Enneagram Of Personality And Enneatypes: What Are They?
Among the areas covered by psychology, for decades the study of Personality types arouses great interest and media coverage.
That is partly why, inside and outside this science, many proposals for classifying personality types that are now quite well known have appeared. Among them is the enneagram of personality and its classification by enneatypes
The enneagram of personality is difficult to define in one sentence, because it has many facets. That is why the explanation of what it is will be revealed throughout this entire article.
Its clearest and easiest facet to address from the beginning is the following: The enneagram is a circle with nine lines This:
In fact, the term enneagram refers to this geometric and circular figure with nine points in which the enneatypes are represented.
This figure captures the second easiest facet to understand about what the enneagram is. The enneagram is, in practice, a personality classification system. As such, proposes some categories that can theoretically be used to explain tendencies and propensities that define the habitual behavior of people.
These categories with which an attempt is made to classify the different personality types through the enneagram are the enneatypes, which are numbered from 1 to 9. Thus, each person could be defined by an enneatype, which would collect the characteristics in which the person stands out more.
The enneatypes
Enneatype 6 : attachment to rules and tendency to distrust. What characterizes this enneatype is the propensity to abide by the rules and question all the logic of action that deviates from them. If they are separated from these norms, they become very insecure and fall into constant doubt.
Enneatype 7 : tendency to enthusiasm and outbursts. People described by this enneatype are in a constant search for pleasure, which causes them to frequently abandon their long-term plans. They tend to display good humor and reject the possibility of making a commitment so as not to have to mourn losses.
Enneatype 8 : attachment to the feeling of justice. It describes people who like to be in control of the situation and who dedicate a lot of effort to making those who do wrong pay the consequences. They tend to be self-confident and trust their judgment, which puts them in a position to offer protection to others.
Enneatype 9 : pacifying and mediating spirit. People who excel in this aspect tend to flee from conflict and, in general, show a passive attitude. They prefer to focus their actions on consensus and avoid stridency in their behavior. Furthermore, they let others make important decisions.
According to the logic that is usually attributed to the functioning of the enneagrameach person can be explained by the enneatype that best fits them However, if certain atypical circumstances were to occur, the context could cause the person to begin to act in a similar way to how a person defined by another enneatype would, that is, their personality would experience a shift.
The directions in which one could move from the starting point of their enneatype are explained in the circle with lines, in which the 9 enneatypes of the personality enneagram are represented. Thus, enneatype 1 (perfectionist) could move towards position 4 (artist) or 7 (the enthusiast), and each of these other enneatypes, in turn, can also move to two others. These lines would also serve to indicate the possible routes of personal development that each person can undertake depending on the enneatype from which they start.
Why the enneagram is not a personality test
What we have so far, as explained, is a personality classification system and a proposal about how transitions from one personality type to another are made. This, without knowing if there is research that supports the usefulness and robustness of this classification method, and without knowing how the scores of each person in each enneatype could be measured, does not seem crazy. But There is a reason why the Enneagram cannot be considered a personality test : is based on pseudoscientific ideas.
Although the enneagram accounts for different personality types, it is neither a personality test nor is it, in its entirety, a tool that can be used by psychology if certain guarantees of effectiveness are expected. The reason is that it is not a simple classification system of psychological characteristics but goes much further, because It is based on a system of beliefs based on esotericism and magical thinking
This means, among other things, that the enneagram of personality and the formulation of the enneatypes not only rest on presuppositions about the functioning of mental processes, but also start from a supernatural vision of what exists and is part of reality. .
Thus, for example, it is said that the enneagram can serve to explain our personality, but also to discover the basic mistakes we make in our lives and how we can grow spiritually. This is something very relevant: among the reasons for the enneagram is to be an instrument for the spiritual development of the person, serving to identify the essential problems that affect us daily… and all this, without having to give information detailed information about what things affect us, in what context we live, with whom we relate, etc.
Playing with ambiguities
The reason these powers are attributed to the use of the enneagram is that it supposedly reflects the way in which invisible cosmic forces structure the functioning of reality and, of course, ourselves. That is the usefulness of the enneagram is excused under a layer of metaphysics explained based on inaccuracies
The enneatypes represent these cosmic forces that govern the functioning of the universe, and to demonstrate this, we appeal to the mathematical curiosities that appear when playing with the numbers represented in the scheme of relationships between enneatypes that the enneagram represents. For example, if we divide the number 1 by 7 (the magic number) the result will be 0.142857142857, that is, the sequence of numbers that is shown in the figure starting from type 1 and ending at 7.
These “magical” properties of numbers are universal (they hold true in any situation), and the enneagram finds in these numbers a way to link with what is essential which goes beyond the context and can only be explained in a very abstract and confusing way.
Conclusions
Like the ancient Pythagoreans, The defenders of the enneagram turn to numerology to try to establish links between the mystical nature between numbers, people and the environment in which they live exposing mathematical curiosities and taking for granted the existence of supernatural connections between the structure of the human mind and the functioning of the cosmos.
As a tool, the enneagram is not scientifically useful because it is not designed to be tested and make it possible to detect failures in its operation. All he offers are vague explanations that could describe virtually anyone. Therefore, its personality type classification system is arbitrary, although that does not mean that one can find satisfaction in seeing oneself through the descriptions of oneself it offers.
Neither the enneagram was born with the purpose of generating scientifically valid knowledge, nor does its method of application have to do with the principles that govern psychology as a science. However, among the supposed virtues of this tool is the possibility of offering solutions to major vital problems from a system applicable to all people, regardless of their context. Ultimately, we are all supposed to be subject to the same cosmic forces.
Gurdjieff, G.I. The Enneagram
Palmer, H. (2014). The Enneagram. Barcelona: The March Hare.
