David Beckham, Nines, and Merging

Analyzing the defense of merging in Type Nine

In our constant hunger to delve deeply into the personality profiles of almost everyone we watch on a television series or movie while watching the Netflix docuseries Beckham about international football star David Beckham, some reflections on the nature of merging (also known as identification) in reference to Nines seemed appropriate. The series provides an intimate portrait of the inner world of a Nine and a retrospective of a career characterized by extreme highs and lows, mitigated by a personality style that craves peace and emotional stability.

We type David Beckham as a Sexual Nine (937 Trifix). He exemplifies humility, bravado, and a semi-conscious awareness of his magnetism and attractiveness, creating a blend of innocence, coquettishness, and arrogance characteristic of this subtype. Beckham merged early with his father’s obsession with football and readily took on the expectation of who he was to become in his life (not unlike the Three). However, in contrast to Threes, Nines, and particularly the Sexual Nine, looses themselves in the merging and cannot separate themselves from the other, setting themselves up for a tumultuous dynamic whereby they must manage their desire for total union with the gut type’s need for autonomy and independence.