The Self-Preservation Seven

The Facade is Confidence, the Reality is Fear

Self-preservation Sevens tend to surround themselves with people who share their interest, values and pursuits. The presence of like-minded people takes the edge off their unacknowledged fear and often gives them permission to indulge appetites (food, drink, sex) that others might not enjoy.

What will be particularly Seven-like about these positive social experiences will be the emphasis on planning them so they doesn't miss out any anything and the slight but discernible reframing of any negative elements into something lighter and brighter. They may not go as far as Hugh Hefner who called his heart attack a stroke of luck, but lemonade served by a Seven is considerably sweeter than one would expect from the lemon you experienced.

Because of the emphasis on self preservation, the risks that Sevens are famous for will be more deliberate and calculated. They make look spontaneous and devil-may-care, but the weighing of risk and value is lurking in the background, like a banker going bungee jumping with a net. The risk must be taken because of the allure of the possibilities but there's no reason to be a darn fool about this.

Along with this ambivalence between pleasure and the price to be paid is a certain reluctance to really put oneself to the test. The facade is confidence, the reality is fear. So many actions look braver than they are. An ace in the hole while gambling boisterously is the ideal.

Self-preservation Sevens tend to spend more time at home than other Sevens, especially if they have a strong connection to Five. They will be a bit more serious. Entertainment is like a spice, a little prevents boredom, but too much ruins the taste of things. So when the Seven is entertaining, a little goes a long way around home.

Some Self-preservation Sevens, while being light-hearted, can also be very tight with money - a cheap streak. Good times that don't cost much are highly desirable. These freebies can nicely be reframed as appreciation of nature or music or poetry -- anything as long as the package doesn't cost much money.

    Resources:

  1. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales has the section on the Friar who seems to be a self-preservation subtype. He certainly is a Seven.
  2. Hugh Hefner: Once Upon A Time and Auntie Mame are famous movie Sevens who display self-preservation subtypes.
  3. Still around perennially, Crocodile Dundee is a fierce, funny, frightened Seven.

    Questions:

  1. How well do you remember jokes? (Many Sevens have remarkable memories for jokes because so many jokes are reframes). How well do you tell them?
  2. How often do you entertain (formally, I mean)?
  3. Do you find yourself sharing one experience many times in one day with different people?