The Enneagram

Written By Stephan Goupille

There are hundreds of personality tests: Myers-Briggs, Strengths Finder, Big 5 but I never found any of them particularly insightful. Recently, I discovered the Enneagram and was captivated by how consistently it identified the various personality types I’ve met around the world. Here’s a little more about it, and what sets it apart from the others in my mind.

Introduction

The Enneagram enumerates nine distinct personality types, each with unique goals, fears, and defining characteristics. You can read more about the Enneagram and the various types all over the internet - I find the Enneagram Institute's overview and type descriptions to be particularly clear.

Here’s an overview:

Each the nine types wants to persue their core desire and minimize their core fear. Let's take an example: a Peacemaker (9) works to promote harmony and reduce conflict within their world. In an unhealthy state, they may develop a Dependent or Schizoid personality disorder.

Levels of Development

One of the best parts of the Enneagram is that it provides a range of behavior for each type. Instead of just labeling someone as an “Achiever” you can also leverage the Enneagram to get a sense of how healthy or stressed they are. For example, the Achiever (type 3) when healthy is described as follows:

“Self-accepting, inner-directed, and authentic, everything they seem to be. Modest and charitable, self-deprecatory humor and a fullness of heart emerge. Gentle and benevolent.”

On the other hand, when they become unhealthy, Achievers can manifest in a totally different way:

“Become vindictive, attempting to ruin others’ happiness. Relentless, obsessive about destroying whatever reminds them of their own shortcomings and failures. Generally corresponds to the Narcissistic Personality Disorder.”

You can read about all nine levels of development for the Achiever here. The addition of this layer in the literature is useful both for recognizing where you are in your own journey (self-awareness) and also where others are in theirs (awareness of others).

The Shape

The creators of the Enneagram envisioned the nine personalities as circle such that each type has “wings” that are the numbers immediately adjacent to it. For example the wings of 5 are 4 and 6 and the wings of 9 are 8 and 1. Here’s what this looks like.

I’m not so sure about this representation. My first thought after reading through the various personalities was that adjacent types were not that similar. For example, it feels like Investigators (type 5) often have more in common with Helpers (type 2) than Individualists (type 4) who are typically more wistful and creative. I was inspired to think about what could be a more helpful representation. Why are there nine types in the first place?

Often you see square numbers arise when are two independent characteristics being measured. 9 is 3 x 3. If one personality trait has options A, B, and C and another has options X, Y, and Z then you’ll get 9 total combinations: AX, AY, AZ, BX, BY, BZ, CX, CY and CZ.

Let’s cut to the chase: I believe there are two distinct personality attributes lurking beneath the surface of the Enneagram.

Axis One: the Psyche

  • 1st row: conscientious types with a focus on values (superego)

  • 2nd row: types that balance values and personal motivations (ego)

  • 3rd row: types driven by instinctual motivations (id)

This axis is similar to Freud's decomposition of the human psyche into the id, ego, and superego. Conscientious individuals aspire to stay true to their principles - they frequently put the desires of others above their own. These are the superego types. In contrast, instinctual types have strong internal desires and a tendency to act on them. These are id types. Ego types are a combination of both.

Axis Two: the Medium

  • 1st column: thinking (head)

  • 2nd column: sensing (gut)

  • 3rd column: feeling (heart)

This axis corresponds to the primary way types see the world and make decisions. Thinking types are cerebral. They spend a lot of time in their heads, and tend to evaluate situations rationally, without as much emotion. Feeling types are the opposite - they pay close attention to how they and others are doing emotionally. Sensing types operate somewhere in between, balancing inputs from their mind and body.

Putting the Pieces in Place

Here's a 3x3 with the nine personality types filled in:

Let me walk you through a couple examples. Helpers are superego-oriented, feeling types. They care about others and are finely-attuned to their specific needs. Enthusiasts are id-oriented, thinking types. They channel their intellect to dream up ever more exciting things to do. Peacemakers are in the center of the Enneagram - balanced on both axes, in some ways they have the highest capacity to understand all other types.

Wrapping Up

Since discovering the Enneagram, I have come to appreciate what it has to offer. It sheds light on the primary personality types I’ve met and how those types manifest in various situations and levels of stress.

I most closely identify with Investigator and Peacemaker types. When I was young, I thought that everyone else was also seeking truth and world peace (looking at you Miss Congeniality). As an adult, I see that people have all sorts of intrinsic motivations and fears and I’ve come to appreciate the various strengths that each type can bring to the table.

The Enneagram is just a framework, and like every other personality test and classification, it's a simplified version of the truth. In the end, I believe that through a combination of self-awareness and effort, we all have the capacity to act like any type to adapt to the needs of a particular situation.

Stephan Goupille