The Enneagram - How did you determine your type?

mintoots said:
I'm not sure. I'm retaking the tests. I got 853 which I don't agree with though. Me? Unemotional? Pft.
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Yeah, this makes no sense. I recommend that you take a break from taking the test for a good while. The more you take it, the more you already have implicit awareness of the result your answers will lead to, which biases the outcome and is bound to render it meaningless.
 
I feel that determining a subtype based on the instinctual variant might be quite relevant for being sure about one’s tritype, but the tests on this don't seem so reliable. Self-assessment requires a time, especially because literature provides somewhat opposing views on this (or relies too much on spirituality) - I find it a bit confusing, especially for type 4.
 
mintoots said:
Considering this, what happens to my tritype?


Edit: I like Lisa
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I found that the tests both for MBTI and Enneagram are no more than a starting point, because there is infinite variety in our individual personalities and very few alternative types in each of these psychological models to express them. What has worked for me is to use the test results to generate a working hypothesis on what my type is, but then to read and introspect extensively - and even more so to try living the type and see if it fits. You will soon know if it doesn't fit because you will find it takes too much energy and stress to keep it up if it's the wrong fit. We simply cannot realistically do this just out of a book, because it takes a certain degree of ethical decision to ultimately commit to a type. If the type you experimented with doesn't fit, the experience you gain will give you a much better starting point to examine and select between the alternatives in the published material.

I had a lot of trouble finding an Enneagram type that fitted me - I was getting 5W4 consistently in tests but the book and video descriptions of both these types didn't feel right. It was only when I got hold of a more substantial text book that went into a lot of detail on the wings for each type that I realised 5W4 and 4W5 were distinctly different from E4 and E5 on their own - 5W4 was a definite click, and 4W5 is not all that far off either. I think it's important as well to go into some of the deeper theory behind the E typology to help confirm things. As @Wyote says, it's very often the flaws that go with a type that give confirmation. In my own case, I responded to my fear of thunderstorms as a 7 year old child by devouring every book in the library about the weather - by the time I was 10 I was far more expert than most adults on the subject and loved thunderstorms (and every other sort of weather). I've used the same approach to dealing with many sorts of fear ever since - by understanding it to death. My existential horror is the anxiety of not being in control of the knowledge lol - it's a flaw of course but it has been a flaw that has given me balance until I could grow and learn to live without it, at least to a considerable extent.

BTW I'm not completely convinced by the tritype model - it seems to risk being a complexity too far, and I don't really grasp how it relates to the core Enneagram concept, but maybe I've just not researched it enough.. Even so, my own tritype, thrown up by a test a year or so ago, feels right.
 
John K said:
I found that the tests both for MBTI and Enneagram are no more than a starting point, because there is infinite variety in our individual personalities and very few alternative types in each of these psychological models to express them. What has worked for me is to use the test results to generate a working hypothesis on what my type is, but then to read and introspect extensively - and even more so to try living the type and see if it fits. You will soon know if it doesn't fit because you will find it takes too much energy and stress to keep it up if it's the wrong fit. We simply cannot realistically do this just out of a book, because it takes a certain degree of ethical decision to ultimately commit to a type. If the type you experimented with doesn't fit, the experience you gain will give you a much better starting point to examine and select between the alternatives in the published material.

I had a lot of trouble finding an Enneagram type that fitted me - I was getting 5W4 consistently in tests but the book and video descriptions of both these types didn't feel right. It was only when I got hold of a more substantial text book that went into a lot of detail on the wings for each type that I realised 5W4 and 4W5 were distinctly different from E4 and E5 on their own - 5W4 was a definite click, and 4W5 is not all that far off either. I think it's important as well to go into some of the deeper theory behind the E typology to help confirm things. As @Wyote says, it's very often the flaws that go with a type that give confirmation. In my own case, I responded to my fear of thunderstorms as a 7 year old child by devouring every book in the library about the weather - by the time I was 10 I was far more expert than most adults on the subject and loved thunderstorms (and every other sort of weather). I've used the same approach to dealing with many sorts of fear ever since - by understanding it to death. My existential horror is the anxiety of not being in control of the knowledge lol - it's a flaw of course but it has been a flaw that has given me balance until I could grow and learn to live without it, at least to a considerable extent.

BTW I'm not completely convinced by the tritype model - it seems to risk being a complexity too far, and I don't really grasp how it relates to the core Enneagram concept, but maybe I've just not researched it enough.. Even so, my own tritype, thrown up by a test a year or so ago, feels right.
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This is really helpful.

Which textbook helped you clarify your type, John?

Also, how do you "try out" a type? For a 5, would that mean reading a lot? (Probably a stupid question, but I honestly would not be sure how to go about that.)
 
John K said:
I found that the tests both for MBTI and Enneagram are no more than a starting point, because there is infinite variety in our individual personalities and very few alternative types in each of these psychological models to express them. What has worked for me is to use the test results to generate a working hypothesis on what my type is, but then to read and introspect extensively - and even more so to try living the type and see if it fits. You will soon know if it doesn't fit because you will find it takes too much energy and stress to keep it up if it's the wrong fit. We simply cannot realistically do this just out of a book, because it takes a certain degree of ethical decision to ultimately commit to a type. If the type you experimented with doesn't fit, the experience you gain will give you a much better stating point to examine and select between the alternatives in the published material.
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Solid advice. Personality is complex, mbti is a decent starting point. People are all very different even within each type. But they share a certain flavor/vibe.

John K said:
I had a lot of trouble finding an Enneagram type that fitted me - I was getting 5W4 consistently in tests but the book and video descriptions of both these types didn't feel right. It was only when I got hold of a more substantial text book that went into a lot of detail on the wings for each type that I realised 5W4 and 4W5 were distinctly different from E4 and E5 on their own - 5W4 was a definite click, and 4W5 is not all that far off either. I think it's important as well to go into some of the deeper theory behind the E typology to help confirm things. As @Wyote says, it's very often the flaws that go with a type that give confirmation. In my own case, I responded to my fear of thunderstorms as a 7 year old child by devouring every book in the library about the weather - by the time I was 10 I was far more expert than most adults on the subject and loved thunderstorms (and every other sort of weather). I've used the same approach to dealing with many sorts of fear ever since - by understanding it to death. My existential horror is the anxiety of not being in control of the knowledge lol - it's a flaw of course but it has been a flaw that has given me balance until I could grow and learn to live without it, at least to a considerable extent.
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lmao I would try to "reason with" the storm. Become friends with it, tell it not to hurt anybody.
Man, I'm a big weirdo.
 
hithere said:
This is really helpful.

Which textbook helped you clarify your type, John?

Also, how do you "try out" a type? For a 5, would that mean reading a lot? (Probably a stupid question, but I honestly would not be sure how to go about that.)
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Hello hithere :)

I used a book called 'Personality Types' by Riso and Hudson, who are well known authors and practitioners of Enneagram psychology. It's quite a heavyweight book, but I think the subject needs this if you a serious about getting to grips with it. It's very readable, even so.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0395798671/?tag=infjs-21

Two of the big pluses for me are that:
  • It describes the 18 wings in detail
  • It describes the behaviours of each of the 9 types according to 9 levels of health in each one - 3 levels each in categories Healthy, Average,Unhealthy. There can be a big difference in behaviour within a type across these levels, particularly as people move towards their security type when they are healthy and their stress type when they are unhealthy. Health isn't a slow moving thing necessarily either and we can move between healthy and unhealthy behaviour quite rapidly.
I like these videos by Richard Rohr as well - he gives a fresh insight into the Enneagram coming from a religious rather than a secular perspective but without any overt emphasis on religion. These videos were pointed out to me by @Skarekrow who's not around at the moment, but this is a little thank you to him.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjouPg8MrnhVrFfeTo0UB0phrpGqumUfV
A word of warning - there is several hours of viewing here, but you can cut to they type descriptions you are interested in.

To try out a type you simply make a conscious choice to act according to the type behaviour descriptions. I was exploring my MBTI type when I joined the forum a couple of years ago and I deliberately set out to experiment with Ni and Fe. It's like any acting in that it can feel artificial at first so you have to persist for a few weeks, and expect some slip ups and maybe a bit of a laugh. If you have chosen the right type you will find that the behaviours become your natural go-to, even if they weren't before - but you will find them constantly stressful if not, and will enjoy relaxing without having to use them. I don't want to make this sound too easy - for example, with MBTI an INFJ is always going to find extraverting wearies them eventually, so Fe is never going to feel as homelike as Ni, but it will be a lot more comfortable than Te, Ne or Se.
 
Wyote said:
lmao I would try to "reason with" the storm. Become friends with it, tell it not to hurt anybody.
Man, I'm a big weirdo.
Click to expand...
LOLOL I don't think I'm too far off this myself - the E4 cut in and I fell in love with weather and I've been there ever since. Weirdos forever :) <3
 
John K said:
Hello hithere :)

I used a book called 'Personality Types' by Riso and Hudson, who are well known authors and practitioners of Enneagram psychology. It's quite a heavyweight book, but I think the subject needs this if you a serious about getting to grips with it. It's very readable, even so.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0395798671/?tag=infjs-21

Two of the big pluses for me are that:
  • It describes the 18 wings in detail
  • It describes the behaviours of each of the 9 types according to 9 levels of health in each one - 3 levels each in categories Healthy, Average,Unhealthy. There can be a big difference in behaviour within a type across these levels, particularly as people move towards their security type when they are healthy and their stress type when they are unhealthy. Health isn't a slow moving thing necessarily either and we can move between healthy and unhealthy behaviour quite rapidly.
I like these videos by Richard Rohr as well - he gives a fresh insight into the Enneagram coming from a religious rather than a secular perspective but without any overt emphasis on religion. These videos were pointed out to me by @Skarekrow who's not around at the moment, but this is a little thank you to him.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjouPg8MrnhVrFfeTo0UB0phrpGqumUfV
A word of warning - there is several hours of viewing here, but you can cut to they type descriptions you are interested in.

To try out a type you simply make a conscious choice to act according to the type behaviour descriptions. I was exploring my MBTI type when I joined the forum a couple of years ago and I deliberately set out to experiment with Ni and Fe. It's like any acting in that it can feel artificial at first so you have to persist for a few weeks, and expect some slip ups and maybe a bit of a laugh. If you have chosen the right type you will find that the behaviours become your natural go-to, even if they weren't before - but you will find them constantly stressful if not, and will enjoy relaxing without having to use them. I don't want to make this sound too easy - for example, with MBTI an INFJ is always going to find extraverting wearies them eventually, so Fe is never going to feel as homelike as Ni, but it will be a lot more comfortable than Te, Ne or Se.
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Hi John :) !
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
I remember reading one of Riso and Hudson's books years back, but I don't remember which book it was. I remember when I took the test in the book I read I was a 7, but I don't think I am a 7. I do value a joyful approach to life though. Maybe it's part of my tritype. Anyone who knows me and knows the Enneagram tells me I am a 5, simply based on the fact that I always have a pile of books on my night table that I am in the middle of reading. But I am not a thorough reader, I usually never read a book fully from beginning to end - I like a smorgasbord of knowledge and information.
Thanks for reminding me about them - I actually just ordered the book. Do you know if it also explores Enneagram types as children?

And I started watching those videos - love the soul child theory of the enneagram that he gets into.
We humans are so complex... :)
 
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hithere said:
Hi John :) !
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
I remember reading one of Riso and Hudson's books years back, but I don't remember which book it was. I remember when I took the test in the book I read I was a 7, but I don't think I am a 7. I do value a joyful approach to life though. Maybe it's part of my tritype. Anyone who knows me and knows the Enneagram tells me I am a 5, simply based on the fact that I always have a pile of books on my night table that I am in the middle of reading. But I am not a thorough reader, I usually never read a book fully from beginning to end - I like a smorgasbord of knowledge and information.
Thanks for reminding me about them - I actually just ordered the book. Do you know if it also explores Enneagram types as children?

And I started watching those videos - love the soul child theory of the enneagram that he gets into.
We humans are so complex... :)
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This particular book doesn't say a lot about the childhood developmental aspects. There are a few pages in the theory section at the rear of the book, but apart from that it doesn't give an in depth account.

I'm glad you like the look of the videos - they won't appeal to anyone who wants a purely secular approach to the Enneagram but I think we add to its value considerably if we think of it in terms of spiritual as well as psychological ill health and well being.
 
Wyote said:
lmao I would try to "reason with" the storm. Become friends with it, tell it not to hurt anybody.
Man, I'm a big weirdo.
Click to expand...
Adorable!

@John K thank you :) i really appreciate that. I'm not really as intertwined in discovering my personality type but poring over it helps me rationalize my feelings. I think it's sort of a coping mechanism for me --- some sort of distraction to the actual feeling but also trying to sort it head on. At the time I took the test, I was quite stressed and angry so I can see how I got the 8 in there.

I quote the following from @Impact Character's post in another thread, to which I actually agree.
Impact Character said:
The thing with Ennea is that it can be helpful to look at it within the Growth/Stress framework, especially when you get "nonsense answers" or taking tests during times of stress. You can always move along the arrows to adjust and see if it clicks, similar to adjusting with Ennea wings. :)

It can give additional hints to check what moves the Ennea types, the motivations behind fears, childhood lies and what makes them tick and what moves them in a positive way.
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It is apparent that this is a journey now so I'll keep taking notes.
 
mintoots said:
Adorable!

@John K thank you :) i really appreciate that. I'm not really as intertwined in discovering my personality type but poring over it helps me rationalize my feelings. I think it's sort of a coping mechanism for me --- some sort of distraction to the actual feeling but also trying to sort it head on. At the time I took the test, I was quite stressed and angry so I can see how I got the 8 in there.

I quote the following from @Impact Character's post in another thread, to which I actually agree.


It is apparent that this is a journey now so I'll keep taking notes.
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Objective Personality mentioned that they gathered their data about their own type by making some sort of a blurt list. You know.. just counting within the categories in a simple way.. They did it for MBTI fears and complains related to their own categories, but this probably works for general Enneas or mental state categories within Ennea, too (as an alternative to journaling).

PPSTEzsn-Q9iTVCF1YmoDimYPD_RmtFSwMtEgAtv7k4YjO68d6jK-9hSg85XREF-aBs
 
mintoots said:
It is apparent that this is a journey now
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For me too. Although I am sure of my type, in order to apply this knowledge, I'll need to explore the topic much more.
I also find some interpretations leaning towards esoteric, so in the end, it is a bit like with astrology for me - I find the topic fascinating and insightful, but in the back of my mind there is always a tiny lingering notion that it needs some more scientific reasoning and support :sweatsmile:
 
mintoots said:
It is apparent that this is a journey now so I'll keep taking notes.
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I think it's good to make the process of discovery a bit of a game and enjoy the journey. It's easy to become over committed to a type for the wrong reasons and end up with feeling confused about our identity if we take it too seriously. These psychological models are like a simple compass that give broad categories and direction but only really just begin to express the full richness of being a person.

E8 is the stress direction for E2 by the way so that would be consistent with E2 being a part of your Enneagram - far more likely as a wing to 1 rather than your core type unless you always go to 8 when you are under pressure.
 
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John K said:
your Enneagram - far more likely as a wing to 1 rather than your core type unless you always go to 8 when you are under pressure.
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I am growing quite convinced I'm a 2w1. I only ever observe my 8 when I'm dead focused on something and things don't go my way. I think.
 
hithere said:
@mintoots, what is convincing you that you are a 2?
(Don't feel obligated to answer; I'm just genuinely curious how you got there :))
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First I took the test then read the definitions. The mentor-help-save-the-world narrative actually fits. I am this way with my favorite students too. Then I saw some videos. I actually resonate with several points like not wanting to be helped, hoping people would see and also help even though I don't like asking for help...
 
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