To kick off your Type Report, we want to give you some information about the system we are using when we talk about personality. This will be especially useful to you if you haven’t heard a lot about the Enneagram before. But even if you are somewhat familiar with it, this introduction will be a helpful guide that you can come back to when you have questions about the Enneagram, types, or groups.
The Enneagram is a map of human behavior that helps you understand why you do what you do.
Current popular culture knows the Enneagram mostly as a system of personality types. But it is much more than that. It is a way of looking at the human psyche that uncovers the deepest forces shaping our perception, our behavior, our dreams, our fears, and our desires.
The Enneagram starts by identifying the nine most central stories humans tell themselves. Stories about who we are, what we desire and how we try to get it. You carry something of all nine of these desires in you, but you are shaped particularly and most strongly by one of them. This is what the Enneagram calls your type.
The Enneagram is a system that you can wrap your head around pretty quickly. At the same time, it goes deep enough to address all of the wonderful complexities and contradictory natures that make up your individual personality.
Let's take one more look at which of these nine desires shape you the most, and give you an overview over what that means.
Each of the nine Enneagram types has its own unique worldview and its own driving force. It's shaped by deep emotions, unconscious motivations and strong beliefs we have acquired in childhood.
These nine types aren’t given their numbers at random. They follow the idea that three core aspects of what makes us human sort the nine types into three groups: Head Types, Heart Types, and Body Types.
Each group is driven by their center of intelligence and has a core emotion. Just as you carry a little bit of each type in you, you are shaped by all three of these aspects, but the group your type belongs to plays a greater role in your life.
The types of the Heart Group are especially concerned with their feelings. Their issues revolve around questions of identity, and the emotion they most struggle with is some kind of shame.
Type Two stands for the desire to love and to be loved. People shaped the most by this type are great at tending to the needs of others and pouring out their love for them. But they do this at the expense of looking out for their own needs. These people ask themselves: “Will people still love me when I allow myself to state my desires and needs?”
Type Three stands for the desire to be successful. People shaped the most by this type do everything to fulfill that desire, even if they have to fake it. These people ask themselves: “Will people still love me even when they find out I’m not as amazing as I think I have to be?”
Type Four stands for the desire to be unique. People shared the most by this type want to make sure above all that they are different from the rest, while at the same time they secretly yearn to fit in with everybody else. These people ask themselves: “Will people still love me when they find out I'm just as normal as them?”
The types in the Head Group rely on their mind to understand the world and find their place in it. Their issues are linked to questions of security and safety, and the emotion that plays the biggest part in their lives is some kind of fear.
Type Five stands for the desire to be competent. People shaped the most by this type are driven by an endless desire to understand the world in order to master it, because they are afraid they never will. They ask themselves: “How can I be safe without the necessary abilities to confront this overwhelming world?”
Sixes are loyal and reliable people. Without Sixes nothing would ever happen – they turn great ideas into working and practical reality. They stick to people and concepts that provide them with a sense of security and use their minds as a warning system to cover all their bases at all times. They ask themselves: “Will I still be safe even if I haven’t prepared against every imaginable disaster?”
Type Seven stands for the desire for joy and pleasure. People shaped the most by this type want to make sure they get as much excitement out of their short existence on this planet as possible. To do this, they run away from the unpleasant parts of life. They ask themselves: “How will I be safe if I let the pain and suffering of human existence catch up with me?”
The types of the Body Group are especially connected to their instinctual level. Their worldview is connected to their five senses and gut feeling. They have issues with questions of control, and the emotion they struggle the most with is anger or rage.
Type Eight stands for the desire to protect and be in control. People shaped by this type appear forceful, decisive, and undefeatable, but they do so at the cost of closing themselves off from their own vulnerability. On the inside, they ask: “Will I still be in control even if I don’t appear strong at every moment?”
Nines are great at seeing and valuing every other type of the Enneagram and creating safe places for other people. They are asleep to their instinctual side, especially to their anger and are often not aware of their own voice and strength. They unconsciously ask: “Will I still be in control of my inner peace even if I allow conflict and tension into my life?”
Type One stands for the desire to be good and do the right thing. People shared by this type value integrity above all and are driven towards perfection, even if it is unattainable. Their inner critic constantly asks them: “How can you stay in control as long as you're still making mistakes?”
