Enneagram

The Enneagram is a personality typing system that consists of nine distinct types. These types are distinct because they each possess unique fears and desires. Enneagram theorists use these core personality features to create type descriptions, which you can find in several locations on PersonalityCafe. But my interest in enneagram is not the behaviors associated with these core personality features, but why these fears and desires came into existence in the first place. In other words, which elements of personality determine a person's type?

Many newcomers to enneagram reject it because it seems almost arbitrary. For example, wing theory is supported by extensive observation but the actual reason for wing theory is nebulous at best. That's a theme in the enneagram: there's a great deal of accurate observational evidence, but there's no lynchpin to tie it together. My position ...

There's been a bit of talk over on the enneagram section of the board about figuring out one's enneagram type. I figured it would be helpful to give a detailed account of the triads in terms of how it relates to finding one's enneagram type. Often, understanding the triads can help to narrow down options or determine when torn between two or three different types.

The most basic groupings associated with the enneagram is the head, heart and gut triads. The association of type with triads is as follows:

Heart: 2,3,4
Head: 5,6,7
Gut: 8,9,1

Heart triad types have a lot of struggle with self-image issues. There tends to be a concern with the persona, and the real self can be subconsciously substituted with the persona that will get them the most approval. On the "On All Fours" mp3 that Katherine and David Fauvre put out, they state (quoting Thomas Condon, IIRC) "in order to be loved for who I am, I must pretend to be what I ...

Enneagram Instinctual Variants

In addition to the Enneagram type, people are also considered to be one of three instinctual variants (also called subtypes). The self-preservation instinct (dealing with oneself), the sexual (dealing with another person) and the social instinct (dealing with a group) can be most pronounced.

We strongly identify with one primary drive and with some secondary traits in another drive. On the occasion when two of the instinctual drives are equally dominant, it is noteworthy that the third drive is usually omitted. This perhaps still demonstrates the imbalanced use of the three very essential instinctual drives. The teaching of Instinctual Subtypes suggests that these fundamental instinctual drives need to be equally cared for and in balance in order to harness the energy needed to move toward transformation. The concept is that the energy expended in dealing with the instinctual drives' imbalance diminishes one's access to the energy ...

The Enneagram on PerC, is only now gaining some popularity. Yet, most people have a very small grasp of the theory (hell man, look at the type me threads). People are typing based mostly on descriptions, and even worse, people are using tests as grounds for a type.

"I'm a unique snowflake, my process walks circles around your banana."

- The mis-typings here are far stretching in terms of people, yet they stay to the same types: 4, 5, & 8. As a loose model of type-density per population: types 8, 5, & 4 are the rarest Enneagram types. If you are going around as one of these, I would heavily recommend re-assessing your type. To go around as a mis-type (no matter how cool you think it is) will inhibit yourself (in the eyes of the Enneagram). To focus on the unnatural in your personality, you will cause more anxiety.

- Types relating to the 3-6-9 group, generally make up just over half of the population. In second place, we ...