How to Identify Enneagram Personality Styles

The enneagram is an ancient tool for identifying and transforming one's personality. The nine sided figure represents nine different personality structures. Identifying enneagram personality styles can be confusing without learning a few guiding principles about enneagram theory.

Instructions

Learning the Nine Types

1. Learn about the three major groups that the nine different types are a part of. The first group is the Instinctive group, which is based on their connection (or lack of) to their gut instincts. The Thinking types utilize and are most synthesized with their intellectual dialogue. The Feeling types are most in tune with their feeling centers.

2. The first group is the Instinctive types. Type One is the principled, orderly, perfectionist and self righteous. Type Nine is peaceful, reassuring, complacent and neglectful type. And Type Eight is self confident, decisive, dominating and combative.

3. The second group is the Thinking types. Type Five appears perceptive, original, detached and eccentric. Type Six is the engaging, committed, defensive, and paranoid type. And Type Seven is the enthusiastic, accomplished, uninhibited and manic type.

4. The third group is the Feeling types. Type Two is the caring, generous, possessive, and manipulative type. Type Three acts adaptable, ambitious, image- conscious and hostile. Type Four is always intuitive, expressive, self absorbed, and depressive..

5. One of these groups should ring true for you. Pick one or two of the types to begin learning about your own type. In the next section, find some steps to identify the enneagram personality styles.

Determining Your Type

1. Choose one of the groups or triads from above to begin investigating further your own personal type. This will help you to identify others once you know your own type.

2. Use the links following this article to take an online quiz after choosing (or guessing) a type. It will narrow down your choices and give you some idea of what your type might be.

3. Explore the web or buy a book that describes all nine types in greater detail. You will get a handle on the other eight types, and you might find you identify more strongly with a different one than you tested.

4. Find a friend and attempt to identify their personality style based on what you learn. Practice this on everyone you meet as it will help to strengthen your type-watching skills.

Tips & Warnings

• Not all the descriptive adjectives will encompass your whole personality but one, or two should stand out above the others. This is just a skeleton to begin the journey of identifying the Nine types of the enneagram.

• If you cannot identify a specific type out of the list of types above then identify a group with which you see yourself most; whether it be the instinctive group or feeling group the types in that particular group should encompass your personality range to get you on the right track.

• Do not be confused if your scores are widely spread, or it gives you a type that after reading the description you don't identify. This is common, but the less you know about the enneagram the more accurate your test will be.

• Know that in enneagram theory each person has a wing that compliments the behaviors of their basic type. For example you can be a three with a four wing or a five with a six wing. This will give a slightly different flavor to your individual type and makes for many variations of types beyond the nine described. You may even test as your wing.

• Be advised that men typically identify themselves as Eights, Nines and Sixes because they are the more traditional male types. Whereas women tend to immediately identify as Twos, Fours, Sixes, and Nines because they encompass the female persona in American culture.

• Often when taking personality assessment tests we give answers to how we wish we were (our ideal self) and not who we really are. Be honest or else your scores will be manipulated by a false sense of identity.

Resources

• Learn more about E-type theory.
• This site has links to personality tests.
• Here is a free enneagram test.
• Explore detailed descriptions of the 9 types.
• Read about in-depth type analysis.