# Most people mistype at first...



## enneathusiast (Dec 15, 2012)

I get an overall sense that most people mistype themselves when first learning the Enneagram types (I know I did), but I'd like to poll people to verify that assumption.

Anyone know how to fix a typo in a poll question? Question should be:
Did you get your Enneagram type right from the beginning?


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## Brains (Jul 22, 2015)

You can look at some old topics and compare people's "As a #" statements against what shows in the sidebar. It's funny stuff.


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## Inveniet (Aug 21, 2009)

Yeah it is easy to mistype, yet by what standard is one typing oneself?
Is type really fixed?
If it is not fixed, how far can it move?

It is easy to build a sense of certainty around ones present type, 
it just needs to match ones current understanding of the enenagram/mbti.
Then when one learns some more, say by reading a different book,
all bets are off as the new perspective can upset the ones understanding.
This is not only a hard intellectual excercise, but also leads to the feeling of embarrasment.
This again can lead to defence-mechanism.
Hence why unsolicited typing has become a misdemeanor on perc.
It distrupts the pleasant atmosphere to have people raging over others pointing out inherent
self-contradictions in ones own typing.
Even if the typing is correct, the person may rage anyway, due to all the traumatic memories of struggling
to get to the level of understanding they needed to get it right. 
Calling that effort in question is often not well received.

I don't really care if people have it right or not anymore.
It will not save or lose the world, it will only affect some aspects of the persons identity and behavior.
Sure they might have gotten more bang for the buck by getting it right,
but that is their problem just as an unskilled person playing poker and losing, really have no one to blame,
but themself.


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## Paradigm (Feb 16, 2010)

Depends. I mistyped at 6w5 and 694, but other than that I've mostly been 6, and 6_4. I questioned other types deeply (9, 1, 7), but they never worked out as cores. Also heavily questioned if I was SP/SO, but always knew I was SP.

Mostly, I think I got lucky: I have a positive SP 6 influence for a parent, so I didn't even realize half the shit people say for 6s in the beginning. I never saw myself in 5, still don't much (besides wing theory), though I probably should've. I always knew the heart/shame/image types were out.

9 did give me a lot of confusion in the beginning, though, I'll give it that. I just don't recall ever _saying _it was my core before.

Edit: MBTI and Socionics, on the other hand, made me pull my hair out ^_^


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## owlet (May 7, 2010)

I got into the enneagram back in school (so almost 10 years ago now) and back then I typed as 6w7 because I didn't separate it from just having anxiety etc., then I typed as 9, then 5 but I didn't relate to the cores of these types with issues such as distancing from their emotions or self-forgetting etc. so I never felt 100% comfortable with them. Then I was suggested type 4 in a type me thread and I hadn't even considered it, so I did a lot of reading for a long time and realised it did actually hit close to home - I related to the core of the type very well.


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## Rose for a Heart (Nov 14, 2011)

I have always known I was a 4, but initially I wasn't able to totally claim certain parts of the type. As in, I knew, deep down, they existed in me but I would deny them. Of course, the more I have understood myself in terms of the enneagram, the better I have been able to explain type 4 in myself.


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## lolalalah (Aug 1, 2015)

I got it right from the first try, and I stuck to it. I already knew I was a thinking type before taking a test, only I was not sure if I was a type _five_ or a_ six_ (well, my wing is strong). Besides knowing my mbti type, I'd taken the big five test before trying the enneagram and my result was RCUEI, which also confirmed the part of ' interested in intellectual pursuits' (as if I hadn't known). After about one year, I took the enneagram test again and this time was mistyped as 5w4. I denied it, however, since the syntagma 'walking contradiction' (and being generally elusive due to doubts) describes me too well; so six fits better than five.


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## JennyJukes (Jun 29, 2012)

ive been a 6w7, both in tests and typed by other people, since the beginning. i've never questioned that i _am _​6w7, i sometimes just question whether it's my first or after 2w1.


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## Librarylady (Mar 11, 2017)

I sometimes get confused on whether I'm a 5 or a 6, and have switched between the two.


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## shalom1 (Jun 21, 2017)

As soon as I heard "The Perfectionist," I thought, well sh*t that one is probably me. Once I read more about it I became sure very quickly; reading the Riso-Hudson levels of development was downright spooky as I have long had this sense that I could descend into violent, punitive hypocrisy (even though I have never actually been at that most unhealthy level, thank God) but I found it difficult to explain to people. I have discovered that I strongly relate to 8s, but I have such troubles with my inner critic, perfectionism, being overly controlled etc. that I am clearly a 1.

Meanwhile, my partner, who is a 9, has at least passing thoughts about whether she is another type like once a week


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## Sylas (Jul 23, 2016)

It took me a while, mostly because at first I went with the short online descriptions. It was only when I got bored of MBTI and gave the enneagram a closer look that my chosen type and instinct stacking began to bother me, so I did more extensive research and eventually changed both. 

In general I've had a feeling that up to 50% of people who are starting to dabble in Enneagram are mistyped. The types suffer the brunt of these mistypings are 4, 8, and head types 5,6. I've been part of smaller enneagram communities where almost everyone wanted to be a 4 or an 8, which got to the point of absurdity when you have half the people in a community typing themselves into same couple of types (and then also dragging their friends into the same type as themselves for that sense of togetherness).


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## Sylas (Jul 23, 2016)

(duplicate)


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## Stellafera (Jan 19, 2015)

Nah, I'm way too obviously a 6 to get it wrong, although originally my reasoning was inaccurate ("I'm pretty anxious about everything, that seem right?").


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## Lord Bullingdon (Aug 9, 2014)

I correctly picked up on the idea that I was most like types 4, 5, and 8. (No, I didn't "want" to be those types as others are suggesting, two of them downright disgusted me.) I got the order wrong, the tritype wrong, and I cared nothing for instincts. I later got the instincts really screwed up, but mainly because so does pretty much everyone and there's no real literature on it.

My worst mistypes have come from listening to others' input, actually. Turns out that there was nothing wrong with my original understanding of the enneagram.

All that said, I don't think "most" people mistype. That's kind of seems insulting somehow...I heard a practitioner say one time that about half of people know their type as soon as they hear about it; about half the rest have to work at it, but at the end of the day, they know their type too. There are always 1 or 2 in every group who just have to study enneagram in depth. Perhaps the majority of people on PerC are indeed in that group; our curiosity drives us here.


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## Ochi96 (Jun 5, 2017)

I'm still confused about whether i am a 5w4 or 4w5.
I'm reading lot of descriptions and comparisons between the two, I need more information.


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## Coburn (Sep 3, 2010)

I originally typed accurately, but it was during a period when eights were viewed as black swan occurrences. So I ended up switching to other types before eventually finding my way back to eight.


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## Eclipsed (Jun 3, 2012)

I have a pretty long history of mistypes, all of them lasting for months and some for years. Back when I didn't understand the theory, people typed me as some kind of 4 or 6 based on buzzwords in my questionnaires. I went with 6 for a while without really looking into it, but when I did, I realized it was completely incorrect. I have very very little 6 in me. A lot of mistypes probably happen solely on the basis that people don't fully look into the theory.

I think most people are pretty easy to type and can see themselves in one type almost immediately. No such luck for me, but I also started typing myself during my teenage years, where my personality was arguably more mutable and I hadn't fully sorted out my motivations yet. Plus, I have a pretty strong image type influence, which makes things confusing. A lot of pseudo-3ishness, plus strong 4 influence. Combine that with being unusually withdrawn for an ENTP and double id type, and it makes for a very confusing enneagram journey.


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## periwinklepromise (Jan 26, 2015)

I liked what Lord B said at the end of their post:



Lord Bullingdon said:


> There are always 1 or 2 in every group who just have to study enneagram in depth. Perhaps the majority of people on PerC are indeed in that group; our curiosity drives us here.


It seems pretty possible. I think mistyping is common and not something to be ashamed of. I do understand that typing as something on a forum and then changing it - which can cast certain previous posts in quite dubious light - can be awkward or embarrassing, and I know I have extracted some measure of ill-gotten glee from seeing someone in 2012 claim to be an 8, and then you look to the left and see that they switched to a 1, or 6, or whatever. (4s also often switch to 1s and 6s. What's up with that?) I did not sign up for an account on here for quite a while, but I first started looking at this site when the 458 was actually referred to as the Mistype Triad. (When I started considering a 458 typing for myself, I wanted to shoot myself in the foot. But it was this consideration that got me to my typing now, so I cannot regret it.) Because I lurked for so long, and saw the occasional outright hostility towards mistypes, especially for 4s and 8s, I wanted to be absolutely sure of my type before I joined. (Once I did, I expected people to give me shit about typing as an INFJ and an 8, but everyone has pretty much left it alone.)

I didn't look at type 8 at first. I ruled it out almost immediately, because the descriptions made 8 seem like abusive assholes, the exact kind of person I stand up to and despise. I started with considering 6 and 4 (and I didn't know about the extra triads, so looking back, I think it's funny I looked at the other reactive types). As some of you may recall from my other posts, I both did _not_ relate to type 8 and also desperately _did not want_ to be type 8. My first thread on this forum was asking if it was possible to relate to all the mechanics of type 8 but not match the descriptions or have the "outward appearance" of type 8. I actually believed I came across as a 1 (if you knew me, you'd know how laughable that was). My thought process basically came out to: "I don't need to fight to be in control, I just naturally am. Obviously, this precludes me from being those desperate, demanding, douchebag 8s."



...Oops?


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## Manuscript (Feb 12, 2017)

I pretty much came from the MBTI community having settled on INTP, and then straight to Type Five. I haven't changed my mind yet, which is alright if a bit dull. I think SP/SX and 549 were my original choices for instincts and tritype as well, but I went from 5w4 to 5w6 after recognising some self-doubt and not identifying with most 5w4s (and then went wingless for similar reasons).



Coburn said:


> I originally typed accurately, but it was during a period when eights were viewed as black swan occurrences. So I ended up switching to other types before eventually finding my way back to eight.


The idealisation is a bit much. Only INTJs and INFJs are loaded with the same level of expectations as most Enneagram types (i.e. those outside the triangle) on this forum.


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## Paradigm (Feb 16, 2010)

@periwinklepromise
Just to be clear I'm not doubting your type. And this is a very minor nitpick / conversation point.

But I think the idea was 459 is the "mistype tritype" and 4/5/8 are the "mistype _types_." Which has come up semi recently in the mistype thread so idk if I want to get into it again. But it's a slightly important distinction I think.


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## Jaune (Jul 11, 2013)

I thought I was a 1 for a while, and then a 6.

I relate to almost every type so it's hard for me to settle down with one.

A lot of people who have helped me find my type think I'm a 9w8 so I'll go with that for now.


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## enneathusiast (Dec 15, 2012)

Looks like the poll responses have stopped trickling in at this point (51 respondents). Seems like a good time for a summary.

76.48% who answered the poll didn't get their Enneagram type right from the beginning (if you include those who had it right at first then tried on some other types only to come back to their first typing - 62.75% if you don't include those people).

The poll at this point validates the assumption that most people don't get their Enneagram type right at first (for this sampling group anyhow).

That's without taking into account people who might be mistyped but don't know it yet. How many people were sure of their type only to discover later that they were wrong? That happened for me. I was absolutely sure of my type at first (mistype) even though others thought differently.


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## Stellafera (Jan 19, 2015)

enneathusiast said:


> The poll at this point validates the assumption that most people don't get their Enneagram type right at first (for this sampling group anyhow).


Dunno, might be some sampling bias since people who _didn't_ know their type at first are more likely to click on this thread.


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## enneathusiast (Dec 15, 2012)

Stellafera said:


> Dunno, might be some sampling bias since people who _didn't_ know their type at first are more likely to click on this thread.


Funny, in watching the polling as it happened I got the sense that people who mistyped at first started responding then people that typed correctly at first started responding then it started trickling in more evenly from there on. The initial responses felt like two sides trying to make their point.

There could be bias either way but even allowing for a large margin of error still puts it over 50% for this community. I think figuring out type is just part of the learning process and learning the Enneagram types can take quite some time (so learning one's own type, if it's not blatantly obvious, can take some time).


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## Jest_Please (Aug 26, 2016)

I'm either a 7w8 or 1w9, Idk man. I've never really seen much deviation with how enneagrams are described anyway, so it's hard to pin down how they apply to different situations.


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## Gorgon (Feb 16, 2015)

I first mistyped as so-last 5w4, and for two seconds mistyped as 5w4 sx/so which was a veeerrrryy derpy mistype. I then mistyped as 4w5. Both mistypes provided valuable insights into who I am and refined my ability to recognize and spot certain patterns both within myself and in other people. 

I can put checkmarks on many of the classic 4 traits: the introjection, intense envy and resentment, the mythologizing, recreating, and intensifying my own pain, and over-identifying with my emotions and 'shadow.' Moreover, some aspects of Fi overlap with 4; I have a keen awareness and understanding of own emotional landscape and I can easily impart meaning on the contents of the moods I inhabit. While the two may overlap in significant ways, type 4 has a very specific ego structure that, in the end of the day, couldn't completely explain the main crux of my issues and the important ways in which I experience and inhabit myself and my environment. While I do have issues with envy, the 4's envy is relates back to shame and my envy is tied to feeling invisible, insignificant, ordinary, and lifeless. Most importantly, my envy is just a symptom of a general and directionless rage that I've felt my entire life (rather than my anger being product of envy). My self-image is not one that's similar to a hall of mirrors but an amorphous, ephemeral haze. Overall, it's much easier to articulate my experiences through 9 than through 4, and I have an easier time understanding gut types than I do 4s even though I easily relate to both. But the more I spend time with fours the more baffled I get with this type, I don't have this issue with gut types. And D/I lines to 6 and 3 and a 3 soul child makes a lot more sense for me than to 2 and 1 and a 1 soul child.


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## lametaoist (Mar 25, 2017)

I suspect initial mistyping has a lot to do with how well we know, or don't know, ourselves. That was the case for me, at least.

For many kids, and I'm pretty much speaking for myself, the understanding of oneself doesn't really have good input. School and home can be such controlled environments that they often don't allow children to make independent decisions about their identity. Adolescence is also a time when many people try on identities, as is college.

It took time in the "real" world, in which I was responsible for my decisions and the consequences, for me to be more honest with myself about my own identity. I hated the Enneagram in college, because I always tested as a 5, which wasn't really accurate, although I was under a lot of stress in college. When I went to grad school for psychology, I wanted to try on a new identity again, and connect to my artistic abilities, so I tried to argue that I was a 4 (that should tip you off about the mistype...).

The key for me was when I found myself confronting clients, and arguing with them. I was trying to be humanistic, but I was having a visceral reaction. I didn't want to be an 8, because I left the business world, and I was sick of people telling me that I should be good at stuff that I hated. I went through the same thing with MBTI. It's taken me years to acknowledge that I'm an INTJ, because I hate all the type descriptions. I read once that many INTJs are musicians, and I realized that I could be an INTJ and not be scientist.

Basically, I argue with every type description. I argue with all my professors, I argue with clients, I argue with my wife...I have had intense discussions with folks in the midst of a psychosis, and I'm not even really sure what the confrontation was about. 

This forum helped. Generally, type descriptions on the internet of type 8s are awful, but reading other 8s talking about being an 8 gave me a more nuanced picture. Looking at the levels of development helped, too. I'm not sure how highly developed I am, but it's nice to see the differences in good days and bad days.


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## ImminentThunder (May 15, 2011)

I got my core type right from the beginning. I've _considered _other types, certainly, but I've always concluded 4w5 sx/sp at the end of the day. It simply hits too close to home: the emotionality, the fixation on identity, feeling different from other people (i.e. "It's because I'm a romantic. You wouldn't understand"), the longing for a "rescuer" and fixation on soulmates and romance, the fact that I'm angrier than most INFPs, the double withdrawn orientation, the fascination with dark emotions and the macabre (serial killers, ghosts and monsters, etc.), the internal war between emotions and logicality, the fact that I'm compassionate and caring but can also be pretty selfish when I'm hurt, and so forth...No other type makes sense. So for voting purposes, I chose yes. 

My tritype, on the other hand...I'm still a bit unsure on that one.  So I don't know if I mistyped on that or not. Triple frustration makes a lot of sense, and my gut fix is definitely a 1 of some sort; most likely 1w2. And as far as head fix goes...I'm not _quite_ as negative as the average 4w5 (although I'm definitely not an optimist), I'm easily distracted, and my interests are pretty scattered, so I may be typed correctly there. And I joke around a lot, and I like to get out and do fun things...I just don't do it very _often_. But that could also just be Ne running wild. And I don't think anyone I know IRL would consider 7w6 as my head fix. It could be 6w7, although I don't have that weird relationship with authority that 6s are said to have. It also could be 5w4 or maybe even 5w6, or maybe I've been right all along! To me, though, tritype isn't nearly as important as core type, so I try not to stress too much about that. ^^


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## Jaune (Jul 11, 2013)

Jaune Valjaune said:


> I thought I was a 1 for a while, and then a 6.
> 
> I relate to almost every type so it's hard for me to settle down with one.
> 
> A lot of people who have helped me find my type think I'm a 9w8 so I'll go with that for now.


Well, I've settled with 3w4 at this point. Consistently thought it was just a fix, but turns out it fits me pretty well as a core.


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## OliveBranch (Aug 30, 2017)

My Enneagram type was super clear. Sure I relate to some aspects of others, but 4w5 was so obvious, even the wing. With MBTI I struggled more, but right off the bat I was like "oh hell yeah that's me." It wasn't necessarily a positive reaction, because Enneagram is more negative, and there were definitely some hard pills to swallow.


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## allnamesweretaken (May 8, 2018)

Thought I was 4w3
Several tritype tests gave me 4-5-8
Slightly confused now
INTJ if that helps


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## PiT (May 6, 2017)

I used to think I was a 9, because I misunderstood the motivation of certain behaviors that I was told were characteristic of 9. Once I understood Enneagram better, it became clear that I am actually a 5.


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## danthemanklein (Mar 30, 2018)

There’s a book I got from my brother’s girlfriend on the Enneagram. There’s a small quiz on the book that has two set of three questions with 70% accuracy as long as it told you to go with your gut. I did, and surprisingly enough, I thought I would end up as a 9, but really ended up as a 4. I wasn’t too surprised, but I did question it a little bit. After doing some more reading, I found out that 4 is probably the best fit. As for tritype though, I figure I can still be a 9 somewhere. The types I related to the most were 4, 9, 6, and 5. I’m still unsure of my type, whether it’s Enneagram, MBTI or Instinct Variants.


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## Sybow (Feb 1, 2016)

Thought I was 9w1, after that came to realize 9w8 was more like me, but 5w6 is closer to me.

I think I'm 5w6 9w8 and another wing. Don't put too much effort into it.


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## Moo Rice (Apr 9, 2018)

I thought I had to be a nine because I'm very passive and shy, but I soon discovered that type five is a lot more accurate for my core type.

Then I thought I had to be a 5w4 because I am very sensitive and can get emotional easily, but I never really think about my identity and I constantly doubt myself and others, so 5w6 is clearly better fitting.

I've also considered all of the heart types as fixes, first 4w5, then 3w4, went back to 4w5 and now 2w1, because I couldn't relate to any of them, (still can't if I'm honest) but sp 2w1 ended up being the winner.

With the instincts I first mistyped as so-blind because I never liked to be around too many people, but my blind-spot is actually the sexual instinct.

So I went from typing myself as 9w1 5w4 4w5 sp/sx to typing myself as 5w6 9w1 2w1 sp/so.


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## ai.tran.75 (Feb 26, 2014)

enneathusiast said:


> I get an overall sense that most people mistype themselves when first learning the Enneagram types (I know I did), but I'd like to poll people to verify that assumption.
> 
> Anyone know how to fix a typo in a poll question? Question should be:
> Did you get your Enneagram type right from the beginning?


No I got it way off- I took a test and it told me I was a 2 . I thought I was a 2 - 
Dig a bit deeper into enneagram - had a few members telling me that I'm a 9 
So I went with being a 9 for a while... I was calm , the 9s I've encounter online seems to be like me ..until they start talking fears and core values 
Reread all 9 enneagram- 9types - introspect the heck out of myself- had a few members help me out, turns out I'm a 7 - couldn't associate much with 7 in the beginning bc they're stereotyped to be loud and impulsive- but those are stereotype- I fear boredom- I seek happiness , I value freedom above all . 
Talked to an Enfj who's quite thorough at typing , he told me I was a 7w8 - explain to me why and it all clicked ...
I relate well with my tri type 749 as well 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk


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## Houseplant (May 2, 2018)

I tested as a 4, then was told I was a 7, but then I realized I am actually an 8 sx.


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