Theory

Enneagram

Nine personality types and their interconnections in a geometric system of psychological patterns.

Origins

The Enneagram has diverse historical roots, drawing from Sufi traditions, Christian mysticism, and 20th-century psychological work by Oscar Ichazo and Claudio Naranjo. It describes nine distinct personality types arranged in a geometric figure.

Unlike type-based systems that focus on behavior, the Enneagram emphasizes core motivations, fears, and desires that drive personality patterns.

The Nine Types

Type 1: The Perfectionist

Principled, purposeful, self-controlled, and perfectionistic.

Core fear: Being corrupt or defective • Core desire: To be good, balanced, and have integrity

Type 2: The Helper

Generous, demonstrative, people-pleasing, and possessive.

Core fear: Being unloved or unwanted • Core desire: To feel loved and appreciated

Type 3: The Achiever

Adaptable, excelling, driven, and image-conscious.

Core fear: Being worthless or without value • Core desire: To feel valuable and worthwhile

Type 4: The Individualist

Expressive, dramatic, self-absorbed, and temperamental.

Core fear: Having no identity or significance • Core desire: To find themselves and their significance

Type 5: The Investigator

Perceptive, innovative, secretive, and isolated.

Core fear: Being useless or incapable • Core desire: To be capable and competent

Type 6: The Loyalist

Engaging, responsible, anxious, and suspicious.

Core fear: Being without support or guidance • Core desire: To have security and support

Type 7: The Enthusiast

Spontaneous, versatile, acquisitive, and scattered.

Core fear: Being deprived or trapped in pain • Core desire: To be satisfied and content

Type 8: The Challenger

Self-confident, decisive, willful, and confrontational.

Core fear: Being harmed or controlled by others • Core desire: To protect themselves and control their environment

Type 9: The Peacemaker

Receptive, reassuring, complacent, and resigned.

Core fear: Loss, fragmentation, or separation • Core desire: To have inner stability and peace of mind

Centers of Intelligence

The nine types are grouped into three "triads" based on their dominant center of intelligence:

Body/Instinctive Center (8, 9, 1)

Process the world through gut instinct and physical sensation. Core emotion: Anger (expressed, repressed, or denied)

Heart/Feeling Center (2, 3, 4)

Process the world through emotions and relationships. Core emotion: Shame (about identity and worth)

Head/Thinking Center (5, 6, 7)

Process the world through analysis and mental frameworks. Core emotion: Fear (about security and competence)

Wings and Lines

Each type is influenced by its adjacent types (wings) and connected to two other types through integration and disintegration lines. A Type 5, for example, may have a 4-wing or 6-wing, and connects to Type 8 (integration) and Type 7 (disintegration).

This creates significant variation within each type and explains how people may express different aspects of their personality under stress or growth.

Limitations

The Enneagram lacks strong empirical validation compared to research-backed models like the Big Five. Its origins in spiritual traditions mean it's better understood as a reflective tool than a scientific framework.

The system's depth can also lead to over-identification with a type or using it to explain away behavior rather than taking responsibility for growth.

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