The Enneagram is a personal growth model based on archetypes of personalities. It explains the subconscious patterns that determine how we act, feel and think. Taking an Enneagram test will help you understand your personality structures, how they were created and how they can sometimes hold you back in life.
This can become the starting point of a powerful Enneagram Growth Journey that will help you live and act more consciously so that you can improve your career, relationships and life generally.
Your personality is a mask
The word “personality” derives from the Latin word “persona” which means “mask”. A personality is indeed like a mask that we show to the world. It reflects how we think we need to be to get through life. Ultimately, this is about our subconscious strategies for being safe and loved.
The Enneagram will help you identify the specific mask that you may be wearing and how it could be holding you back in life.
Unlike other personality tests, the Enneagram doesn’t box you in. Quite the opposite: it tries to help you get out of a box you may have put yourself in by overusing a particular survival strategy, such as people pleasing, withdrawing or combativeness. It encourages you to learn different ways of responding to life situations and suggests a growth path for integrating traits of other Enneagram types. You will have a bit of all 9 types in you, but there will be one that is your dominant type and that you probably overuse.
What are the 9 Enneagram Types?
The 9 Enneagram types describe 9 main survival strategies that people develop in their childhood. A key part of those strategies is type-specific defence mechanisms. They reflect who we decided we had to be to ensure that we were loved and safe. We all go through this process in our childhood and the survival strategies then form the personality we bring into adulthood.
No Enneagram type is better or worse than the others; for example, all nine types can be equally strong as leaders, yet they will be quite different in their leadership styles.
Every Enneagram type has three subtypes that express the same pattern in different ways, so there are 27 subtypes in total. Each of them is linked to type-specific motivations, fears, strengths and blind spots.
Here are basic summaries of the 9 main types of the Enneagram:
Type One:
The Strict Perfectionist
Strict Perfectionists try to avoid criticism by doing what’s right. They focus on spotting and correcting flaws, and following rules. They set a high bar for themselves and others, which can often lead to frustration because perfection is impossible to reach. As a consequence, Strict Perfectionists rarely feel satisfied with their results.
Depending on your subtype, you may focus more on improving yourself or others.
Type Two:
The Considerate Helper
The Considerate Helper is driven by a desire to be liked and appreciated. They often focus on the needs of others, ready to pitch in wherever needed. They can be supportive to the point where others’ needs come before their own. This can lead to burnout and even result in resenting the people they were out to help. Often Considerate Helpers are unaware that there is a deeper motivation behind their desire to be kind and helpful.
Depending on your subtype, you may try to attract help from others, or be the one that helps others.
Type Three:
The Competitive Achiever
To the Competitive Achiever, success and image are everything. They’ll do whatever they can to perform well or at the very least look successful to others. They are excellent at setting and hitting goals, but sometimes at the price of cutting corners and not being true to themselves or others. Depending on the subtype, they may compete with others or just themselves.
Type Four:
The Intensive Creative
Intensive Creatives are driven by a desire to be unique and authentic. Often, they express themselves through their creativity and the depth of their emotional experience. They can be truth tellers that spot and call out what others don’t. Intensive Creatives are in touch with their inner emotions, but sometimes too much. They can get stuck in self-created narratives that cause them to experience frequent mood swings.
Depending on their subtype, Type 4s can either be very expressive of their emotional inner world or keep it hidden to fit in with their environment.
Type Five:
The Quiet Specialist
Depending on their subtype Type 5s may find it easier to open up to a few special persons in their life.
Type Six:
The Loyal Sceptic
Loyal Sceptics focus on being safe by anticipating threats and problems. They are excellent at spotting risks, planning for worst case scenarios and building alliances that keep them safe. Yet they tend to overthink and can get stuck in decision paralysis. Sometimes they even create more problems than necessary. Depending on their subtype, they may either move boldly towards threats or try to avoid them.
Type Seven:
The Enthusiastic Visionary
The Enthusiastic Visionary tries to avoid pain and boredom by focusing on future possibilities and options. They keep themselves busy with more projects than they can manage, to avoid standing still and facing negative emotions or challenging situations. As a result, they can come across as scattered and don’t always acknowledge issues that need to be dealt with in the here and now. Yet their enthusiasm and creative thinking make them resourceful and visionary.
Depending on their subtype, Type 7s focus on creating options and fun either for themselves or others.
Type Eight:
The Active Controller
Active Controllers want to be strong and in control. They add excess energy to everything they do as they believe only the strongest survive. Assertiveness and stepping into leadership come easy to them, yet others may experience their energy as overpowering. Active Controllers risk creating more battles then necessary by always turning up in full battle gear.
Depending on their subtype, Type 8s use their power and energy either for their own agenda or to support others.
Type Nine:
The Adaptive Peacemaker
The Adaptive Peacekeeper has a high value on harmony and comfort. They tend to prefer staying in the background and letting other people run the show. They find it difficult to deal with conflict as they want their environment to be peaceful and comfortable. This means that they don’t always say directly want they want. Rather than facing confrontation, they prefer using passive resistance to get what they want or subordinating their needs to those of others.
Depending on their subtype, Type 9s seek comfort either in familiar routines, by merging with other people or working hard for the benefit of a team or community.
