In a world fascinated by personality quizzes and popular psychology, Enneagram tests may seem like just the latest hype. What makes this ancient personality system so compelling is that it really seems to hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of who we are and how to fulfil our true potential. Are you ready to meet the real you?
Taking an Enneagram test could be the game-changer you’ve been searching for. The Enneagram is a personal growth model that is built around 9 archetypes of personalities. It is popular on social media, where you will find abundant posts and videos describing the 9 types and how they help you better understand yourself and other people. But the Enneagram has much more to offer than exploring personality traits. It is a powerful growth tool that delves deep into your psyche. It assist you in uncovering how you function as an individual and understanding why you think, feel and behave the way you do. Whether you’re looking to enhance your relationships, boost your career or improve your wellbeing, an Enneagram test can provide invaluable insights that empower you to remove roadblocks in your personal growth.
What is an Enneagram test?
An Enneagram test is a comprehensive online assessment that helps you discover your Enneagram personality type. It consists of a series of introspective questions designed to uncover your core motivations, fears and desires. The test takes into account various aspects of your personality, such as the way you think, feel and behave. Strictly speaking, it’s not a “test”, as there are no right or wrong answers, and no type is better or worse than the others.
There are also specialised Enneagram tests for couples and Enneagram tests for teams.
How does this information help?
Human beings are complex. We think of ourselves as driven by a single command centre in our head. But there are actually three: the mind, the heart and the gut. In addition, our psyche is fragmented. Many of our thoughts, beliefs and desires may not even be ours but those of our parents, religion, friends, social media or any other sources that have influenced us. This means that there are many aspects that influence how we function and react to external stimuli. Conflicting views, needs and desires can pull us in different directions. This can leave us confused about ourselves and adversely affect our ability to create the life outcomes we desire.
If we don’t unravel those parts of ourselves and learn how we operate, we cannot fully leverage our full potential. Instead, we risk running our life on autopilot, constantly replaying unconscious life strategies that we once created to protect ourselves, but now hold us back. By identifying your dominant personality traits, fears, and motivations with the help of the Enneagram, you can better navigate the complexities of life. You can make conscious choices that align with your true self and be more effective at creating the life outcomes you want.
What’s different about an Enneagram Test?
When I tell my clients about the Enneagram, they often say that they have already done similar tests. They typically refer to tests such as Myers Briggs, DISC or Insight Discovery, which are all based on a Jungian model. At first glance, the Enneagram does indeed appear similar, but if you look closer, it follows a completely different approach and is much more sophisticated and helpful.
Conventional psychometric tests that are based on the Jungian model are simplistic in comparison to the Enneagram as they are limited to establishing attitudes and behavioural traits. The Enneagram offers more dimensions by also including patterns of feeling and thinking and motivational drivers. Most importantly, the Enneagram explains why we have them.
Once we understand the reason behind the patterns that are holding us back in life, it becomes much easier to change them. The Enneagram helps us by pointing to blind spots, areas for growth and opportunities for self-improvement.
Does an Enneagram test pigeonhole you?
No, absolutely not. However, I understand why it might appear so. Rather than boxing you into a set of personality traits, typing with the Enneagram is just the start of a journey. In fact, the Enneagram is trying to get us out of a box that we may have put ourselves in because we overuse a particular style of processing and reacting to life events. We tend to replay the same unconscious patterns over and over. Sometimes, they serve us, but often they don’t.
The Enneagram invites us to overcome the limitations of our current personality structures. Your Enneagram report will identify what those patterns might be in your case. You can then use this information to cultivate different ways of thinking, feeling and acting, which are more effective at creating the life you want. It offers a growth path that is specific for each type, subtype and instinctual sequence.
What are the 9 Enneagram types?
The Enneagram system acknowledges 9 distinct personality types and 27 Enneagram subtypes, each with its own unique set of traits and tendencies. The main types are represented by numbers ranging from 1 to 9, and each type is characterised by distinct motivations and patterns of feeling, thinking and acting.
The diagram below shows a short summary of the 9 types. Click here to read more detailed descriptions for each type.
How to identify your Enneagram type
Understanding your dominant Enneagram type is the key to unlocking your personal growth potential.
There are different ways to establish your Enneagram type:
- Taking an online Enneagram test
- Participating in a manual Enneagram typing interview with an accredited Enneagram Practitioner
- Self-typing through studying Enneagram resources
For some people, finding their type is easy. They take an online test and immediately resonate with the result. For others, settling on a type can be a longer journey that involves two or all three of the above methods and digesting the information they receive over a longer time.
Whichever method you choose, it’s important to approach it with an open mind and a willingness to explore your inner world. It is common that people don’t initially resonate with aspects of their Enneagram-type description because many of them are unconscious. An Enneagram practitioner can help you uncover what could be true for you and what your blind spots might be.
In this article, I cover the first method of typing: taking an online Enneagram test.
Which Enneagram test to use?
There are free and paid-for Enneagram tests. People often start with free tests to get a taster of the Enneagram. However, a free test may well lead you down the wrong track and give you a completely wrong impression of the Enneagram system. Here is why:
- Free Enneagram tests are highly unreliable. It takes a lot of investment and time to create an accurate test. They often ask just a few simple questions and leave you with an incorrect result. The test I use is from Integrative Enneagram Solutions. It was created by a Type 5 engineer and has been tested and refined over 10 years. It has an accuracy rate of 95% and gets better every year. There are 175 questions, and it takes 30 minutes to complete the test. A thorough approach!
- Free Enneagram tests typically don’t recognise subtypes and countertypes. This means that you may not find yourself in the types they report on.
- If you get a wrong result, it may not resonate with you, and you may turn away from the Enneagram, thinking that it is not helpful. Or you may agree with the result and work on growth areas that are not relevant to you.
- Free Enneagram tests often provide you with just a very basic type description. Paid tests provide a detailed report with deeper explanations and suggestions on how to take the information forward.
For these reasons, I recommend investing in a paid-for test from the outset. It’s a small investment for receiving powerful information about you that can be life-changing. The best reports on the market are from Integrative Enneagram Solutions, CP Enneagram and the Enneagram Institute. I recommend Integrative Enneagram Solutions as they have an accuracy rate of 95%, the highest on the market. There is an advantage to buying their reports from one of their accredited Enneagram practitioners, rather than directly from Integrative Enneagram Solutions. Practitioners trained by them receive additional granular data about your test results that is very useful, but not shared with you if you buy the tests directly from Integrative Enneagram Solutions. An Enneagram practitioner will also help you make sense of your report and explain how to apply it to your life.
Benefits of taking an Enneagram test
Taking an Enneagram test offers a multitude of benefits that can positively impact various aspects of your life. Here are some key advantages:
- Self-awareness: By understanding your Enneagram type, you gain deep insights into your own motivations, fears and desires. This self-awareness empowers you to make conscious choices that align with your true self.
- Improved relationships: The Enneagram helps you understand the perspectives and motivations of other people in your life, leading to better communication and more harmonious relationships.
- Personal growth: The Enneagram provides a roadmap for personal development, highlighting areas for growth and suggesting specific strategies to overcome challenges.
- Stress management: Understanding your Enneagram type can help you recognise your stress triggers and develop coping mechanisms to navigate challenging situations.
- Emotional intelligence: The Enneagram fosters emotional intelligence by deepening your understanding of your own emotions and the emotions of others.
How an Enneagram test works
When you take an online Enneagram test, you will be guided through a series of introspective questions about the way you think, feel and act. It’s important to answer those questions honestly and intuitively. Don’t ask other people to help you with the answers. Only you can answer them correctly. Even people who know you well don’t have full visibility of how you function on a deeper level.
Once you’ve completed the Enneagram test, you’ll receive a detailed report that outlines your Enneagram type, along with insights into your strengths, development areas and growth opportunities. If you have purchased a test from Integrative Enneagram Solutions or CP Enneagram, you will also learn about our subtypes and receive guidance on how to use the information.
I know my type – so what now?
Discovering your type is just the beginning of your personal Enneagram growth journey. This is where most people miss out. They enjoy reading the description of their type but don’t do anything with the information provided.
Once you understand the core features of your Enneagram type, there are deeper levels to explore and you can start working on themes that are specific to your type and subtype. To get the most out of your report, we recommend that you work with an accredited Enneagram coach. They will help you make sense of the information provided, offer tailored insights and suggest strategies to help you reach your full potential. Enneagram Coaching will also assist you in confirming your type if you have any doubts about whether the report placed you correctly.
Once you have a grasp of your own Enneagram type, it is also important to learn about the other 8 types. Understanding how and why other people operate so very differently from you will bring your personal and professional relationships to a new level.
The start of an exciting journey
Taking an Enneagram test marks the beginning of an exciting journey of self-discovery and personal growth. Equipped with a deeper understanding of your type, you have the power to unlock your true potential and navigate life with greater clarity and purpose.
I hope you, too, will appreciate the transformative power of the Enneagram and embark on a journey of self-awareness, compassion and growth. A quantum leap in personal development awaits you.
