The Enneagram is a personality typing system with nine basic types. Its origins are debated, but it is used for self-discovery and evaluating candidates by companies. The nine types are grouped into feeling, thought, and instinctive triads, each with unique characteristics. The Enneagram incorporates a hexagon and triangle, with lines indicating behavior in times of stress or security. Critics argue more research is needed.
The Enneagram is a personality typing system used in psychology. It is a nine-pointed figure, with each point representing one of nine basic personality types. The roots of the system are a topic of discussion. Some argue that the origins date back to 4000 years ago. Numerous mathematicians and philosophers such as Plato and al-Ghazzali are said to have pondered earlier variations of the Enneagram. The number and personality system is also related to Sufi orders and George Gurdjieff is thought to have been introduced in this way. In its contemporary use, the Enneagram is often attributed to the Bolivian thinker Oscar Ichazo, who began working on it in the 1950s. Ichazo’s students, especially Claudio Naranjo, further developed and elaborated on the model starting in the 1970s.
The Enneagram is intended as a tool of self-discovery, the idea being that one can recognize and avoid the pitfalls of unhealthy behavior patterns by learning about one’s type and how it typically responds to stressors. Some psychologists and scientists criticize the Enneagram for its lack of falsifiability, but other more widely accepted personality types, such as the one developed by Carl Jung, have the same weakness. Recent neuroscience research suggests biological evidence for the Enneagram, but not all neuroscientists agree on this issue. Critics believe more research is needed before the Enneagram can be accepted. A number of companies, including Motorola, Boeing, and the Stanford Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, use the Enneagram to evaluate candidates.
A brief description of the nine personality types follows. The terminology used to label triads and types is not standardized and many different terms can be found in different sources.
Types two through four are known as the feeling triad. Second, the Helper, overexpresses feelings and tends to be compassionate, generous, manipulative, and possessive. Three, The Achiever, is more out of touch with feeling and is characterized as being adaptable, confident, competitive, and critical. Four, the individualist underexpresses feelings and is typically intuitive, creative, depressive, and withdrawn.
Types five through seven are collectively called the thought triad. Five, The Observer is characterized by overexpressed thinking and exhibits analytical, inquisitive, withdrawn and detached personality traits. Six, the loyalist, is less in touch with thinking and tends to be loyal, responsible, passive-aggressive, and insecure. Seven, the adventurer is prone to understatement of thought and is enthusiastic, spontaneous, moody, and narcissistic.
Types Eight, Nine and One are known as the Instinctive Triad. Otto, the leader, overexpresses instincts and is said to be dominant, assertive, domineering, and confrontational. Nine, The Peacemaker, is the type most numb to instinct, characterized by being perceptive, empathic, numb and repressed. One, the perfectionist tends to underexpress instinct and is typically idealistic, conscientious, judgmental, and inflexible.
The nine-pointed Enneagram incorporates both a hexagon, linking types One, Two, Four, Five, Seven and Eight; and a triangle, connecting types Three, Six, and Nine. The lines that make up these shapes can be used to predict the behavior of any type of personality in times of stress or security. These directions are often indicated on the diagram with arrows. The direction of disintegration, is seen in the sequences 1-4-2-8-5-7-1 and 3-6-9-3. The direction of integration is the opposite direction.
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