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OneTwoThreeFourFiveSixSevenEightNine
Enneagram figure (click the numbers for type profiles)

The Enneagram of Personality — usually known simply as the Enneagram — is an application of an enneagram geometric figure in relation to various personality issues. The term "enneagram" derives from two Greek words, ennea (nine) and grammos (something written or drawn). The enneagram figure consists of a nine-pointed diagram, usually depicted within a circle.

The Enneagram of Personality is mostly taught and understood as a psychospiritual typology (a model of personality types) [1][2] but is also presented in ways intended to discover and develop higher states of being, essence and enlightenment.[3] Each Enneagram personality type expresses a distinctive and habitual pattern of thinking and emotions. The behavioral characteristics of the personality types are less distinctive. It is claimed [by whom?] that by recognizing their personality pattern a person may be able to use the Enneagram as an effective method for self-understanding and self-development.[4]

The term Enneatype rather than "Enneagram personality type" is used in some publications. The International Enneagram Association claims that the Enneagram of Personality is being applied in many varied fields including psychotherapy, health care, parenting, education, business, organizational development, career coaching, the arts, and spiritual growth.[5]

Enneagram figure

The enneagram figure is usually composed of three parts, a circle, an inner triangle and a hexagonal "periodic figure". According to esoteric spiritual traditions,[6] the circle symbolizes unity, the inner triangle symbolizes the "law of three" and the hexagon represents the "law of seven". These three elements constitute the enneagram figure.[7]

Development

G. I. Gurdjieff

The enneagram figure used with the Enneagram of Personality was first brought to the attention of the modern world by G. I. Gurdjieff, though it was first published by P.D. Ouspensky, a student of Gurdjieff, in his 1947 book In Search of the Miraculous. Although Gurdjieff used the figure to describe possibilities of human development, his concept of it was principally related to the symbolic communication of ancient knowledge and the "self-work" process through which people may develop insight rather than the categorizing of personality styles.[8][9]

Oscar Ichazo

The teachings of Oscar Ichazo are generally recognized as the principal source of the contemporary Enneagram of Personality. Ichazo assigned what he refers to as "ego fixations" to each of the nine points of the enneagram figure (which in his early teachings is usually called an "enneagon"). Ichazo's "Enneagon of Ego Fixations", together with a number of other dimensions of personality mapped on the enneagram figure, forms the basis of the Enneagram of Personality as it is now understood.

Originally from Bolivia, Ichazo began teaching programs of self-development in the 1950s. His teaching, which he calls "Protoanalysis", uses the enneagram figure among many other symbols and ideas. Ichazo founded the Arica Institute which was originally based in Chile before moving to the United States.

Claudio Naranjo

Claudio Naranjo, a Chilean-born psychiatrist who extensively explored the theories of personality, studied the Enneagram of Personality with Oscar Ichazo in Chile. He further developed Ichazo's teachings and articulated the nine personality types within contemporary Western psychological and psychiatric understandings. Naranjo began teaching his understanding of the Enneagram in the United States in the early 1970s. His initial teachings were in largely private programs of self-development work with his own students.[10]

Based on material first taught by Claudio Naranjo, authors such as Helen Palmer, Don Richard Riso, Russ Hudson, Patrick O'Leary, Richard Rohr and Elizabeth Wagele began to publish the first widely read books on the Enneagram of Personality in the 1980s and 1990s.

Nine personality 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.[11]

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.[12]

Brief descriptions of the nine Enneatypes are as follows:

Ones

Characteristic role: The Reformer[13]
Ego Fixation: Resentment[14]
Holy Idea: Perfection[14]
Basic Fear: Being corrupt/evil, defective[15]
Basic Desire: To be good, to have integrity, to be balanced[15]
Temptation: To be hypocritical or hypercritical of others
Vice/Passion: Anger[16]
Virtue: Serenity[17]
Stress/Disintegration point: Four. Angry and critical Ones may become moody and irrational like unhealthy Fours[15]
Security/Integration point: Seven. Objective and principled Ones may become more spontaneous and joyful like healthy Sevens[15]

Twos

Characteristic role: The Helper[13]
Ego Fixation: Flattery[14]
Holy Idea: Freedom[14]
Basic Fear: Being unworthy of being loved[18]
Basic Desire: To be loved unconditionally[18]
Temptation: To manipulate others in order to get positive responses[18]
Vice/Passion: Pride (specifically, Vainglory, the love of one's own goodness)[16]
Virtue: Altruism[17]
Stress/Disintegration point: Eights. When Twos give without receiving back they become manipulative and angry like unhealthy Eights[18]
Security/Integration point: Four. Helpful Twos may become emotionally strong, caring, and authentic like healthy Fours[18]

Threes

Characteristic role: The Achiever[13]
Ego fixation: Vanity[14]
Holy idea: Hope[14]
Basic Fear: Being worthless[19]
Basic Desire: To be valuable[19]
Temptation: To please everybody
Vice/Passion: Deceit[16]
Virtue: Truthfulness[17]
Stress/Disintegration point: Nine. Burnt-out Threes may begin to disengage from their relentless drive to success and behave like unhealthy Nines[19]
Security/Integration point: Six. If Threes recognize that being on top of everything is not everything, they may become comfortable in being committed to others, like healthy Sixes. Commitment to relationships may enable them to explore their emotions[19]

Fours

Characteristic role: The Individualist[13]
Ego fixation: Melancholy[14]
Holy idea: Origin[14]
Basic Fear: Being commonplace[20]
Basic Desire: To be unique and authentic[20]
Temptation: To beat themselves up and withdraw
Vice/Passion: Envy[16]
Virtue: Equanimity[17]
Stress/Disintegration point: Two. Disintegrating Fours may become dissatisfied like unhealthy Twos
Security/Integration point: One. Self-actualized Fours may become idealistic and progressive like healthy Ones

Fives

Characteristic role: The Investigator [13]
Ego Fixation: Stinginess [14]
Holy Idea: Omniscience [14]
Basic Fear: Being useless, helpless, or incapable [21]
Basic Desire: To be capable and competent [21]
Temptation: To keep the world at bay
Vice/Passion: Avarice [16]
Virtue: Detachment [17]
Stress/Disintegration point: Seven. Detached Fives may become hyperactive and scattered like unhealthy Sevens [21]
Security/Integration point: Eight. Integrated Fives may become self-confident and decisive like healthy Eights [21]

Sixes

Characteristic role: The Loyalist[13]
Ego fixation: Cowardice[14]
Holy idea: Faith[14]
Basic Fear: To be without a support system in an unforgiving world[22]
Basic Desire: To feel safe[22]
Temptation: To question the intentions of everyone around them
Vice/Passion: Fear[16]
Virtue: Courage[17]
Stress/Disintegration point: Three. Paranoid and anxious Sixes may try to win over others, like unhealthy Threes, to cover up their anxiety
Security/Integration point: Nine. Positive Sixes may become more peaceful, open and receptive like healthy Nines

Sevens

Characteristic role: The Enthusiast[13]
Ego fixation: Planning[14]
Holy idea: Work[14]
Basic Fear: Boredom[23]
Basic Desire: To experience as much of the world as possible[23]
Temptation: Moving too fast
Vice/Passion: Gluttony[16]
Virtue: Sobriety[17]
Stress/Disintegration point: One. When forced to stand still, Sevens may become irritable and impatient like unhealthy Ones
Security/Integration point: Five. Confident and experienced Sevens may bring a sense of calm to hectic situations like healthy Fives

Eights

Characteristic role: The Challenger[13]
Ego fixation: Vengeance[14]
Holy idea: Truth[14]
Basic Fear: Of being harmed or controlled by others, of violation[24]
Basic Desire: To protect themselves, to determine their own course in life[24]
Temptation: To be too self-sufficient
Vice/Passion: Lust[16]
Virtue: Magnanimity[17]
Stress/Disintegration point: Five. Eights may become withdrawn and isolated like unhealthy Fives in their pursuit of control
Security/Integration point: Two. Proactive and forward-thinking Eights learn to become helpful and cooperative like healthy Twos

Nines

Characteristic role: The Peacemaker[13]
Ego fixation: Indolence, self-forgetting[14]
Holy idea: Love[14]
Basic Fear: Loss and separation; of annihilation[25]
Basic Desire: To maintain inner stability and peace of mind[25]
Temptation: To go along to get along[25]
Vice/Passion: Indifference[16]
Virtue: Right action[17]
Stress/Disintegration point: Six. Nines may become anxious, suspicious, and negative like unhealthy Sixes and may express more aggression
Security/Integration point: Three. Nines may begin to work at developing themselves and their potential and move into greater action in the world, like healthier Threes

Connections between types

Wings

Most, but not all, Enneagram of Personality theorists teach that a person's basic type is modified, at least to some extent, by the personality dynamics of the two adjacent types as indicated on the enneagram figure. These two types are often called "wings". A person of the Three personality type, for example, is understood to have points Two and Four as their wing types. The circle of the enneagram figure may indicate that the types or points exist on a spectrum rather than as distinct types or points unrelated to those adjacent to them.[citation needed] A person may be understood, therefore, to have a core type and one or two wing types that influence but do not change the core type.[26][27]

Stress and security points

The lines between the points add further meaning to the information provided by the descriptions of the types. Sometimes called the "security" and "stress" points, or points of "integration" and "disintegration", these connected points also contribute to a person's overall personality. There are, therefore, at least four other points that can significantly affect a person's core personality; the two points connected by the lines to the core type and the two wing points.[28][29]

Instinctual subtypes

Each of the personality types are usually understood as having three subtypes. These three subtypes are believed to be formed according to which one of three instinctual energies of a person is dominantly developed and expressed. The instinctual energies are usually called "self-preservation", "sexual" (also called "intimacy" or "one-to-one") and "social". On the instinctual level, people may internally stress and externally express the need to protect themselves (self-preservation), to connect with important others or partners (sexual), or to get along or succeed in groups (social).[30] From this perspective, there are 27 distinct personality patterns, because people of each of the nine types also express themselves as one of the three subtypes.[31] An alternative approach to the subtypes looks at them as three domains or clusters of instincts that result in increased probability of survival (the "preserving" domain), increased skill in navigating the social environment (the "navigating" domain) and increased likelihood of reproductive success (the "transmitting" domain).[32] From this understanding the subtypes reflect individual differences in the presence of these three separate clusters of instincts.

It is generally believed that people function in all three forms of instinctual energies but that one usually dominates. According to some theorists another instinct may also be well-developed and the third often markedly less developed.[33]

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"[34][35] (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.

Surface Direction→

Deep Direction↓

− Against
(confronting) 		0 Away
(withdrawing) 		+ Towards
(embracing)
+ Towards
(Approval Seeking) 		3 9 6
0 Away
(Ideal Seeking) 		1 4 7
− Against
(Power Seeking) 		8 5 2

See also

References

  1. ^ Maitri, The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram
  2. ^ Riso, Personality Types
  3. ^ Naranjo, Transformation Through Insight
  4. ^ Daniels, The Essential Enneagram, p. 1
  5. ^ http://www.internationalenneagram.org/intro/index.html
  6. ^ Palmer, The Enneagram, p.36
  7. ^ Wagele, Enneagram Made Easy, pp.1–11
  8. ^ Palmer, The Enneagram, Understanding Yourself and the Others in Your Life, p.xii
  9. ^ Maitri, The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram, pp.4-5
  10. ^ Riso, Wisdom of the Enneagram, p.24
  11. ^ Daniels, The Essential Enneagram
  12. ^ Baron, Renee. What Type Am I: Discover Who You Really Are. p. 162.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Riso, Don (author) and Hudson, Russ. Understanding the Enneagram: The Practical Guide to Personality Types. p. 18. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Revised edition
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Riso, Don Richard (author) and Hudson, Ross (editor). Understanding the Enneagram: The Practical Guide to Personality Types. p. 39. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Revised edition
  15. ^ a b c d Staff (1998). "Enneagram Type One". The Enneagram Institute. Retrieved 2009-08-19. From Wisdom of the Enneagram.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i Riso, Don Richard (author) and Hudson, Ross (editor). Understanding the Enneagram: The Practical Guide to Personality Types. p. 38. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Revised edition
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i Riso, Don Richard (author) and Hudson, Ross (editor). Understanding the Enneagram: The Practical Guide to Personality Types. p. 38. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Revised edition.
  18. ^ a b c d e Staff (1998). "Enneagram Type Two". The Enneagram Institute. Retrieved 2009-08-19. From Wisdom of the Enneagram.
  19. ^ a b c d Staff (1998). "Enneagram Type Three". The Enneagram Institute. Retrieved 2009-08-19. From Wisdom of the Enneagram.
  20. ^ a b Staff (1998). "Enneagram Type Four". The Enneagram Institute. Retrieved 2009-08-19. From Wisdom of the Enneagram.
  21. ^ a b c d Staff (1998). "Enneagram Type Five". The Enneagram Institute. Retrieved 2009-08-19. From Wisdom of the Enneagram.
  22. ^ a b Staff (1998). "Enneagram Type Six". The Enneagram Institute. Retrieved 2009-08-19. From Wisdom of the Enneagram.
  23. ^ a b Staff (1998). "Enneagram Type Seven". The Enneagram Institute. Retrieved 2009-08-19. From Wisdom of the Enneagram.
  24. ^ a b Staff (1998). "Enneagram Type Eight". The Enneagram Institute. Retrieved 2009-08-19. From Wisdom of the Enneagram.
  25. ^ a b c Staff (1998). "Enneagram Type Nine". The Enneagram Institute. Retrieved 2009-08-19. From Wisdom of the Enneagram.
  26. ^ Riso, Wisdom of the Enneagram, p.19
  27. ^ Wagner, Wagner Enneagram Personality Style Scales, p.26
  28. ^ Riso, Wisdom of the Enneagram, p.87-88
  29. ^ Wagner, Wagner Enneagram Personality Style Scales, p.30
  30. ^ Palmer, The Enneagram in Love and Work, p. 29
  31. ^ Maitri, The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram, pp. 263-264
  32. ^ Sikora, M, "The Instincts: Taking a Broader View," The Enneagram Monthly, June 2007. http://www.awarenesstoaction.com/downloads/the_instincts.pdf
  33. ^ Riso, The Wisdom of the Enneagram, pp. 70-71
  34. ^ A Directional Theory of the Enneagram, originally published in Enneagram Monthly, January 2000.
  35. ^ Karen Horney's Three Trends, from Enneagram Spectrum of Personality Styles

Further reading

  • Almaas, A. H. (2000). Facets of Unity: The Enneagram of Holy Ideas. Shambhala. ISBN 0-936713-14-3.
  • Bartlett, Carolyn (2008). The Enneagram Field Guide: Notes on Using the Enneagram in Counseling, Therapy and Personal Growth. ISBN 978-0979012549.
  • Beesing, Maira (O'Leary, Patrick; and Nogosek, Robert J.). The Enneagram: A Journey of Self-Discovery. Dimension Books. ISBN 978-0871932143. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
  • Daniels, David (Updated and Revised 2009). The Essential Enneagram: Test and Self-Discovery Guide. HarperOne. ISBN 0-06-251676-0. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Goldberg, Michael J. (1999). 9 Ways of Working. Marlowe & Company. ISBN 1-56924-688-2.
  • Hurley, Kathleen V. (1993). My Best Self: Using the Enneagram to Free the Soul. HarperOne. ISBN 85-7272-066-9.
  • Ichazo, Oscar (1982). Interviews with Oscar Ichazo. Arica Press. ISBN 0916554023.
  • Maitri, Sandra (2001). The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram: Nine Faces of the Soul. Tarcher. ISBN 1-58542-081-6.
  • Maitri, Sandra (2005). The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues: Finding the Way Home. Tarcher. ISBN 1-58542-406-4.
  • Naranjo, Claudio (1990). Character and Neurosis. Gateway Books & Tapes. ISBN 0-89556-066-6.
  • Naranjo, Claudio (1990). Ennea-type Structures: Self-Analysis for the Seeker. Gateway Books & Tapes. ISBN 978-0895560636.
  • Naranjo, Claudio (1995). Enneatypes and Psychotherapy. Gateway Books & Tapes. ISBN 0934252475.
  • Naranjo, Claudio (1997). Transformation Through Insight: Enneatypes in Life. Hohm Press. ISBN 0934252734.
  • Palmer, Helen (1988). The Enneagram: Understanding Yourself and the Others in Your Life. Harper & Row. ISBN 0062506730.
  • Palmer, Helen (1996). The Enneagram in Love and Work: Understanding your Intimate and Business Relationships. HarperOne. ISBN 0-06-250721-4.
  • Riso, Don Richard (1996). Personality Types. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0395798676. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Riso, Don Richard (1999). Wisdom of the Enneagram. Bantam. ISBN 0553378201. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Rohr, Richard (2001). The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective. Crossroad. ISBN 0-8245-1950-7.
  • Wagele, Elizabeth (1994). The Enneagram Made Easy. HarperOne. ISBN 0-06-251026-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Wagele, Elizabeth (1995). Are You My Type, Am I Yours? : Relationships Made Easy Through The Enneagram. HarperOne. ISBN 006251248X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Wagele, Elizabeth (1997). The Enneagram of Parenting: The 9 Types of Children and How to Raise Them Successfully. HarperOne. ISBN 0062514555.
  • Wagele, Elizabeth (2007). Finding the Birthday Cake; Helping Children Raise Their Self-Esteem (An Enneagram book for children). New Horizon Press. ISBN 978-0-88282-277-8.
  • Wagele, Elizabeth (2010). The Career Within You. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0-06-171861-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Riso, Don Richard (2000). Understanding the Enneagram; the practical guide to personality types. Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-61800415-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

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