Self-Significance (SS)

Center: Purpose
Triads: Immersing • Aligning • Internalizing

Basic Description
The Self-Significance instinct (SS) is about feeling truly alive by tracking one’s unique reasons for existing. This instinct is deeply focused on introspection and self-discovery, constantly asking the question, “Who am I, and why am I here?” Individuals with SS in their stacking are driven to explore their inner world, seeking to align their actions and experiences with a deeper sense of personal meaning and significance. SS is about understanding the individual’s purpose in life and the impact they have on the world around them, but this understanding comes through an internal process of alignment, rather than through external validation.

SS 1st (SS/–/–)
For Self-Significance dominants, life revolves around the constant exploration of their own purpose and significance. These individuals are always searching for the deeper reasons behind their existence, often engaging in intense periods of introspection to better understand themselves and their unique place in the world. SS first types feel most alive when they are able to immerse in the process of self-discovery, asking questions about their identity, impact, and the meaning behind their experiences.

SS dominants are often highly introspective and may seem self-centered to others, but their focus is on aligning with their inner purpose and ensuring that they are living authentically. They are not easily swayed by external influences, preferring to look within for guidance and clarity. These individuals are driven by the need to understand their unique path, and they often spend time reflecting on their past experiences to draw meaning from them in the present.

The pursuit of self-significance is a deeply immersive experience for these individuals, and they tend to focus on how their personal experiences align with their broader sense of purpose. They believe that their inner world holds the key to understanding their role in life, and they are constantly seeking ways to align their actions and experiences with their inner sense of purpose and meaning.

PSI vs. PIS Stackings
In PSI, Self-Survival supports Self-Significance by providing the bodily stability and physical resources necessary for the individual to explore their deeper purpose. The focus is on ensuring their basic survival needs are met in order to free up mental and emotional energy for introspection and self-discovery. The stability provided by Self-Survival allows the individual to engage more fully in the pursuit of their unique significance, ensuring they have the grounding they need to immerse themselves in their personal purpose.

In PIS, Self-Significance is supported by Interpersonal relationships, where the individual’s search for personal meaning is shaped by their connections with others. Relationships offer a mirror for self-discovery, allowing them to see how their purpose is reflected in the way they interact with others. Interpersonal dynamics feed into Self-Significance, helping the individual feel validated and understood as they pursue a deeper sense of personal meaning through their relationships. The PIS stacking needs room to roam the world of higher purpose as they please, so viewing people as potential conductors of this way of being brings a feeling of instinctual aliveness.

SS 2nd (–/SS/–)
When Self-Significance is second in the stacking, it plays a supportive role to the primary instinct, helping individuals explore their inner purpose in a way that enhances their core desires. SS second individuals are naturally introspective and focused on self-discovery, but they don’t need to be constantly immersed in their personal purpose. Instead, they use their sense of self-significance to provide clarity and direction for their primary instinct, ensuring that they feel aligned with their inner purpose as they pursue their broader goals.

These individuals may engage in periods of introspection when they need to reconnect with their sense of self, but they are less likely to be overly focused on their personal significance. Instead, they use their inner alignment as a way to ground their actions and enhance their life pursuits. SS second individuals often find that their sense of self-significance gives them the emotional energy and psychological clarity they need to pursue their primary instinct with greater focus and intention.

IPS vs. SPI Stackings
In IPS, Self-Significance is shaped by the individual’s Interpersonal relationships, with emotional connections driving their focus on personal purpose. Their purpose in the world helps them understand their need for relationships and interpersonal dynamics. Self-Significance feeds into the high they get from people, enabling the individual feel validated and emotionally aligned as they pursue their broader life goals in context of their ultimate relational needs.

In SPI, Self-Significance is supported by Self-Survival, where the individual’s physical survival is explored through their understanding of their own personal meaning in the world. They focus on how their actions and decisions impact their bodily well-being, and they use their sense of self-significance to ensure that they are making choices that enhance the hit they get from their physical resources. Self-Survival feeds into Self-Significance, providing a practical framework for understanding their personal purpose in relation to their physical survival.

SS 3rd (–/–/SS)
When Self-Significance is in the last position, individuals often experience a temperamental relationship with their sense of inner purpose. They may initially struggle to engage in self-discovery or introspection, feeling disconnected from the need to explore their personal significance due to how many wrong turns they can take in its exploration. SS last individuals might avoid periods of deep self-reflection unless it perfectly fits into their current life pursuits, choosing instead to focus on more practical or external matters.

However, once they learn to integrate Self-Significance in a way that aligns with their primary and secondary instincts, they begin to appreciate the value of understanding their unique purpose. Once they understand how their sense of self-significance can enhance their broader goals, they find a deep sense of satisfaction in self-discovery. They begin to recognize that understanding their personal purpose offers a sense of clarity and direction that helps them navigate life more effectively, but it often takes time for them to fully embrace their need for inner alignment.

SIP vs. ISP Stackings
In SIP, Self-Significance is shaped by the individual’s Self-Survival needs, with their focus on bodily well-being driving their understanding of personal purpose. They view their physical survival as a key part of their personal significance, using their sense of self to ensure that their actions are aligned with their survival needs. Self-Survival feeds into Self-Significance, providing a practical framework for understanding their purpose in life.

In ISP, Self-Significance is supported by Interpersonal relationships, where emotional connections offer insight into the individual’s personal purpose. Relationships help them understand their role in the world, and their interpersonal dynamics provide a sense of validation and emotional alignment. Interpersonal dynamics feed into Self-Significance, helping the individual feel emotionally grounded as they pursue their broader life goals through relationships.

Tension & Lines
Self-significance is the tension between the bonding and existentialism instincts. On one hand, these individuals are driven to track how others perceive them like the bonding instinct. While on the other hand, they are also driven to track their own awareness of the self and how it interrelates and matters to the bigger picture or higher truth like the existentialism instinct. The tension between these two inner drives creates the specialized focus on character, identity, introspection, and self-discovery of the self-significance instinct.

Self-significance is connected to, and in turn, comprised of the unknown and fortitude instincts. When one is driven to track their own significance in the world, they inherently imagine their own place within the physical dimensions of reality like the fortitude instinct – as well as imagining all possible manifestations of the self that could emerge from self-work and discovery like the unknown instinct. The sum of these two connecting instincts, multiplied by the tension between the neighboring instincts are what all culminate together to form the self-significance instinct.