Enneagram of Personality
The Enneagram of Personality—usually known simply as the Enneagram (and usually Enneagram rather than enneagram)—is a particular application of the Fourth Way enneagram figure. The Enneagram system describes nine distinct personality types and their interrelationships, mapped around an ancient symbol of perpetual motion.[1] This is now the most well-known use of this particular enneagram figure.[2]
The term "enneagram" derives from two Greek words, ennea (nine) and grammos (something written or drawn). The Enneagram is a nine-pointed figure inscribed in a circle. The meaning of the symbol itself, together with the personality types organized around the nine points, convey a system of knowledge about nine distinct but interrelated personality types, or nine ways of seeing and experiencing the world. [3] The Enneagram of Personality is generally presented as a psycho-spiritual system for mapping the nine possible personalities, like nine facets of a stone that develop through the natural growth of the human psyche.[4]
Although mostly understood and taught as a typology (a model of personality types),[5] the Enneagram of Personality is also taught in ways intended to develop higher states of being, essence and enlightenment.[6] Each personality type associated with the Enneagram represents a map of traits that highlights patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. By learning one’s type and the patterns and habits associated with that type, one can use of the Enneagram system as an effective tool for self-understanding and self-development.[7]
Each Enneagram personality type, or style, is based on a pattern of where attention goes. By learning about what kinds of things one habitually attends to and puts energy into, one can observe oneself more accurately and develop more self-awareness. By enhancing one’s self awareness with the help of the Enneagram, one can exercise more choice about one’s functioning rather than engaging in patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior in an automatic, habitual, unconscious way.[8]
In recent decades, the term Enneatype is used in many mainstream publications on the subject (in lieu of "Enneagram personality type"). This system is being applied in many varied areas including business, psychology and psychotherapy, organizational development, career coaching, the arts, health care, parenting, education, and spiritual growth.
The term "enneagram" derives from two Greek words, ennea (nine) and grammos (something written or drawn). The Enneagram is a nine-pointed figure inscribed in a circle. The meaning of the symbol itself, together with the personality types organized around the nine points, convey a system of knowledge about nine distinct but interrelated personality types, or nine ways of seeing and experiencing the world. [3] The Enneagram of Personality is generally presented as a psycho-spiritual system for mapping the nine possible personalities, like nine facets of a stone that develop through the natural growth of the human psyche.[4]
Although mostly understood and taught as a typology (a model of personality types),[5] the Enneagram of Personality is also taught in ways intended to develop higher states of being, essence and enlightenment.[6] Each personality type associated with the Enneagram represents a map of traits that highlights patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. By learning one’s type and the patterns and habits associated with that type, one can use of the Enneagram system as an effective tool for self-understanding and self-development.[7]
Each Enneagram personality type, or style, is based on a pattern of where attention goes. By learning about what kinds of things one habitually attends to and puts energy into, one can observe oneself more accurately and develop more self-awareness. By enhancing one’s self awareness with the help of the Enneagram, one can exercise more choice about one’s functioning rather than engaging in patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior in an automatic, habitual, unconscious way.[8]
In recent decades, the term Enneatype is used in many mainstream publications on the subject (in lieu of "Enneagram personality type"). This system is being applied in many varied areas including business, psychology and psychotherapy, organizational development, career coaching, the arts, health care, parenting, education, and spiritual growth.
Enneagram figure
The enneagram figure possibly originated around 2500 BCE.[9] It is composed of three parts, the circle, the inner triangle, and the "periodic figure". According to esoteric spiritual traditions,[10] the circle symbolizes unity, the inner triangle symbolizes the "law of three", and the hexagonal periodic figure represents the "law of seven". These three elements constitute the Enneagram.[11]
Development
As generally understood the Enneagram of Personality has originally developed principally from the teachings of Oscar Ichazo and later from Claudio Naranjo. Some aspects of Enneagram of Personality teachings are also found in the earlier teaching of G. I. Gurdjieff and his Fourth Way tradition. The Enneagram figure itself was first published in Fourth Way writings.[citation needed] Claims have also been made that both the Enneagram figure and the Enneagram of Personality were originally found within teachings of Naqshbandi Sufis[citation needed].
The nine types
According to Enneagram of Personality theory, the points of the enneagram figure indicate a number of ways in which nine principal ego-archetypal forms or types of human personality ("Enneatypes") are psychologically connected.[19]
People of each Enneatype are usually referred to after the number of the point on the enneagram figure (Eights, Fours, Sixes etc.) that indicates their particular psychological space and 'place' of connection to the other types. They are also often given names that suggest some of their more distinctive archetypal characteristics.
Brief descriptions of the nine Enneatypes are as follows:
People of each Enneatype are usually referred to after the number of the point on the enneagram figure (Eights, Fours, Sixes etc.) that indicates their particular psychological space and 'place' of connection to the other types. They are also often given names that suggest some of their more distinctive archetypal characteristics.
Brief descriptions of the nine Enneatypes are as follows:
Ones: Reformers, Judges, Perfectionists
Ones are focused on personal integrity and can be wise, discerning and inspiring in their quest for the truth. They also tend to dissociate themselves from their flaws or what they believe are flaws (such as negative emotions) and can become hypocritical and hyper-critical of others, seeking the illusion of virtue to hide their own vices. The greatest fear of Ones is to be flawed and their ultimate goal is perfection.
Ego fixation: resentment
Holy idea: perfection
Passion/Vice: anger
Virtue: serenity
Stress point: Four
Security point: Seven
Ones are focused on personal integrity and can be wise, discerning and inspiring in their quest for the truth. They also tend to dissociate themselves from their flaws or what they believe are flaws (such as negative emotions) and can become hypocritical and hyper-critical of others, seeking the illusion of virtue to hide their own vices. The greatest fear of Ones is to be flawed and their ultimate goal is perfection.
Ego fixation: resentment
Holy idea: perfection
Passion/Vice: anger
Virtue: serenity
Stress point: Four
Security point: Seven
Twos: Helpers, Givers, Caretakers, Assistants
Twos, at their best, are compassionate, attentive, generous and caring but they can also be particularly prone to clinginess, neediness and manipulation. Twos want, above all, to be loved and needed and fear being unworthy of love.
Ego fixation: flattery
Holy idea: freedom
Passion/Vice: pride
Virtue: humility
Stress point: Eight
Twos, at their best, are compassionate, attentive, generous and caring but they can also be particularly prone to clinginess, neediness and manipulation. Twos want, above all, to be loved and needed and fear being unworthy of love.
Ego fixation: flattery
Holy idea: freedom
Passion/Vice: pride
Virtue: humility
Stress point: Eight
Threes: Achievers, Performers, Status Seekers
Threes tend to be especially adaptable and changeable. Some walk the world with confidence and authenticity; others wear a series of public masks, acting in ways they think will bring them approval but losing track of their true self. Threes are motivated by the need to succeed and also to be seen as successful.
Ego fixation: vanity
Holy idea: hope
Passion/Vice: deceit
Virtue: truthfulness
Stress point: Nine
Security point: Six
Threes tend to be especially adaptable and changeable. Some walk the world with confidence and authenticity; others wear a series of public masks, acting in ways they think will bring them approval but losing track of their true self. Threes are motivated by the need to succeed and also to be seen as successful.
Ego fixation: vanity
Holy idea: hope
Passion/Vice: deceit
Virtue: truthfulness
Stress point: Nine
Security point: Six
Fours: Romantics, Individualists, Aesthetes, Artists
Fours are driven by the desire to understand themselves and find a place in the world. They often fear that they have no identity or personal significance. Fours embrace individualism and are often profoundly creative and intuitive and at best they are very humane. However, they have a habit of withdrawing to internalize, searching desperately inside themselves for something they never find and creating a spiral of depression.
Ego fixation: melancholy
Holy idea: originality
Passion/Vice: envy
Virtue: equanimity
Stress point: Two
Security point: One
Fours are driven by the desire to understand themselves and find a place in the world. They often fear that they have no identity or personal significance. Fours embrace individualism and are often profoundly creative and intuitive and at best they are very humane. However, they have a habit of withdrawing to internalize, searching desperately inside themselves for something they never find and creating a spiral of depression.
Ego fixation: melancholy
Holy idea: originality
Passion/Vice: envy
Virtue: equanimity
Stress point: Two
Security point: One
Fives: Experts, Thinkers, Investigators, Observers
Fives are motivated by the desire to understand the facts about the world around them. Believing they are only worth what they contribute, Fives have learned to withdraw, to watch with keen eyes and speak only when they can shake the world with their observations. Sometimes they do just that. However, some Fives are known to withdraw from the world, becoming reclusive hermits and fending off social contact with abrasive cynicism. Fives fear incompetency or uselessness and want to be capable and knowledgeable above all else.
Ego fixation: stinginess
Holy idea: omniscience
Passion/Vice: avarice
Virtue: detachment
Stress point: Seven
Security point: Eight
Fives are motivated by the desire to understand the facts about the world around them. Believing they are only worth what they contribute, Fives have learned to withdraw, to watch with keen eyes and speak only when they can shake the world with their observations. Sometimes they do just that. However, some Fives are known to withdraw from the world, becoming reclusive hermits and fending off social contact with abrasive cynicism. Fives fear incompetency or uselessness and want to be capable and knowledgeable above all else.
Ego fixation: stinginess
Holy idea: omniscience
Passion/Vice: avarice
Virtue: detachment
Stress point: Seven
Security point: Eight
Sixes: Loyalists, Heroes / Rebels, Defenders, Skeptics, Questioners
Sixes long for safe stability above all else. They exhibit unwavering loyalty and responsibility, but once betrayed, they are slow to trust again. They are particularly prone to fearful thinking and emotional anxiety as well as reactionary and paranoid behavior. Sixes tend to react to their fears either in a phobic manner by avoiding fearful situations or by confronting them in a counterphobic manner.
Ego fixation: cowardice
Holy idea: faith
Passion/Vice: fear
Virtue: courage
Stress point: Three
Security point: Nine
Sixes long for safe stability above all else. They exhibit unwavering loyalty and responsibility, but once betrayed, they are slow to trust again. They are particularly prone to fearful thinking and emotional anxiety as well as reactionary and paranoid behavior. Sixes tend to react to their fears either in a phobic manner by avoiding fearful situations or by confronting them in a counterphobic manner.
Ego fixation: cowardice
Holy idea: faith
Passion/Vice: fear
Virtue: courage
Stress point: Three
Security point: Nine
Sevens: Enthusiasts, Adventurers, Sensationalists
Sevens are adventurous, constantly busy with many activities with all the energy and enthusiasm of the Puer Aeternus (Peter Pan Complex). At their best they embrace life for its varied joys and wonders and truly live in the moment but, at their worst, they dash frantically from one new experience to another, too scared of disappointment to actually enjoy themselves. Sevens fear being unable to provide for themselves or to experience life in all of its richness.
Ego fixation: planning
Holy idea: work
Passion/Vice: gluttony
Virtue: sobriety
Stress point: One
Security point: Five
Sevens are adventurous, constantly busy with many activities with all the energy and enthusiasm of the Puer Aeternus (Peter Pan Complex). At their best they embrace life for its varied joys and wonders and truly live in the moment but, at their worst, they dash frantically from one new experience to another, too scared of disappointment to actually enjoy themselves. Sevens fear being unable to provide for themselves or to experience life in all of its richness.
Ego fixation: planning
Holy idea: work
Passion/Vice: gluttony
Virtue: sobriety
Stress point: One
Security point: Five
Eights: Bosses, Mavericks, Challengers, Asserters
Eights value their own strength and desire to be powerful and in control. They concern themselves with self-preservation. They are natural leaders who can be either friendly and charitable or dictatorially manipulative, ruthless and willing to destroy anything in their way. Eights seek control over their own lives and destinies and fear being harmed or controlled by others.
Ego fixation: vengeance
Holy idea: truth
Passion/Vice: excess (lust)
Virtue: innocence
Stress point: Five
Security point: Two
Eights value their own strength and desire to be powerful and in control. They concern themselves with self-preservation. They are natural leaders who can be either friendly and charitable or dictatorially manipulative, ruthless and willing to destroy anything in their way. Eights seek control over their own lives and destinies and fear being harmed or controlled by others.
Ego fixation: vengeance
Holy idea: truth
Passion/Vice: excess (lust)
Virtue: innocence
Stress point: Five
Security point: Two
Nines: Mediators, Peacemakers, Preservationists, Peace Seekers
Nines are ruled by their empathy. At their best they are receptive, gentle, calming and at peace with the world. They also, however, tend to dissociate from conflicts and to indifferently go along with other people's wishes. They may also simply withdraw and try to shut down emotionally and mentally. They fear the conflict caused by their ability to simultaneously understand opposing points of view and seek peace of mind above all else. Nines are especially prone to dissociation and passive-aggressive behaviour.
Ego fixation: indolence
Holy idea: love
Passion/Vice: laziness (sloth)
Virtue: action
Stress point: Six
Security point: Three
Nines are ruled by their empathy. At their best they are receptive, gentle, calming and at peace with the world. They also, however, tend to dissociate from conflicts and to indifferently go along with other people's wishes. They may also simply withdraw and try to shut down emotionally and mentally. They fear the conflict caused by their ability to simultaneously understand opposing points of view and seek peace of mind above all else. Nines are especially prone to dissociation and passive-aggressive behaviour.
Ego fixation: indolence
Holy idea: love
Passion/Vice: laziness (sloth)
Virtue: action
Stress point: Six
Security point: Three
The three centers of intelligence
The nine Enneagram types are grouped into three groups of three, corresponding to the three Centers of Intelligence, through which information is processed (head, heart, and body) and the three core emotions (fear, grief, and anger). In the West, the head is commonly considered the only Center of Intelligence, but the Enneagram highlights the importance of the emotions and the body as equally important centers of functioning and interacting with the outside world.
According to the Enneagram system, each of the nine types is limited by an imbalance involving one of the three Centers of Intelligence. The human faculty primarily involved with the Head Center is thinking, the faculty primarily involved with the Emotional Center is feeling, and the faculty primarily involved with the Body Center is will. Each of the head types has a different kind of imbalance involving thinking, each of the heart types a different kind of imbalance involving feeling, and each of the body types a different kind of imbalance involving will.
The three Centers of Intelligence also correspond to three core emotions that influence the character of the types. The head types (5, 6, and 7) are also the fear types, and their personality style is shaped by their relationship to fear. The heart types (2, 3, and 4) are also the grief or sadness types, and their personality style is fundamentally shaped by their relationship to grief. The body types (8, 9, and 1) are the anger types, and their personality is fundamentally shaped by their relationship to anger. The types on the inner triangle (3, 6, 9) are also called the core points of each center's triad of types. Thus, type 3 is the core of the Heart Center types; type 6 is the core of the Head Center types; and type 9 is the core of the Body Center types. [20]
According to the Enneagram system, each of the nine types is limited by an imbalance involving one of the three Centers of Intelligence. The human faculty primarily involved with the Head Center is thinking, the faculty primarily involved with the Emotional Center is feeling, and the faculty primarily involved with the Body Center is will. Each of the head types has a different kind of imbalance involving thinking, each of the heart types a different kind of imbalance involving feeling, and each of the body types a different kind of imbalance involving will.
The three Centers of Intelligence also correspond to three core emotions that influence the character of the types. The head types (5, 6, and 7) are also the fear types, and their personality style is shaped by their relationship to fear. The heart types (2, 3, and 4) are also the grief or sadness types, and their personality style is fundamentally shaped by their relationship to grief. The body types (8, 9, and 1) are the anger types, and their personality is fundamentally shaped by their relationship to anger. The types on the inner triangle (3, 6, 9) are also called the core points of each center's triad of types. Thus, type 3 is the core of the Heart Center types; type 6 is the core of the Head Center types; and type 9 is the core of the Body Center types. [20]
Relations between types
Wings
Each Enneagram type may be influenced by the types on either side of it (adjacent to it). These two types are known as wings of the type, and may or may not color the expression of a given individual's personality type or core point. The circle of the Enneagram symbol suggests that the types or points exist on a spectrum, rather than as distinct types or points unrelated to those adjacent to them. Thus, an individual may be said to have a core point and one wing, two wings, or both wings that influence but do not change that person's core type. [21] [22]
Stress and security points
The lines with arrows between the types add further meaning to the information provided by the descriptions of the types. Some-times called the security and stress points, or points of integration and disintegration, these connected points also contribute to the expression of a given individual's personality. Thus, each person actually has five points that potentially contribute to the make-up of his or her personality: the core type, the two types that are connected by the two lines to the core type, and the two wings. [23] [24]
Instinctual subtypes
According to the traditional understanding, at the physical level of personality (traditionally called the Instinctual Center) there are three forms of instinctual energy: 'self-preservation', 'sexual' and 'social'. For each person one of the instinctual energies will be more dominant, creating what are usually called instinctual subtypes or variants of each Enneatype. [25][26]
The self-preservation instinct is focused primarily on physical survival needs.
The sexual instinct is focused primarily on intimacy and one-to-one relationships.
The social instinct is focused primarily on relationships within groups and communities.
The self-preservation instinct is focused primarily on physical survival needs.
The sexual instinct is focused primarily on intimacy and one-to-one relationships.
The social instinct is focused primarily on relationships within groups and communities.
Directional scales
The Enneagram types have also been mapped to Karen Horney's "Three Trends" (Moving Towards, Against, Away from), in two dimensions of "Surface Direction" and "Deep Direction"[27][28] (which also are roughly similar to FIRO and other Two-factor models of personality). Each type, on the surface, moves one way but, underneath, can move a different way. This is claimed to determine both behavior and motivations.
Deadly sins
Seven of the characteristic emotional passions or 'vices of the Enneatypes correspond with the traditional Seven Deadly Sins. Two additional "sins", deceit and fear, are also included.[29][30]
Ones: Anger, as the frustration that comes from Ones working hard to do things right while the rest of the world doesn't care about doing things right and not appreciating the sacrifices and efforts Ones have made.
Twos: Pride, as self-inflation of the ego, in the sense of Twos seeing themselves as indispensable to others and to having no needs whilst also being needed by others.
Threes: Deceit, in the misrepresentation of self by marketing and presenting an image valued by others rather than presenting an authentic self.
Fours: Envy of someone else reminds Fours that they can never be what another person is, reawakening their sense of self-defectiveness.
Fives: Avarice, as the hoarding of resources in an attempt to minimize their needs in the face of a world that takes more than it gives; thus isolating Fives from the world.
Sixes: Fear, often in the form of a generalized anxiety that can't find an actual source of fear. Sixes may wrongly identify a source of fear through projection, possibly seeing enemies and dangers where there are none.
Sevens: Gluttony, not in the sense of eating too much but, rather, of sampling everything the world has to offer (breadth) and not taking the time for richer experience (depth).
Eights: Lust, in the sense of wanting more of what Eights find stimulating, to a point beyond which most people would feel overwhelmed and stop.
Nines: Sloth, or laziness in discovering a personal agendum and instead choosing the less problematic strategy of just going along with other people's agenda.
Ones: Anger, as the frustration that comes from Ones working hard to do things right while the rest of the world doesn't care about doing things right and not appreciating the sacrifices and efforts Ones have made.
Twos: Pride, as self-inflation of the ego, in the sense of Twos seeing themselves as indispensable to others and to having no needs whilst also being needed by others.
Threes: Deceit, in the misrepresentation of self by marketing and presenting an image valued by others rather than presenting an authentic self.
Fours: Envy of someone else reminds Fours that they can never be what another person is, reawakening their sense of self-defectiveness.
Fives: Avarice, as the hoarding of resources in an attempt to minimize their needs in the face of a world that takes more than it gives; thus isolating Fives from the world.
Sixes: Fear, often in the form of a generalized anxiety that can't find an actual source of fear. Sixes may wrongly identify a source of fear through projection, possibly seeing enemies and dangers where there are none.
Sevens: Gluttony, not in the sense of eating too much but, rather, of sampling everything the world has to offer (breadth) and not taking the time for richer experience (depth).
Eights: Lust, in the sense of wanting more of what Eights find stimulating, to a point beyond which most people would feel overwhelmed and stop.
Nines: Sloth, or laziness in discovering a personal agendum and instead choosing the less problematic strategy of just going along with other people's agenda.
Applications
The Enneagram system of personality types is now widely used in a variety of contexts, including business, psychotherapy, spiritual development work, the arts (literature and acting), education (including parenting), and medicine and healing.
Here are some of the ways practitioners in these areas use the Enneagram today:
Business: To understand and improve individual and group behavior in work situations involving communication, team performance, leadership, conflict, and coaching.
Psychotherapy: To provide clinicians with a clearer understanding of psychological processes and the unconscious patterns underlying human experience, relationships, suffering, healing, and growth; to design therapeutic interventions to correspond to different personality styles; to help individuals-through self-analysis-gain insights into their automatic habits of behavior, thoughts, and emotions.
Spiritual Work: To provide a framework for clarifying the spiritual paths, tasks, biases, and practices most relevant and useful to individuals of the nine different Enneagram types.
The Arts: To create more dimensional and credible characters in literature; to understand characterization in filmmaking and acting; to understand the creative processes of artists of the nine types.
Education: To understand the specific strengths and challenges corresponding to each of the distinct personality types in order to tailor teaching to different styles of learning; to help parents improve their own parenting styles and learn how to most effectively parent children of the nine different types.
Medicine and Healing: To use the insights of the Enneagram system to aid in health and healing by recognizing that each type has its own distinct challenges to maintaining a healthy physical and psychological self.
Here are some of the ways practitioners in these areas use the Enneagram today:
Business: To understand and improve individual and group behavior in work situations involving communication, team performance, leadership, conflict, and coaching.
Psychotherapy: To provide clinicians with a clearer understanding of psychological processes and the unconscious patterns underlying human experience, relationships, suffering, healing, and growth; to design therapeutic interventions to correspond to different personality styles; to help individuals-through self-analysis-gain insights into their automatic habits of behavior, thoughts, and emotions.
Spiritual Work: To provide a framework for clarifying the spiritual paths, tasks, biases, and practices most relevant and useful to individuals of the nine different Enneagram types.
The Arts: To create more dimensional and credible characters in literature; to understand characterization in filmmaking and acting; to understand the creative processes of artists of the nine types.
Education: To understand the specific strengths and challenges corresponding to each of the distinct personality types in order to tailor teaching to different styles of learning; to help parents improve their own parenting styles and learn how to most effectively parent children of the nine different types.
Medicine and Healing: To use the insights of the Enneagram system to aid in health and healing by recognizing that each type has its own distinct challenges to maintaining a healthy physical and psychological self.
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