What’s Your Personality Type? | An Introduction to the Enneagram

The Enneagram of Personality is a system used by numerous mental health professionals to get more insight into one’s character, and as a method for self-development. The Enneagram consists of nine personality archetypes that are interconnected in different ways. Some say that the Enneagram is liberating compared to the conventional methodology of mental health disorders because none of the archetypes are inferior or defective in themselves. Nevertheless, as it focuses as much on negative traits as on positive traits, it isn’t an ‘ego-flattering’ tool either. The Enneagram leaves room for overlap between and within different personality types.

Also, it acknowledges that nobody is purely ‘one type’, but rather a ‘basic type’ that transforms within its own range of characteristics and also corresponds with types that it’s connected to. This video is an introduction to the Enneagram of Personality. There is no consensus on the exact origins of the enneagram. But it’s certain that the use and meaning of it have been changed throughout the centuries, as there are different interpretations and usages by different people from several time periods. The enneagram symbol appears in the Islamic Sufi tradition, and variations of it are found in the sacred geometry of the Pythagoreans.

Some believe that Jewish neo-Platonist philosopher Philo brought the enneagram into the esoteric Judaism, and was later represented in the Kabbalistic ninefold symbol the Tree of Life. The Enneagram as we know it today is based on the teachings of the Bolivian psycho-spiritual teacher Oscar Ichazo, and the Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo. Naranjo was influenced by Russian mystic George Gurdjieff who made the enneagram figure publicly known and has possibly retrieved it from a Sufi monastery in Afghanistan at the end of the nineteenth century.

The word ‘enneagram’ is derived from the Greek words ‘ennea’ and ‘grammos’. ‘Ennea’ means nine, and ‘grammos’ means something that is drawn or written. Unsurprisingly, the Enneagram of Personality contains nine different nodes. Each node refers to one archetype. The way in which the enneagram is set up already shows the equivalence between the archetypes. None of the nodes is in a preferable position, as they are all part of the same circle. The numbers attributed to the nodes solely function as a way to identify the archetypes but are in no way a ‘rating system’, meaning that a 7 isn’t better than a 2.

Of course, there are differences in traits. But every type has positive as well as negative traits, which are all significant in their own ways. The level of appreciation for each personality type depends on personal and cultural preferences, and there’s empirical evidence that the archetypes play a significant role when it comes to mate selection. The enneagram also distinguishes the nine archetypes through the manner in which they are interconnected.

For example, they can be divided into three groups, meaning that these groups consist of personalities that share similar characteristics. Another example is that every type is connected to at least one type from another group. This signifies the potential of developing characteristics that don’t typically manifest in one’s personality type but are present nonetheless, be it in healthy or unhealthy ways. (Later on in the video, we’ll explore this a bit further).

So, what archetypes does the enneagram present? In this section of the video, we’ll briefly explore the characteristics of each archetype. These short descriptions are not complete, but they give a concise insight into each type. The first one is the perfectionist. A perfectionist wants to be right. They are driven to realize their ideal images and, with that, they want to change the world as it is, into something better. They worship perfection and are therefore burdened with the fear of imperfection, and can become quite angry when things aren’t the way they’re supposed to be. Norms and values are very important to them, and they can be quite f...