Enneagram/Ninehouse is an ancient knowledge with a history of more than 2,000 years. It divides people’s personalities into nine types according to their habitual thinking patterns, emotional reactions, behavioral habits and other personality traits:
- Type 1 Perfectionist (The Reformer): perfecter, improver, defender of principles, ambassador of order
- The Helper: A person who achieves others, a helpful person, a philanthropic person, and an ambassador of love
- The third type of achiever (The Achiever): achiever, practical, hard-working type
- The Fourth Type (The Individualist): romantic, artistic, egoistic
- Type 5 intelligence type (The Investigator): observer, thinking type, rational type
- The Loyalist type 6: security seeker, cautious, loyal
- Type 7: The Enthusiast: Creator, active, hedonistic
- Type 8 leader (The Challenger): challenger, authoritative, leader
- Type 9 The Peacemaker: the maintainer of harmony, the harmonious type, the plain type
The word ‘Enneagram’ comes from the Greek words ennea (nine) and gram (type), which can be translated as ninehouse, Enneagram or nine personalities. The Enneagram is a humanistic theory studied in western India more than 2,000 years ago and later passed down by Sufi schools.
Later, the Enneagram theory spread to Europe and the United States. American psychologist Helen Palmer used it as a professional topic to study human behavior and psychology in her early years. It was also used by many universities including Stanford University. It is listed as a textbook in American universities and has become a psychological research course. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has also used it to help agents understand the behavioral characteristics of heads of state. Among the world’s top 500 companies, General Motors, Coca-Cola, Hewlett-Packard and other companies have already applied the Enneagram to business management. ,
In addition to the nine forms of personality, the Enneagram also includes the health status of the personality, with a total of nine levels. The healthy ladder has levels 1, 2 and 3, the ordinary ones have levels 4, 5 and 6, and the unhealthy ladder has levels 7, 8 and 9. The healthiest is level 1, the healthiest is level 9.
When the personality is at its healthiest, there is the possibility of personality integration at any time. For example, a Type 9 appears to have the characteristics of Type 3, changing from being introverted and conservative to becoming full of vitality, with basic desires satisfied and basic fears hidden. A healthy personality allows people to live their true selves, maintain psychological balance, fully realize their potential and contribute to society.
Usually, basic desires and basic fears emerge, and the true self is replaced by the self. The self is over-inflated, the self-defense mechanism appears, the psychology becomes unbalanced, and it is easy to conflict with others. In order to satisfy the basic desires, you can hurt others at all costs, and It is easy to succumb to the shadow of society and fail to give full play to the advantages of personality. An unhealthy personality can be said to be a pathology. The failure of the self-defense mechanism can lead to personality collapse. For example, Type 5 people have the shortcomings of Type 7, such as losing control, talking nonsense, and living a luxurious life. Severe cases can lead to mental illness or even self-destruction. When the personality is extremely healthy or unhealthy, there is a phenomenon of integration and collapse, which can lead to misjudgment of a person’s basic personality, especially when it is extremely healthy.
Enneagram personality chart:
- Direction of character deterioration:
1-4-2-8-5-7-1,3-9-6-3 - Character sublimation direction:
1-7-5-8-2-4-1,3-6-9-3
The forward direction is the direction of personality deterioration, and the reverse direction is the direction of personality sublimation. For example, when a No. 2 is mentally healthy, the mental health characteristics of a No. 4 will appear at the same time; if a No. 2 is mentally unhealthy, the psychological unhealthy characteristics of a No. 8 will appear, and so on. The same goes for Article 2.
The integrated direction of personality sublimation and the improvement performance of quality improvement:
1 → 7: Let go of restraint, be tolerant and optimistic, dare to try, get ‘cheerful’;7 → 5: Reduce impulsivity, act calmly, think deeply, and gain ‘reason’;5 → 8: Strong and brave, decisive and confident, do what you say, gain ‘prestige’;8 → 2: Warm and friendly, helpful, open-minded, gain ‘innocence’;2 → 4: stick to your wishes, enjoy yourself, love others and yourself, gain ‘humility’;4 → 1: Stay safe, be clear about right and wrong, be objective and calm, and obtain ‘balance’;3 → 6: Responsible and careful, think twice before acting, loyal, get ’loyalty’;6 → 9: Take things as they come, let go of anxiety, convince others, gain ’trust';9 → 3: Clear goals, diligent and active, self-challenge, gain ‘decisiveness’.
When completing this test, please select the ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ option based on your actual situation. The purpose of choice is to understand yourself. Please choose your natural preferences as much as possible.
The three personalities with the highest total scores may be your main model, but please do not take this result as your ultimate goal. You should pay more attention and reflect on yourself instead of relying solely on questionnaire tests.
Please note: There is no questionnaire in the world that can tell you 100% of the standard answer, and they cannot tell you 100% of the number, because everyone has a ‘standard’ answer in their mind; when doing personality assessment, we recommend not Rely entirely on questionnaires, they can only be used as a reference!
