# Do you identify more with your Enneagram or Myers Briggs type?



## chicklit (Feb 28, 2014)

Do you feel like your Enneagram type or your MBTI type represents you better? Just curious.
I think it's Enneagram for most people, but maybe I'm wrong. If you want to, tell me your types and to what extent you identify with them.


----------



## Annwuzhere (Jul 23, 2013)

I'd say enneagram. In my opinion, it is more flexible and less stereotypical than mbti.


----------



## Lunar Light (Jun 6, 2013)

I would say Enneagram fits best - it gets at the heart of who I am as well as why I am. That said, I feel like my MBTI/JCF type is an accurate representation of myself as well, beyond simply the fluffy, bubbly, cuddly, and cutesy persona of ENFP that I think many people will associate with my type. Together, they depict the core of me extraordinarily well.

I see myself as having powerful vision; that is, I look past the surface and find myself naturally noting the potential around me... I view the world not necessarily in terms of what_ is_ but what_ can be_. It can be highly frustrating and discouraging, but at the same time it is what makes life so full and thus so beautiful to me, whether that beauty is light and bright or dark and gloomy. And you see, in being inspired, I find myself desiring to inspire, to take the meaning I have derived and express it through artistic means... I am an explorer of life, seeker of meaning, and discoverer of truth and heart =).


----------



## athenian200 (Oct 13, 2008)

I feel like my MBTI fits better.

INFJ seems like a perfect fit, but Enneagram forces me to take the types as a whole and doesn't let me mix traits in a way that seems suitable. 

Enneagram bugs me for the same reason Keirsey bugs me. His NT temperament sounds very 5, and his NF temperament sounds very 4. I prefer functions to temperaments because they have more granularity, and thus allow me to reconcile attitudes that are a mix of both.

I feel that with Enneagram, I'm compelled to take the entire mechanism as a whole.


----------



## piscesfish (Nov 30, 2013)

I personally resonate best with my Myers-Briggs type, because I feel with cognitive functions involved, MBTI shows more depth of personality and explains more than Enneagram does. Even with Enneagram wings and tritypes, I feel that there is much it doesn't cover. 

Nobody is one-dimensional, and I think MBTI does a better job of showing that (everybody has a function from each category). With the Enneagram, I think everyone feels nearly every core motivation at some point, and the system doesn't do as good of a job at showing why that occurs. 

Overall, MBTI does a better job of showing more of my personality and a better job of explaining the factors behind my behavior.

That being said, I use them both frequently and find them both to be very useful tools


----------



## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

chicklit said:


> Do you feel like your Enneagram type or your MBTI type represents you better? Just curious.
> I think it's Enneagram for most people, but maybe I'm wrong. If you want to, tell me your types and to what extent you identify with them.


The Enneagram is more flexible, explains more, and and is far easier to work with than MBTI. 

ENTP, 5w6, So/Sx/Sp, 584.


----------



## Chest (Apr 14, 2014)

the enneagram discribes my behavior more accurately but mbti is more accurate about the brain functions...well jung is more right about the brain functions and their processes at least


----------



## Swiftstar (Dec 29, 2010)

Enneagram does a better job of explaining motivations and personalities because it's modeled for that purpose. Jung's theory describes cognitive processes, which doesn't exactly equate to identity, motivations, fears, etc. and MBTI goes too far with relating cognition to personality traits. I think they work together but they study different aspects of people.

Additionally, I found it much easier to discover my Enneagram core type, tritype (more or less), etc. versus what type I am under Jung's system.


----------



## Elyasis (Jan 4, 2012)

Both, to an extent. It's all facets and layers.


----------



## Hidden from Sight (Jan 3, 2014)

I identify and feel more comfortable with MBTI than I do enneagram. My results have been all over the place for enneagram and it seems a bit too fluid for me to work with, whereas my MBTI test results and self-research has consistently pointed to one type.


----------



## blood roots (Oct 29, 2013)

Enneagram.


----------



## chicklit (Feb 28, 2014)

I'm actually surprised that so many of you identify more with your Myer Briggs type. :shocked:


----------



## BakerStreet (May 1, 2014)

Enneagram all the way, especially if tritype theory comes into play.
The problem with MBTI for me is that in theory, if your functions are well-developed/ you keep an open mind, you can start identifying with a whole lotta types.


----------



## Grandmaster Yoda (Jan 18, 2014)

MBTI is my better one. I frequently feel related instantly by some descriptions. On the other hand I've only taken an enneagram test once and haven't looked into it.


----------



## Helweh18 (Jul 30, 2013)

I identify with both. They each have a different place in explaining a persons personality.


----------



## KristinaKiara (Jan 17, 2014)

I really relate to both - I feel very strongly that I'm both, INFP and 4w5.

But I do believe I relate slightly more to Enneagram. I somehow see it as more flexible, and gives more space for personal differences. It's just not that stereotypical, especially if you take MBTI cognitive functions into consideration. So, yes, I'm more of "an identity seeker" than I am "a dreamer", but I am both. And I am really proud of both of these traits equally.


----------



## ebaypanda21 (Aug 8, 2018)

I feel like this too. I feel 100% confident in my Myers-Briggs type and the descriptions of my type have always resonated with me. But for some reason I can't figure out my enneagram type, I am going to keep trying though. I think the end satisfaction will be worth the effort.


----------



## angelfish (Feb 17, 2011)

I associate more with the persona of my MBTI - introspective, curious, people-oriented, playful. But my e-type is useful because it provides the reasoning for why my particular INFP "flavor" is different - more practical/social/data-oriented - than many other (usually e9 or e4) INFPs - as well as providing more pathways for personal growth. I feel like MBTI is more about self-acceptance and appreciation while Enneagram gives more insight into the ways I trip myself up and how to grow, more, away from that. 

I do also think it's important to preserve some distance from the two theories, either in the direction of looking into more personality theories and/or in the direction of just living life and seeing what one is drawn to. While both theories can add insight and value to one's life, I think it is also possible to begin pigeonholing oneself and others when very fixated on a single way of being.

-

@ebaypanda21 - have you considered 6w5? Theoretically types 3, 6, and 9 have a harder time self-typing. I read some of your threads and the mention of having sort of a skeptical, dig-deeper-than-the-surface perspective sounds 6w5ish. Your confidence and optimism along with personal depth could alternatively indicate 3w4 (perhaps something to consider if you become interested in tritype at any point). Regardless, good luck with finding your type, and welcome to PerC.


----------



## Jaune (Jul 11, 2013)

I think that technically MBTI is the better fit for me. I have honestly never seen anything in any sort of typology system fit as well for me as auxiliary Se and tertiary Ni do. Stereotypically I come across mostly as an ISxP, whereas I get more mixed results about which enneagram I most vibe like.

But I identify with my enneagram type more. As other people say, it's more flexible (I really appreciate tritype for this reason). Also, I like that it goes into core fears and desires, and while I don't think I fit any enneagram type as well as I do for MBTI, these specific aspects of my enneagram type are interesting and describe a lot of my behavior.


----------



## Super Luigi (Dec 1, 2015)

sadly, neither


----------



## Aelthwyn (Oct 27, 2010)

Personally I find myers-briggs to be the most accurate for me out of any personality theory I've looked into. While no description is 100% right, there's much less that feels a little off with the INFP descriptions than with enneagram. I pretty much immediately felt 'home' when I first read an INFP description, but the type 4 and 9 descriptions which I both relate to don't feel as totally me.


----------



## ebaypanda21 (Aug 8, 2018)

angelfish said:


> @ebaypanda21 - have you considered 6w5? Theoretically types 3, 6, and 9 have a harder time self-typing. I read some of your threads and the mention of having sort of a skeptical, dig-deeper-than-the-surface perspective sounds 6w5ish. Your confidence and optimism along with personal depth could alternatively indicate 3w4 (perhaps something to consider if you become interested in tritype at any point). Regardless, good luck with finding your type, and welcome to PerC.


I will definitely look into these suggestions more! Thanks! I posted over in the enneagram forum the full questionnaire answers to get more insight from more knowledgeable persons than myself: https://www.personalitycafe.com/wha...11-help-me-find-my-enneagram-type-please.html


----------



## Dare (Nov 8, 2016)

Both. Enneagram describes more (instinct, core type, tritype, health level) and is the more valuable system for growth but MBTI adds (as does Big 5, the Neuroticism score in particular). Those three systems together make great shorthand to describe personality. Each one alone is inadequate.


----------



## SilentScream (Mar 31, 2011)

If you can understand Jung, then you don't really need anything else. Understanding the dynamic between the dominant and inferior functions is probably the only predictive tool in typology that allows you to grow. Sure getting it right is very complicated. 

The Big 5 essentially is just a self inventory where there's nothing that it can be used to predict. It tells me I'm 95% extroveted. Woo. I already know that because that's how I answered the questions. MBTI has the same failure plus a whole bunch of horrendous stereotypes. 

Enneagram fails its adherents with how bloated it's become. Since it explains everything or tries to explain everything, of all the systems it suffers from the Burnam effect the most. There are 9 types. Oh here's how you're all 9 types just in different orders.


----------



## Robopop (Jun 15, 2010)

I identify more with Jungian cognitive functions(especially Lenore Thomson's interpretation) than Enneagram, I'm still unsure if I'm 5w4 or 9w8.


----------



## danthemanklein (Mar 30, 2018)

I identify with both, but the Enneagram types 4, 9, and 6 (as well as 5 a little bit), I was able to identify with the most. MBTI, on the other hand, can get pretty muddy for me. I definitely understand my type more than I have before, but with conformation biases going around, it can get pretty questionable. I don't really try to waste my time with the type descriptions because even if you're able to put people into 16 or 9 categories, personalities are still a lot more complex than just that. That's why I think it's important to know different personality systems because you're able to get to the root of them that way, whereas if you're just looking at MBTI and nothing else, then you're gonna keep questioning yourself more. Despite what your MBTI type is, things like Enneagram also play a huge part as well, and vice versa.



Aelthwyn said:


> Personally I find myers-briggs to be the most accurate for me out of any personality theory I've looked into. While no description is 100% right, there's much less that feels a little off with the INFP descriptions than with enneagram. I pretty much immediately felt 'home' when I first read an INFP description, but the type 4 and 9 descriptions which I both relate to don't feel as totally me.


Just asking for curiosity, which INFP description did you read that was relatable? I know I said I don't read type descriptions or waste my time with them, but I'm sure there are some out there that are valid enough.


----------



## The Dude (May 20, 2010)

Enneagram largely because I can't find my MBTI type. I have a strong suspicion I'm an Ne-dom, but beyond that no clue.


----------



## Sybow (Feb 1, 2016)

My enneagram describes me better than being 'ISTP'.


----------



## Fear Itself (Feb 20, 2013)

It's scarily obvious I am a 9w1. MBTI however, I waffle on.


----------



## ca3 (Aug 16, 2018)

I follow Socionics


----------



## JpKoff (Oct 30, 2017)

Enneagram...

In MBTI, I have Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving preferences. I have no doubt about it.
But when MBTI literature puts it all together and begins to infer "INFP" behaviors, I don't relate at all...

In Enneagram, when you break it down in triads: Centers of intelligence, Hornevian triads, object-relation triads and harmonic triads, I see a lot of coherence between the sum of the parts and the whole type definition.


----------



## Aelthwyn (Oct 27, 2010)

danthemanklein said:


> Just asking for curiosity, which INFP description did you read that was relatable? I know I said I don't read type descriptions or waste my time with them, but I'm sure there are some out there that are valid enough.


hmmm..... I've read so many here and there and all have fit me pretty well. Umm... the first I read was in Please Understand Me by Kiersey. Gifts differing by Isabel briggs meyers is another book I read and liked. I think Personality Page was one of the first websites I found about myers brigs types, there are so many that I don't actually remember most of them.


----------



## Retsu (Aug 12, 2011)

I'm an Enneagram 6 meme, but no MBTI type embodies me all that well.


----------



## ImminentThunder (May 15, 2011)

Enneagram wins by a narrow margin. INFP is a nice general description of me, but 4w5 was what really hit me hard. 

Still, I find the combination of both to be very helpful.


----------



## CowardlyPal (Jul 9, 2018)

MBTI but only 'cos I have no idea how Enneagram works.
Plus ENTP's are like the coolest of the bunch.
If you really stretch the definition of cool
To mean socially awkward but desperate to be the centre of attention and bad jokes.

I've been calling it 'eneeneegram' for years and now I've read it again that's not how you say it and now I'm super embarrassed.


----------



## Wohpe (Aug 25, 2018)

ENTP and 7w6. MBTI for me. It's not even close. Enneagram needs so many extras to make it fit, like instinctual variants, wings, tritypes, lines of connection, integration, disintegration, etc. Shoot I've seen tritypes with wings on here. If you're connected to every darn Enneagram type then the whole system becomes pointless. MBTI is more observable and realistic to me.


----------



## Snowflake Minuet (Feb 20, 2016)

I suppose more with MBTI, but I have also known about it longer. I like the personality type give by both of them together though, as a whole.


----------



## incision (May 23, 2010)

JCF because it's not directive, only informative. Enneagram is directive (lines of integration and disintegration) and includes over-the-top phrases that get my back up, ones like heroic and magnanimous. I'm neither heroic or magnanimous and have no desire to be viewed as such.


----------



## 74893H (Dec 27, 2017)

I've always had some issues with the way enneatype 9 describes me whereas I've found very little about INFP that doesn't hit the nail on the head with me, so I relate to my MB type more.
I do relate to enneatype 9 a _lot_, but I'm not asleep to my own feelings or wants at all and never have been, among other things.


----------



## DeadOutside (Mar 2, 2018)

I think people who aren't familiar with both theories shouldn't be eligible to vote.


----------

