love

to feel like a part of them, as long as they can occupy a prominent place. If they don’t take on a leadership role, they think they could do it better than the boss, devaluing them, even though they don’t take on the responsibilities of the boss. They prefer the spot to the right of the boss, a place where they can be recognized and confirmed. However, when they are contrasted with their own abilities in the groups they participate in, or when they are placed where they belong, they feel it as an offense and humiliation, which is why they try to escape. When personal charm and deceit give way to the real knowledge of their true abilities, they feel like a fraud and become embarrassed.

The ambitious person believes the world is a place where love should triumph. They often have a naïve and messianic view, thinking that the world’s pain would cease if everyone loved as they believe they do. This is a huge difficulty, stemming from the dissociation of their own shadow, which they do not want to confront. What is said to silence the shadow is that someday they will achieve the ultimate recognition, where all their efforts will be rewarded. To silence their own dissatisfaction and sense of emptiness, they believe in the strength of their relationships in a way that is disproportionate to their strength and the care they have invested in them.

Neurotic Mechanisms

Emotionalization is the typical defense mechanism of E2, through which they "create" an emotion or exaggerate it to the point of dramatization. (E2 is related to histrionic personality disorder, although the Social subtype is more associated with narcissistic disorder). The goal is to defend themselves from the real emotion they are feeling, such as pain, fear, or frustration.

Moreover, they tend to prioritize emotions that are seemingly pleasant, such as joy or enthusiasm. That is, instead of letting out the emotion they need to express, they transmute it into a seemingly pleasant feeling, eventually forgetting what they really need to express, thanks to the interpretation through the lens of false abundance. Feeling so full of pleasant, beautiful, joyful, and vital emotions, they infer that they have special qualities. They then feel like the Sun King, radiating happiness everywhere.

This reinforces their forgetfulness of themselves and their ignorance of what is happening within them and how to express it. For E2, the egoic need for others to validate their behavior takes precedence over understanding what they are experiencing, as they are unsure if what they feel is true, since they magnify it or change its primary emotional quality.

This forms the basis of their dependency on the gaze of others, typical of emotional characters: they need others to affirm the lie they live in, because they cannot support themselves, as they are based on a poor understanding of what they deeply feel.

What happens to E2 is, evidently, the same as what happens to others. However, their deficient overall perspective, and their egoic self-absorption, leads them to believe that what they experience is more relevant and significantly different from what happens to everyone else. The recapitalization that would be necessary to overcome a problem through proper judgment frustrates them by emotionalizing their thoughts and making them less precise when thinking. Not feeling like one among many, they self-exclude, and there, in the lack of a sense of parity with the other, the Social 2 feels deeply alone and empty; a fraud.

One of the most important ideas that shields this disgraceful figure is grandeur.

Grandeur

Grandeur refers to a basic cognitive error, which is the belief that the large triumphs over the small, that it wins or is better. The idea, then, is not to focus on what one has and what happens to them, but to see it in relation to others. Grandeur, in some way, becomes the idea that one must be more than the other to be included, since internally, they only accept what they consider truly superior. There is no place, then, for what is not grand. Everything that is not grand the Social 2 splits off and transfers to their shadow. This is why they appear haughty in front of those who, unconsciously, remind them of all those things they hide from themselves.

This narcissistic response involves creating a grandiose shell so that the feeling of not being up to par, which would endanger their inflated self-image, is not perceived. These perceptions occasionally break through into their emotional state, sometimes when they receive criticism, forming a cyclical behavior pattern that combines euphoric states with semi-depressive ones.

This idea of grandeur also speaks to their social conceptions. The ambitious person sees their ecosystem as stratified; everyone belongs to a social rank, and "since the big wins over the small, it’s better to be on the higher rungs of the social ladder." This irrational idea is obviously fabricated in childhood. There is a tendency to relate to those older in the small grandeur. Already in adulthood, "the older ones" are no longer those of more age, but those who hold a prominent position in the social scale—essentially, authority.

With this idea of grandeur, it becomes difficult to have what Claudio Naranjo calls "admirative love," which is about how one relates to something greater than oneself, like

the idea of the divine, authorities, or even something in the other person that they consider valuable. The Social 2 has a huge difficulty with admiration, which they experience in two very distinct ways. One is to exaggerate the abilities of others, responding to their own ideal self. In other words, they see in others the abilities they fantasize they have or could have. The other, darker way of admiration, is repressed envy. They desire what others have, but without it being noticeable. Thus, they are unable to truly admire others, as they relate to what they value ambivalently, showing haughtiness towards what they admire.

This subtype has a vertical concept of the social world, where there is an "up" and a "down." The ambitious person wants to be at the top and considers themselves beneath where they believe they should be. This is precisely the engine that drives them to reach a place they cannot embody, even though it represents their ideal self. For this, excessive work is very important. It’s difficult to attain a space that matches their abilities without lying about them or applying such enormous self-demand that it may lead to self-slavery.

This over-demand leads to the overvaluation of a territorial status aligned with grandeur, which, as we’ve mentioned, comes from parents or figures of reference who stimulated the idea that there was something grand about this child, likely due to parental admiration derived from their own unfulfilled aspirations.

"I had an easy time studying as a child; I loved learning. I was passionate about medicine: I liked doctor series, medical documentaries... I watched live surgeries and always said I wanted to be a doctor. My parents supported this and constantly told me I’d be a great doctor, that I’d find a cure for cancer. I felt proud hearing them; they would show me off everywhere. I was always the girl who would be a doctor and find a cure for cancer.

Years passed, and the whole family knew I was going to be an oncologist. When I reached high school and had to choose a career, I didn’t even place Medicine as an option. I felt so much pressure from the family expectations that I didn’t dare and chose a completely different career." —Rosa Useleti

The Price of Grandeur

What price does the Social 2 pay for grandeur? Living in parameters that don’t belong to them. They get ahead of their age, so much so that the life they should be living is overlooked; they want to be on the next stage. Once an adult, they continue to ask for more: they must be at a different level, more conscious, more complete... Ultimately, more.

Some "crazy" ideas related to grandeur:

• "I’m the most important, you can’t do without me."

• "The others are always behind me." • "I’m better than everyone else." • "I’m the reference in my house, and everyone’s happiness depends on me." • "Only I can support my parents." • "I’m the prettiest, the most intellectual, the nicest. I’m more than anyone..." • "The world sees my subordinates." • "I’ve done so much, I’m so fast and efficient that others can’t keep up with me; I think, and they just do what I tell them..." • "The others are on a different level than me." • "I’m the most special." • "If I’m not grand, I’m worthless." • "If I’m not grand, I disappear, I’m not seen, I’m not loved, I’m nothing." • "One day, everyone will know about my greatness and then they’ll praise me." • "My thirst for greatness is necessary to fulfill my mission."

Omnipotence

Omnipotence is a belief that sustains the almost manic behavior of the Social 2, in that they can do anything. It is similar to the ideal of the Social 2 in the sense that, in this competitive society, a person can make themselves and climb to develop their full potential without considering external obstacles, personal limits, or the prices that necessarily need to be paid, by themselves or others. The difference between E2 and the Three is that the former believes they already possess all their skills and that others must simply recognize them, while the latter knows they must "work" hard to achieve success and relies more strategically on the abilities and strengths of those around them.

The Social 2 believes that, because they have felt intelligent at some point, they are truly so. They believe they have the gift of ubiquity. They overestimate themselves, adding or multiplying in terms of their own abilities.

Believing in omnipotence is one of the "crazy" ideas that most harms them. They are strongly attached to work, from which they gain the resources to feel abundant and superior. It becomes a measure of themselves. The self-demand in performance gives them certain benefits and makes them believe in their omnipotence. It is the self-slavery of the ambitious person.

Omnipotence finds its greatest satisfaction in planning conquests, whether of people, status, or territories. When they imagine achieving their goal, it’s as if they already have it in their hands: "If I want it and think it, I already have it" (let's not forget this subtype is the most intellectual of the three).

Many times, the conquest requires little concrete effort, as the Social 2 is skilled at appropriating the conquests of others, convincing them of how much they are being helped or how indispensable they are with their incredible competencies.

In this case, they display all their false generosity in how they can be helpful and service-oriented, or how they can save others from difficulties: "I’ll do it, I’ll solve it; don’t worry." They also make the other person feel dependent and in debt, that is, their subordinate. It is very common to see how the Social 2, in relationships, manages to make the other person stay at a level of dependency, even infantilizing them, stuck in the idealization of such a powerful and loving authority at once.

Neurotic Mechanisms

The Social 2 has an uncanny radar for detecting the needs of others. This can backfire in some cases. When the ambitious individual realizes that they cannot meet the excessive demands they place on themselves, they enter their depressive side, even devaluing the abilities they do have. In one way or another, they avoid confronting what they are.

Their attempt is to stand out and be recognized, regardless of the means—above or below; what matters is not to be indifferent. Like in the E4, there is difficulty in staying in the middle ground, in mediocrity. The Social 2 escapes mediocrity, and if they cannot achieve omnipotent excellence, they prefer to exaggerate all those things they are deficient in.

"We were in a group and we were asked to do the boat exercise (stay in a 'boat' from which one person has to be thrown out at each turn). We had to save six people and throw out six others. One saved me, and five wanted me to leave. As I went to the room thinking about it, an idea came to me with a smile: 'Well, they don’t want me, but at least I’m not indifferent to them.'" —Ana Baza

One of the ways they protect their identity as omnipotent is by not valuing their real capabilities, but instead letting themselves be carried away by their own fantasy, not just about themselves, but also about the capabilities of their peers. The Social 2 imagines what the abilities of others are but has little awareness of them; there is a certain disregard for intellectual tasks that would allow them to know what those abilities are. Above all, they cannot accept, concretely and intellectually, that the other person may possess something they don’t.

Another idea that the Social 2 holds to believe in their omnipotence is simply to devalue what others do. The ambitious person focuses on seeing the inept side of the other, which they do wonderfully among their social circle, the perfect Social 2, and the highly efficient

Social 2. When one devalues others, it paves the way for only them to stand out, and this becomes a form of repressed envy. Their language is full of bombast, full of absolutes, with such vehemence that it makes the other person doubt themselves, leading them to accept the Social 2’s criterion. It is not necessary for the speech to be very reflective; sometimes they rely too much on their improvisation ability, and in the process, words become passionate but, in essence, empty.

The speed and anesthesia are ways to disconnect from the emotional. The Social 2, being the most emotional of the types, is not characterized by being lachrymose. Only when they see the failure or the lie behind their apparent invincibility, do they allow themselves to enter a warmer, more intimate space.

One of the ways they guard themselves from contact with their own limits is procrastination, as they apply pressure to meet the standards they impose on themselves. In this way, the ambitious person delays the task until they have no choice but to do it quickly, loosening their own rigor. This helps them maintain the idea that they can do everything, since they complete it faster than others, even though they overlook the fact that they maintain a high level of stress and don’t enjoy the task.

The work of the Social 2 often comes in bursts. A very big effort is followed by a period of rest or, rather, necessary detachment, during which the Social 2 disconnects from the task because the intensity with which they performed it left them exhausted. Then, when they recharge, just before the deadline, they will undertake another monumental effort, which serves the dual purpose of finishing on time and reinforcing the idea that they can put their mind to something and achieve it, reinforcing their sense of omnipotence.

Crazy Ideas Related to Omnipotence:

• "I don’t need others; I can handle everything." • "I achieve everything I set out to do." • "I know what the world needs." • "I can excel in anything I set my mind to." • "Nothing can resist me if I focus on it. I don’t know of anything I can’t do." • "I know everything, I can solve all problems." • "No one will ever be as fulfilled as I am." • "I can do everything effortlessly."

False Love

Although E2 seems to love themselves, it is only a facade. They need to regain the unconditional love they once felt and believe they can do so by establishing an exchange where they will be the benevolent one, and the other will need them forever, placing them in an important position. By demanding so much to be in the position of the giver to avoid feeling their own lack, E2 stops giving love to themselves and looks for it outside. They do not only long for romantic love, which they undervalue, but primarily for the admiration of the group, which serves as their emotional sustenance and confirmation of their irrational idea of being indispensable.

They regularly disregard the partner, as it represents an effort they don’t see as yielding social rewards, and only turn to them when they feel defeated. It is in social settings, being adored by the masses, where this character finds their fuel and their chest swells with abundance.

The Social 2 is a conqueror of masses. For this, they seduce, territory by territory, the groups where they will receive general loving attention. This fosters an attitude we could call counter-dependent, as they seek to make the other secretly dependent, so they don’t feel their own dependency on the love of others.

They infantilize the other by providing everything they believe they need during the conquest. It is as if it were a monetary system where they’ve left the other in debt, and they can play with credit. When they are owed something, especially love, how could the debtor be evil or unloving with the creditor?

Love as Currency

Love, therefore, becomes a form of currency. The ambitious person, once they have left someone in debt and thus manipulated them into dependence, moves on to the next conquest, leaving the relationship they worked so hard on without care. From that moment on, the ambitious individual will return to that relationship only when they need something, either out of self-interest or to increase the debt, but it is unlikely that a healthy relationship will exist in which the ambitious person exposes their vulnerability and confesses their manipulation. They will always justify themselves by thinking that it is the other who needs them. Moreover, they will believe that, in this way, their love for the other is enormous and that they should be valued for what they have supposedly contributed to the relationship.

The love from the parent is perceived as transactional. The parent projects an image of grandeur and omnipotence onto the child and does not set boundaries, making the child believe they can be unlimited. This leads to the distorted idea that: "if the other sets boundaries, it’s because they don’t love me or understand me." Loved for their

actions—whether they are good, bad, loving, or not—the child is manipulated. The child begins to develop the concept that they receive love only when they have done certain things, like a business transaction.

The Social 2 also believes that "my love is of a superior quality" to the love that others give. The previously mentioned idea of grandeur supports this concept of "good love," meaning: "I am loved because I am grand." Or: "If I am not omnipotent, no one will love me." And one step further: The ambitious person will love you if you serve the idea that they are grand, if you shower them with praise.

Some Crazy Ideas About False Love:

• "I will save you." • "If I don’t get approval from the public, I’ve failed." • "If I don’t have the gaze of the person I want, I don’t exist or I’m not enough." • "If I conquer you, you will always hold me in high esteem." • "I am loved because I am grand." • "If I’m not omnipotent, you won’t love me." • "If you fall in love with me, you’ll always love me." • "Once you know my love, you’ll never want to experience any other."

A special form of false love could be called "goodism." To rise in the social hierarchy, besides possessing the omnipotence described earlier, one must have good intentions. Goodism is a way of masking hidden egoistic interests and displacing them to the shadow. Consciously, it’s a way in which the Social 2 spiritualizes themselves. They present themselves as someone who has reached such capacity and generosity, showing kindness as a way to sublimate ambition and make it transcendental.

Some Crazy Ideas About Goodism:

• "I am the best support for anyone through my help." • "I’m one of the best people you’ll meet." • "I will save you." • "My gift is spontaneity, and through it, people will love me." • "I do so much for you..." • "No one will listen to you like I do." • "I sacrifice myself for others."

The Chosen One

To lead groups or feel they are capable of doing so, Social 2s entertain the messianic crazy idea that they possess certain abilities that are far superior to others, making them significantly different. This idea of being "the Chosen One," the child of God, the successor, or being at the right hand of the father, is almost a delirious idea. So narcissistic, it’s mostly embarrassing because it lacks any real foundation.

At the beginning of the Introductory Psychology of Enneatypes course I gave in Burgos, I said, as an introduction, that what I wanted was for everyone to kneel and praise me as the savior, the beloved one. I had no real basis for it; it was more of a sensory experience, an almost delirious, psychotic humor. I wasn’t psychotic; I knew that this idea was a shameless one on my part, but it was something I felt deeply.

Years later, the first time I could talk to Claudio alone, I confessed this idea to him, telling him I had discovered that I didn’t need to feel like his beloved son, that I simply wanted to learn with him and his disciples, and that I was putting my will to be of service. He, apparently, didn’t pay much attention, and after leaving the conversation with him, I felt like I had acted in the same way my father did with me, without giving much attention to what I had said, almost as if he considered me a child.

The next day, I heard that Claudio had called me to join the course as support. I had been chosen—not as the beloved disciple, but as the chosen one. And it was because I told him I didn’t want to be chosen. It was very hard for me to take part in something I had longed for without believing I was the Chosen One. Every time I achieve something I desire, it’s the same: I find it very difficult to understand that it is the result of my natural evolution and not because I am different from everyone else. —Alejandro Rodríguez

In summary, someone who believes that the world is a social ladder and that they can do anything, who considers themselves intrinsically good and with a unique love, is likely to think that they can lead others, or even position themselves as the new Jesus Christ or Savior of the masses. Napoleon, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Evita Perón, or Cleopatra are good examples. They believed they needed to guide their people to victory because under their protection, the empire would be better and wiser.

The irrational messianic idea of being the Chosen One is deeply rooted in having actually been the Chosen One in childhood. The Social 2 possesses a very ancient instinctive ability to assert themselves before authority, even if it conflicts with it. This ability is based on having been an emotional reference figure for their parents.

Some Crazy Ideas:

• "I have a great destiny foretold by my parents." • "Only I can give." • "When they know my worth, everyone will kneel before me." • "I am someone special. Somehow touched by the hand of God.”