If you follow an Instagram account on psychology, self-esteem or personal development, you may have started to see posts about the Enneagram and the 9 personality types. But … do you know what this Enneagram is and what it is for?
What is the Enneagram?
The Enneagram is a personality classification system that helps us get to know ourselves better and detect our insane automatic behaviors. There are 9 personality types or Enneagram Enneatypes and each one is attributed with experiences and ways of doing, feeling and acting. This theory was developed by the psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo and by the Bolivian shaman Óscar Ichazo in the 1960s and 1970s.
Javier Muro, humanist therapist and ontological coach specialized in Enneagram, explains that according to the Enneagram, the character of each person develops during childhood to avoid or adapt to a series of situations that are painful or distressing. This character, or type of Enneagram of personality, has just formed in late adolescence.
This character or personality that we have has helped us in certain situations, but when we reach adulthood we have the possibility of breaking down certain beliefs or automatic behaviors that limit us as people.
And what is the use of knowing our enneagram?
To realize what our own mental model or psychological skeleton is and how it works, colloquially known as "personality", which is "what determines what moves us to be how we are and to do what we do; what are our main character traits , including our defects and qualities; what we want and what we are afraid of; and even what is the emotional stone that we stumble upon over and over again throughout our lives ", tells us Borja Vilaseca, one of the gurus of the Enneagram.
"In essence, thanks to the Enneagram, we can make an X-ray of our dark side (ego) and our light side (being), discovering which path of personal development is best for us to learn to be truly happy and at peace", he concludes Vilaseca.
Or as Javier Muro says , "the Enneagram is a valuable tool to know what is your peculiar way of neuroticizing yourself". Knowing your personality type is the first step to stop acting like automatons.
9 personality types or Enneagram types
On the Internet, we can find many ways to call enneatypes, but the characteristics of each name coincide. We have been guided by those in the book The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson (considered one of the Enneagram Bibles) along with those used by Javier Muro.
Enneatype 1: The reformer or perfectionist
They are looking for a perfect love. They are very self-critical, meticulous and rigid people, in addition, they try to be good and not to express the anger they may feel. They have a strong sense of right and wrong.
- His strong point: His solid principles, his meticulousness and his organizational skills.
- Their weak point: They repress anger and, as a consequence, have a tendency to frustration.
Enneatype 2: The Helper or Altruist
They ensure the love of others by offering unlimited help. They are generous, friendly and devoted people. They seek to be intimate with others to feel needed.
- His strength: His ability to accept, understand and give himself to others.
- His weak point: Pride and the tendency to feel better than others.
Enneatype 3: The achiever or performer
They want to win over others through their own successes. They are self-confident, attractive and charming people as well as ambitious, competent and energetic.
- S or strength: Your self - confidence, strength and power of seduction.
- His weak point: Self- centeredness and the danger of falling into vain and superficial attitudes.
Enneatype 4: The individualist or romantic
They long for love when they can't have it, but if it's close, they get disappointed. They are romantic and introspective people. They are self-aware, sensitive, and reserved.
- His strong point: Sensitivity, creativity and the ability to renew himself.
- Their weak point: Self-pity and the tendency to be so aware of what they lack that they do not take advantage of what they have.
Enneatype 5: The researcher or observer
They highly value their independence and are uncomfortable with the intense emotions of others. They are very cerebral people, somewhat vehement as well as smart, insightful and curious.
- His strong point: His insight, his ability to observe and concentrate.
- Her weak point: Her coldness and her tendency not to get overly involved as well as to withdraw into herself.
Enneatype 6: The Loyalist or Soldier
They are loyal, but question love and distrust a better future. People of this type are highly security-oriented and can adopt defensive attitudes. They are nervous and indecisive.
- Its strong point: its reliability and responsibility, as well as its work capacity and commitment.
- Her weak point: Cowardice, indecision and the tendency to be suspicious and worry about things excessively.
Enneatype 7: The Enthusiast or Epicurean
They are optimistic people, they seek pleasure and live love as an adventure. Spontaneous, versatile and playful, but at the same time they also bring problems for being impulsive and disorganized.
- His strong point: His spontaneity, his versatility and his adaptability.
- Her weak point: Tendency to be insatiable and to try to fill her inclination to feel empty with excesses of all kinds.
Enneatype 8: The challenger or the boss
They are intense people and do not like to depend on others. They are confident, strong and dominant. They express love through protection and power.
- Their strength: They are protective, determined and resourceful and capable of heroic actions.
- Their weak point: Proud, despotic and with the need to submit everything to their needs or particular interests.
Enneatype 9: The Peacemaker or Mediator
They avoid conflict so it is easier for them to know what they don't want than what they do want. They are conformist and humble people, they tend to minimize any situation. What they want is for everything to go smoothly.
- His strength: His humility and his ability to calm the waters and settle conflicts.
- Their weak point: Laziness and their tendency to the most radical conformity or not to get involved in things so that they do not affect them.
And what do we do when we know our Enneagram or personality type?
Knowing your personality type goes beyond the fun of doing the tests that you can find on the Internet. The idea is that knowing yourself better is the first step to change behaviors that you have and that probably limit you as a person. Trying to reflect on what types of personalities those around you have will also help you to relate better and eliminate toxic mechanics.
If you are interested in the subject and discovering your personality type has touched you, experts recommend that you continue to expand your knowledge. You can follow Borja Vilaseca, Javier Muro, listen to podcasts or read books. The blog Being happy of the psychologist Rafa Santandreu can also help you a lot. And also take our personality test.
