Enneagram: bringing awareness of your personality

Published: 03/29/2013 - Updated: 06/19/2016

The Enneagram is a query tool for growth or personal consciousness which is primarily used to classify and detect nine different types of attitudes or basic personality tendencies (enneatypes), which are represented by the vertices or points of convergence of a Enneagram.

The easiest way to use the Enneagram is considering the nine enneatypes which result from the combination of two main factors: the first is how the person deals with the relationship with others, and the second is what the person feels when related with the environment.

These two personality factors are divided as follows:

Types of attitudes that people approach in the relationship with others:

  • The unpleasant personality: one that is against the world.
  • The apathetic personality: one that is remote or dissociated in the world, or outside observer position on the circumstances.
  • Empathic or sympathetic personality: the one connected to the environment.

Types of feelings related to others:

  • They feel superior to others or the world, they feel they have something that others do not have or have been more fortunate.
  • They feel the same as others, with the same advantages and potential.
  • They feel inferior or deficient, insufficient, or the feeling of not having been favored.

This mixture results in nine basic personality types which result from the nine possible combinations of these two factors (3×3 = 9).

Here is a brief description of the Enneagram enneatypes. You should not consider these definitions literally, only a professional reader of Enneagram can give a more accurate description of the personality. The Enneagram has points numbered 1 to 9, which must be considered as psychological spaces or places of connection to other types.

Enneatypes 1: this personality is usually very critical and perfectionist, constantly seeking perfection and are severe with themselves and with others. Therefore, people feel anger and are disappointed but they do not show this because they consider it as a failure, so usually retain anger. This type of personality is very detailed and often are lovers of order and cleanliness. They speak in terms of what is wrong and right, are judicious and easily discard ideas that they do not agree. They are committed and hardworking.

Enneatypes 2: usually people that serve and help others, always looking at ways of how to help and serve the needs of others so they can be very proud, dependent on others and feel important through help they give to others, which can cause neglecting their own needs and, leading then, to feelings of misunderstanding or disappointment when they don’t find positive answers and help of those who that get their help. By developing more amplitude criteria, they usually are altruistic and have warm hearts.

Enneatypes 3: People are often very aware of their image and what others think of them, like success and focus on being better. They are hardworking and individualistic, are very energetic, efficient and are vain because they usually excel at what they do, but sometimes may even lie. When they have developed better understanding of themselves, are very sincere, productive and outstanding.

Enneatypes 4: an artistic nature and deep, with a great and special sensitivity, consider themselves distinct from others and often feel little understood or appreciated as they tend not to identify with others. Sometimes often have feelings of envy and undeserving or may not have the luck to please, have a strong need to stand out from others and often feel "squatting" or less valuable because things that lived in the past. They are shy and reserved, and may be very concerned about themselves. If they develop a greater consciousness, tend to be creative and even great, besides empathetic and compassionate.

Enneatypes 5: have deep scientific interests, are ascetics and great observers, with very objective thinking. They are characterized by being greedy as they don’t leave their introspective world until they are completely sure of their knowledge. They are independent and self-sufficient, clear thought and word, they don’t often talk about their feelings but they seem to understand very clearly the feeling of others, have cutting-edge ideas and are great leaders and guides in human development. In a more comprehensive are very detached and generous.

Enneatypes 6: are characters with high affinity to the norms and morals, are faithful and loyal, great audience and friends but at the same time can be very insecure and fearful, and imagine terrible things. They need guidance and authority, although they may have wanted to flee the conflict. At first glance, they seem very sure of themselves but deep down they feel insecure and distrustful, usually superficial but deep looking with great eagerness. In a higher state of understanding, they often are brave and excellent companions.

Enneatypes 7: are people full of joy and pleasure drawn either from food, drink, sex, etc., Are easily entertained and encouraged by the plans, but when they get bored easily leave them. They like to enjoy and get alienated from outside distractions so they have a tendency to flee from themselves and present, delaying their suffering and learning, not like shallow depth and are therefore like to "bite" a bit of everything but do not know in depth. In a broader state of consciousness, they are very courageous and with great enjoyment of the present.

Enneatypes 8: are large vigilantes, led by a broad sense of justice and injustice which can provoke in very passionate ways. They are impulsive and authoritarian, often easily fall into pleasures or excess passengers or lust. They have great confidence in themselves so they usually have jobs as local leaders as they need to feel strong and often feel when they help to those who love, are rescuers, but in a more optimal protectors are usually large and loyal defenders of what they believe.

Enneatypes 9: pacifist and have a character for mediate situations; do not like the conflict and flee, so sometimes tend to distort reality and deluding themselves for not wanting to deal with some situations that could disturb peace. They flee to the problems and always try to forget, but not always works and may feel very disappointed in the long run. They can fall into laziness and have difficulty expressing their needs or being helped by others, do not like to discuss and often approve several views with apparent calm attitude, although they can have saved anger that can explode. In the broadest state of consciousness, are good mediators, soothe very extremist reactions or accented.

A person may have a tendency to a Enneatype but may change or disintegrate their personality when an insane, stressful or surprising situation in life occurs. The Enneagram is used to predict how the person might react to a possible situation, helping the person to take clearer consciousness of the character and ways of coping with the experiences.

About the author
  • K. Laura Garcés G

    Writer, therapist and lecturer. She is a lover of natural medicine and the power of mind and emotions in body and life. In addition, he has studied nutrition and develops appropriate diets to support this healing process.She has written more than 1500 articles in magazines in Spain and Mexico, winner of two literature contests. Linkedin.

2 Replies to “Enneagram: bringing awareness of your personality”
  • Will says:

    Interesting information, I?m actually not very informed about this, so I do know if this really works but sounds pretty good and right. So I think I may be an ennatype number 9, well, it the most likely to me, and that?s a good information to recognize and accept myself, my bad moods and attitudes too, and then learn and become better, that?s life for

  • Stacy McQueary says:

    So…confession. I love these sorts of things. They may or many not actually be accurate…I guess it’s all subjective, so will we ever know? But very interesting none the less. It makes you wonder also if perhaps the way we perceive ourselves along the ennatype scale is just a mind constraint that we’ve been conditioned into expressing. …something to think about!