Finding the Enneagram Type: Part 2
by Peter O’Hanrahan
The Typing Process
I have plenty of thoughts and opinions to share about finding one’s Enneagram type, or if you are a practitioner or teacher, helping a client or student find their Enneagram type. I’m not suggesting that everyone must follow my advice. As a practitioner, or someone who talks with friends and family, you no doubt have, or are evolving, your own ways of discovering the type. I don’t think there is one right way. But whatever your role or your style, I encourage you above all to put the final decision in the hands of the client, friend or family member.
I think that our main job is to provide feedback, provide suggestions, and encourage self reflection. Maybe they will get it “wrong” in our eyes and that can be frustrating. But the Enneagram lands better when people take their own authority. And if they have a good experience in the early stages they are more likely to continue their learning.
Stereotypes
Type is not always determined by external behavior! It’s more about motivation and what goes on inside us. Behavior can change depending on the environment. We can show up differently at work than at home. We may have changed aspects of our personality as we mature. Therapy can make a big difference. And there are lots of variations within the types themselves. Gender and gender identity make a difference. Family and culture affect how we express our type.
Each of us has some bias that we bring to this work, often related to our personal experience. Maybe we had a difficult time with a certain type. Or maybe we have a preference for a certain style. We project negative or positive experiences from the past onto people in our current lives. We easily form stereotypes. For example “All Sevens are happy and optimistic. Twos are always helpful. Nines are empathic.” But not everybody fits our expectations. If you want to get good at typing people (or helping them type themselves) you need to know your bias.
Speaking of stereotypes, it was a common experience when I was teaching in China the young students were confused about my style. They would say “Laoshe (teacher) you can’t be an Eight because you are not angry enough!” Then I might inflate my chest, get big, and yell at them a bit. “OK, OK, we get it.” But I think my Eight energy was reflected in my grounded presence and being in charge of the room, even though that’s more subtle.
We tend lock on to certain behaviors. If I have deep sadness, maybe I am a type Four. If I like multiple options for my life then I am a type Seven. If I am driven to be successful I must be a type Three. Well it’s more complicated. We can’t establish type by behavior! At least not all the time. Personality, or persona, is adaptable. We often act differently at home than we do at work. We are different in different situations. We are affected by family, culture, peer groups.
More to consider
With a new group or client it’s really important to present each type in a positive light, even while acknowledging their problems, so that people are OK with being the type that rings true for them. When we speak with appreciation about each type this supports the process. Deeper, harder conversations can happen later when and if people are willing to go there.
Early on in our use of the Enneagram we can get enthusiastic and want everybody to take advantage of this wonderful system. We try to help people by telling them what we think their type is. This is a common pitfall. First of all it’s more complex than we think. We might be seeing this person in one of their connecting points. Practitioners often see people show up in their “stress point.” Or we may know a friend (or partner) in relaxed situations when they seem more like their “security point.” And what about the many “look alikes” on the Enneagram?
If we have been on a path of growth or healing during our lives, or maybe if we have just grown up, some behaviors have been left behind while new behaviors have developed. Or at least we hope so! We may need to ask people: “What were you like when they were younger? How has your personality changed over time?”
Enneagram tests
It seems that everyone wants to take a test these days, people want the answer quickly (which is very understandable), and there are plenty of tests available online. But even the good tests (and there are bad ones) do not have more than 70-80% accuracy. And that leaves 20-30% of people on the wrong track. I know some folks would disagree with this and they find tests, or a particular test, more accurate than this. (You may be right). Even so I would argue that tests are best used as part of the learning process, as a guide rather than the final authority about our type. I think the best tests give the answer with several possible types, related to the scores. One may be higher than another but it doesn’t rule out a second, or third, possibility. Narrowing things down to several types is a very good step! Let’s keep in mind that our answers on a test may vary depending on the day, the week, or our time of life. The last time I took an online test I came out as a type Two. I was flattered. I do have a strong line to Two.
I certainly use tests or questionnaires with large groups, or if I am working with business groups. Particularly when time is short. But I remind people to hold the results lightly, and I emphasize the importance of self reflection. If I have plenty of time to cover each type in a workshop or class, and I can interview people of the nine types in a formal or informal way, most participants will be able to find their likely type by the end of the program, with or without a test. But people like tests.
Moving on the lines
Perhaps it would be easier to simply have a list of nine types to work with. There would less reactivity to that weird looking symbol! However, the diagram itself has intelligence. This can be hard to explain and not everyone is interested in the somewhat esoteric explanation. What we can say is that over the past 50 years we’ve learned a lot about how people experience their type and the connections to other types on the lines of the diagram. There are patterns here even if not everyone has the same experience.
The circle shows that each type is influenced by the types on either side, the wing points. We have both wings, but most people find that one wing is predominant, and this creates major differences in style, even to the point that we may wonder how two people with such different styles can be the same type. It’s not hard to type a more aggressive Seven as an Eight. It’s common to confuse an adventurous counter-phobic Six as a Seven.
The lines through the middle of the diagram illustrate the energetic flow patterns related to the “universal laws.” There is the Law of Three represented by the inner triangle (9-6-3), and the Law of Seven represented by the hexad (1-4-2-8-5-7). Surprisingly, these movements show up in human beings. In one direction we move to our “stress point,” which can also be a “resource point.” It depends if we are pushed there by stress or if we go there consciously to access a resource. In the other direction, when we feel safe and secure, we often move in the other direction to our heart point or security point. One well known Enneagram teacher, Sandra Maitri, considers our heart point as our “soul child.” Another teacher and author, Don Riso, spoke about the importance of integrating our security point with our Enneagram type.
People will experience moving on the lines in somewhat different ways, but there are familiar patterns. For example, Twos in a lot of stress can move to Eight and hit the low side of the type. They have angry outbursts, they blame everyone else for how they are feeling, and so on. But if a Two moves to Eight in a conscious way they can access the resources of being more grounded, more assertive about their needs, and having stronger boundaries.
And when Eights feel safe with a partner or practitioner they may relax their formidable defenses, and then they move to Two and experience a new kind of vulnerability. If we encounter this with clients, or even friends, we need to shift gears. It’s often necessary to first meet Eights with firmness, sometimes even with “tough love.” But when they move to their heart center, and step into the space of type Two, we need to handle them much more gently. If we miss this the client can rebound into Eight with a vengeance and the opportunity is lost.
All of this reminds us that we can’t only follow external presentation or behavior; we have to look more deeply into the internal type structure and motivation through inquiry.
For practitioners it helps to know that new clients may show up in their stress point. After some work, they usually relax into their home base. Now the basic issues, concerns and defenses are more apparent. And if the work is successful over time and clients feel safe and more relaxed, they may their drop their defenses and move to their heart point. For example, when a type One reduces their inner critic and relaxes the need to do and say everything right, their physical tension becomes less. Now they can allow the pleasure of the life force in their bodies, they can just say whatever comes, they can see multiple options instead of one right way. They seem more like Sevens!
