SX6 vs. E8

Both types can appear similar in behavior and disposition: aggressive, reckless, dominating, megalomaniacal, and power-driven. Both also repress vulnerability and are typically dissocial, opposed to general norms, structures, and systems. The distinction lies in the cognitive and emotional distortions, which are vastly different in spite of similar behavior and attitude.

Primarily, the sexual E6 is a superegoic type, characterized by an Oedipus complex: a Freudian disposition developed in childhood where one is afraid of being “castrated” by the father for desiring the mother. Incest aside, it is a metaphor for fatherly punishment and the suppression of desire. The E6sx is afraid of being punished by the father, of being disobedient and debaucherous, of allowing himself pleasure. This causes an extensive need to oppose such standards and go against the father so as to become stronger than him. Subordination is associated with weakness; consequently, one rebels internally against the internalized authority (the superego). The dissocial and dominant disposition comes from the megalomania that forms when one imagines himself as stronger than the father, omnipotent in relation to the superego. The sexual Six is torn between following what he “ought” to do and going against it, having an inherently ambivalent, confused, and twofold relation to the conscience.

Rebellion here serves to become strong and invulnerable, to unconsciously position himself above the father. The E8, in contrast, comes from a background of devaluing the father. Whereas the sexual E6 overvalues the superego and the Oedipus complex, ennea-type 8 undervalues it, considers the father inferior and incompetent. They are entirely out of touch with weakness and repress it to the depths of the unconscious. It can be said that SX6 is artificially strong and powerful, for beneath this there is a strong sense of inferiority toward the father and his standards. SX6 yearns for fatherly approval, yet is convinced that strength comes from mental rebellion. E8 is dissocial in the truest sense: disregarding the internalized father, following impulses, avoiding the superego and conscience. It does not comply with the fatherly ideal at all; it is seen as irrelevant and a mere restriction to pleasure.