Five in the social arena can appear to be oxymoronic at first, after all, at five occurs the juxtaposition of rejection + withdrawn. Indeed, fives in the social arena might at first appear identical to fives elsewhere - detached, lost in thought, keeps to self. This is simply a five whose primary concern regards a network of people, especially in relation to their cognitive properties. For instance, how societies function. “What makes people tick? How do people come to understand each other through language? What observations can be made about social dynamics? How does this individual relate to that one, and what is the basis of their relationship?” Social-concerned fives wish to understand the laws of multiplicity regarding group structures, and go deep into their own ideas to accomplish this.
These maps of how people function help fives in the social arena understand the human race as a constantly evolving, complex, and dynamic web. These maps need not be entirely corroborated by direct evidence, so some of the five’s ideas can be… out there. Their ideas also help them carve out a niche to avoid future rejection: they now have something useful to offer the world, so they will no longer be met with disdain. Avarice in the social arena causes the five to only relate through their role - often a professor or therapist - and to minimize direct connections and participation to work on their skills and contributions. Oftentimes they are focused on an ultimate contribution which would secure themselves a node in the complex web of humanity.
Regarding superfluity, fives with a pronounced social concern may add their own thoughts, even when they only tangentially relate to the subject at hand if they feel it will bring them respect or importance. Fives in the social arena are still cool and detached - perhaps even more so than when engaged in a strogic [sp] or erotic [sx] bond, and still prone to dry relays of their thoughts derived away from direct experience, behind their professorial desk. Fives with social concern often approach others as teachers and possessors of useful and intriguing information. Often this info is archetypal in nature, a factoid which explains a vast swathe of human experience, or which aims to be a comprehensive and essential guide to a topic which secures their role as an expert. Being in the rejection triad, fives through the social arena strongly crave to be indispensable - so knowledge becomes an exceedingly powerful tool.
This 5 enjoys sharing knowledge from behind their professorial desk. They have a more relaxed and colloquial nature, with a tinge of awkwardness or psuedo-autism. They are drawn to the experts in a given field, those who know, but express their admiration subtly through respectful gestures. They are the ones who "didn't make it". This is the five who identifies more with the devalued part of the meaningless/extraordinary polarity, it causes them to be slightly more ingratiating. For instance, if they've heard about you and secretly have read all your work or obsessed about you, they'll greet you with a handshake but pretend to be "cool"/detached/nonchalant. They want you to notice their utility or cleverness but know better than to be clingy. To them, you embody an archetype to be strived for, that superhero ideal. "You" tends to be a specific person for so/sx and focuses more on specific qualities, and for so/sp it could be a person but it might be a role or position, so/sp is more drawn to the status a person holds than the person themselves.
This is the 5 who identifies more with their role, and the leverage knowledge gains them in a given sphere. For instance, they might rely on a secret trick to fix the work computer, and don't tell many people about it to secure their "importance". Or, they might be part of a club which possesses a subtle code, and anyone who doesn't pick up on the code is excluded automatically. They appear more serious and stern, but they have a friendly side reserved for people they truly respect and trust. They can be rather gatekeepy, it takes a while to prove your worthiness or value to this 5. You have to be cool and collected, and possess a certain degree of inventiveness. This is because of the sensitivity they have about their role, avarice dictates they cling to secure it. They are confident about what they know and don't know, they are insecure about the power "being in the know" brings, that is why they can be so rigid.
Five in the self-preservation arena is a frequent occurrence - it reinforces the five structures and attaches avarice to physical objects instead of more abstract and intangible ones like group structures or intensity. Essentially, a clinging onto of resources, most of which are tangible - like space and food, but some of which are not - such as time and energy. The retentive nature of five is emphasized and includes emotional expression, fives in the self-preservation realm are not forthcoming in self-disclosure and tend to be especially conflict-avoidant. They also are very reclusive, hiding out in a refuge from which to observe the world. Their observations are often kept entirely to themselves... they don't believe others would understand.
In this arena we see the impracticality of five paradoxically combined with a SP practical streak. The result is proficiency and highly cultivated areas of expertise. These help to build an impenetrable stronghold, a self-sufficient microcosm which neither needs nor asks. A desire to collect all materials relating to a current interest is present and sometimes insatiable. It is through these cognitive channels that relational and vitality needs are redirected. Oddly enough, when in relationships, fives with a pronounced self-preservation concern can be warmest in their desire for a storgic, non-hostile bond. It is a relationship founded on the existence of two independent entities, united by trust and mutual interest… it doesn’t necessarily have to be more than that. Indeed, anything much more than that can be an unwelcome drain. In the sexual and social arenas, the demands are much higher and a lot more trust is needed.
This 5 is probably the most practical of the bunch. Their boundaries are slightly malleable, to the point where you can observe them actively participate in group events (even if sp/sx). They "do what needs to be done" to maintain their security, and sometimes that means giving something up, or placating the masses. Their stinginess manifests itself in giving "just enough" of their time and energy to maintain their agricultural structure (steady stream of resources) without ever getting too involved or too attached. It is adaptation to earn space, it has more of a long-term objective. You might feel like you are getting a lot, but you only have access to one of their boxes. It can sometimes be like: "Here, I'll give you this, now go do your own thing with it in the corner someplace and leave me alone." Like a busy dad at his desk swamped with work obligations who also has to manage a needy toddler.
Information really is a bartering chip for this five, it's their way of giving without having to jump in and fully engage themselves. They like to give overviews of what they know without going super deep into it. They can be like a "knowledge buffet", where you can ask them questions and they'll answer you, sure, but they don't elaborate unless it'll get you to stop bugging them - they just adapt to meet the quota.
This 5 is what you most often hear described, i.e. the obsessive + reclusive hermit 5. This 5 is exceptionally private and guarded, and if, by contrast, SPA allows you a box, SPB at best shows you their closet full of boxes. If they do open one, it's labeled and describes the fruits of their involved research, and is noticably more detailed and impractical due to their greater degree of reserve. They are people who go to the grocery store and back, no time or energy for friendly greetings to the cashier, "business only". They very much have a spiderlike quality: they spin their information web and wait for ideas to "get themselves caught". Or, they want to collect information on a person and set up a series of "tests", then keep their findings in a file. They can have an experimental scientist vibe because of this.
They are very difficult to get to know, and they like it that way. They can still seek friends and support structures (esp. if sp/so), but even if they do, it will be through contributions or insights that secure them their position. Actually, sp/so spb is probably most identifiable by their attention to social boundaries, sp/sx is most focused on having space. For SPB 5, I like to think of Lain Iwakura, very tight boundaries with private research projects.
The five seduces through being intellectually provocative. Fives are known to be not intense, yet when combined with the sexual arena we find a non-intense intensity seeker. Fives with a pronounced sexual concern seek absolute assurance of the integrity of their erotic bonds, and do so by fully understanding the multiplicity of the object of desire. It is the pursuit of pleasure under very controlled circumstances, with someone (something) you can fully trust without any fear of them backing out. Commonly present is an exploration of the erotic and transcendent in cognitive mediums, such as science fiction romances with complex worlds. In this arena, the five seeks a continual renewal of self through the exploration of new, spiritual and/or fantastical dimensions, a pursuit of ecstacy in mental fantasies.
A more "feminine" provocation. It is less jagged and more expressive or imaginative in its presentation. It is a soft and subtle invitation which can resemble 9. There is a rich and fantastical inner world, and it often manifests itself in an artistic sensibility, in music or visual expressions. However it can be distinguished from other types by its emphasis on the unsettling and disturbing, "my dark inner world", and its distance from reality. It has an almost surrealist air to it, merging dreams and reality into a supra-reality. This 5 feels secured by knowing things about the object of desire that no one else knows about. Oftentimes they watch from a distance, they have trouble revealing themselves due to their extreme sensitivity and fragility, they creep around the edges.
And, the more "masculine" manifestation. This one is more iconoclastic, and enjoys challenging common notions. They very often tear ideas down to the dirt, only to piece them back together into their own richer version. You could say that sxb shows their darkness or disturbing factor immediately, whereas sxa saves it for a little later after hooking you. They also meet people rather convinced of their own opinions, headstrong and arrogant. They provoke in order to observe, as if they're prodding an insect. This is the 5 that enjoys debating and proving they know what they are talking about. I think of Nietzsche.