An enneagram is a tool that maps nine basic personality types of people and their relationships with each other. The different types are described in detail one by one below.
Type 1: the Reformer
The reformer, the teacher, the activist, the perfectionist or the moralist: All names for type 1 of the Enneagram. They describe the type 1 person, a person with a mission. And their mission, that’s the right thing.
The Reformer, as we will call this enneagram type, is a personality type with a strong sense of right and wrong. He will always want to strive for the good. They are often seen as rigid and insensitive by other people while inside they are boiling with anger, passion and passion.
Precisely because of their strong sense of right and wrong, they are very principled, they love virtue and they always have a ,judge sitting on their shoulder, who weighs right and wrong. As a result, they like to have all their affairs in order and are afraid of making mistakes. They are strict with themselves, but certainly also with those around them. ,That’s how it should be, and ,I’m right, are two of Enen’s favorite one-liners. Irresponsibility and indifference are qualities they despise.
Type 1’s greatest fear is that he is bad and imperfect. Professions in which you will find many people with a type 1 personality are teacher, police officer, preacher and politician.
Healthy ones and stress
When a Reformer feels good about himself he will be observant, realistic, noble and wise. However, when he is at his worst, he is self-righteous, inflexible, obsessive, contradictory, judgmental and punitive.
Warning signs for a type 1 are :
- Taking rigid positions
- Condemn
- Justifying one’s own behavior
- Depressive feelings
- Fury
When a One is under stress it can ,turn, into a Four. Because he can no longer cope with the pressure of everyday life, he starts daydreaming and fantasizing about escape. They feel that no one understands them and sees how hard he always works. He can react sullenly, emotionally and jealously.
Type 2: the Helper
The helper, the caregiver, the altruist or the pleaser, all names for type 2 of the Enneagram. This personality type is known as caring, warm, nurturing, committed and sensitive to the needs of others. They feel genuinely involved with the other. Because they can give a lot to others, they are happy and feel that they are allowed to be there.
Despite their sincere commitment, a Two also has a double agenda, they give love in order to get love and power back . ,I am indispensable and important to someone else, they need my help., As a result, they often forget themselves, completely ignore themselves and do not ask for help when they need it. Although they hate ingratitude, love in return for their help is a must.
Type 2’s biggest fear is not being needed and not being loved. Perhaps not a big surprise, most people with personality type 2 work in the healthcare sector, for example in nursing .
Healthy Twos and stress
When a Helper feels good about himself, he will be balanced, self-nurturing, friendly, helpful, and loving unconditionally. However, when he is at his worst, he is demanding, coercive, manipulative and will harass others and play the victim.
Warning signs for a type 2 are:
- Physical symptoms of emotional problems
- Obsessive crush
- Manipulation and coercion
- Indulge themselves because they believe they are entitled to it
- Self-deception
If a Two experiences stress, he can ,change, into a type Eight. They then become tougher, aggressive, they want leadership and are dominant.
Type 3: the Achiever
The achiever, the motivator, the best, the successful or the status seeker: All names for type 3 of the enneagram. All names reflect the core of type 3: ,Success,.
The achiever will do anything for success, they strive every day to be the best, to be better than the rest. They want to excel and are very status and image conscious. The three is also often successful and can motivate others to be successful as well. They hate people who cut corners the most. They don’t do all this for the money or power that success brings , they do it because they are afraid that they are nothing without success.
Type 3’s greatest fear is that he is a failure and that he is nothing without his successes. However, if he is not successful, he will do everything he can to make others believe that he is successful. They continue to maintain that things are going fantastically well. Professions in which you will find many people with a type 3 personality are: salesperson, manager, or a profession in the advertising or media world.
Healthy Threes and stress
When an Achiever feels good about himself, he will be authentic and goal-oriented, improve himself and be guided by his own self. However, when he is at his worst, he is ruthless, vengeful, unprincipled, lying and craves attention.
Warning signs for a type 3 are:
- Burnout as a result of a workaholism
- Increases in lies and deception
- Inner emptiness
- Trying to hide emotional problems
- Opportunism
- Fury
- Hostility
- Jealousy
- Unrealistic expectations of success
When a Three is under stress it can ,turn, into a Nine. This change allows them to put a stop to their endless pursuit of success. This makes them more diplomatic and calmer like a Nine type. He also tries not to stand out so much anymore, which gives him more peace. He will be given more activities in which he is not really involved but which are easy and routine so that he can easily get through a difficult period.
Type 4: the Romantic
The romantic, the individualist, the artist, the victim or the special, are all names for personality type 4 of the Enneagram. This type believes in being different from others, in being special.
Fours are very aware of themselves, and are concerned with how they differ from others and what their own shortcomings are. This can be very positive, they are honest with themselves and are also very curious about how they are as people. They make contact with their dark side that other types like Sevens prefer to deny. Fours often feel that something is missing from them, which is why they adopt different ,selves, over the course of their lives. They are very sporty for a while and months later they go through life as avid fans of classical music. Fours are often very attached to longing, they do not see what they already have and play the victim who has not had any luck in life. Fours can be very dramatic when they are happy or when they are sad. The individualist can be very capricious and everything has to be done their way and on their terms. Vieren’s favorite one-liners are: ,I am myself,, ,No one understands me,, ,I am special,.
The biggest fear for this type is that he has no identity and that he blends in with the crowd. Professions in which you can find many people with a personality type 4 are: artist, writer, actor, etc.
Healthy Celebrations and stress
When a Four feels good about himself, he is honest with himself, creative, sensitive and knows that he has no more flaws than other people. However, when he is at his worst he is resentful, depressed, apathetic and self-destructive.
Warning signs for a Type Four include:
- Self-deception
- Feeling of alienation from self and others
- Extreme fickleness
- Extremely irritable
- Outbursts of anger
- Long-term depression
- Obsession with death
When a Four is under stress it can ,turn, into a Two. Because a Four is individual, at a certain point he will worry about his relationships with other people. Then he turns into a Two and then he goes on to be friendly and helpful.
Type 5: the Researcher
The Researcher is type number 5 in the enneagram, other names for this personality are: the thinker, the observer, the specialist or the expert. The researcher is an information-gathering personality type, they want to know as much as possible and perhaps more importantly, they want to understand it.
This is also where the Five’s great fear lies, he is afraid that he does not know enough and knows and can do less than others. So they continue to observe, absorb knowledge and think. Their head is their trusted place where they develop ideas and skills that allow them to take on the world. As a result, they will not really tackle problems. For example, if there are financial problems, they will rather delve into how biomass works than calling the bank to tackle the problems. The Five is introverted, eager to learn and keeps feelings to themselves. Others may think they are insensitive, but the opposite is true, they are very sensitive, but are unable to express this.
A Five’s greatest fear is that he is useless and does not have enough knowledge. Professions in which you can find people with personality type 5 are: researchers, inspectors, monks, technical tinkerers and scientists.
Healthy Fives and stress
When a Five feels good about himself, he is observant, astute, focused, profound and compassionate. However, when things are not going well for the Five, he is self-destructive and eccentric, suffers from insomnia and feels like his head is on fire from all his thinking. Warning signs for
a type Five are:
- Is going to isolate himself
- Physical neglect
- Sleep disorders
- Hostile to help
- Talking about suicide
- Hallucinations
When a Five is under stress it can ,turn, into a Seven. They throw themselves from one activity to another, but nothing is satisfying. They are very restless and try everything to get their mind to stop thinking and to be distracted.
Type 6: the Loyalist
The sixth type of the enneagram is the Loyalist, also called the Doubter, the Keeper, the Faithful or the True Believer. As the name of this type indicates, Sixes are exceptionally faithful and loyal, especially to family and friends, but also to ideas and traditions.
In general, they are more loyal to others than to themselves, the reason for this is fear and insecurity of being alone. They are looking for security and protection because they think they cannot handle life alone. They must be careful that their loyalty does not turn into submissiveness. Sixes think a lot and for every decision they prefer to ask a hundred people for their opinion before making a decision. Once they have made a decision, they fervently defend that choice forever. This seems easier to them than having to choose again.
The Six’s greatest fear is that he has no support and guidance and is therefore alone in this life. Professions in which you will find many people with personality type 6 are: law , public prosecutor, lawyers, police, detective and in the army.
Healthy Sixes and stress
When Sixes feel good about themselves, they are independent, courageous, reliable, dedicated and cooperative. They will discover their own inner guidance, which will help them find the security and protection they have always sought. If Sixes are far from healthy, they are panicky, unreliable, paranoid and self-destructive.
Warning signs for a type Six are:
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Inferiority complex
- Extreme suspicion
- Hysterical attacks
- Being in “bad company” and maintaining bad relationships
If a Six is under stress, he can ,change, into a Three, he will work more and harder and become very image conscious. All to make sure people like him more and want to be with him. Which can lead to other people not taking him seriously. The Six can also be condescending to others so that its own inferiority complex does not stand out.
Type 7: the Enthusiast
The child prodigy, the generalist, the bon vivant, the adventurer and the multitasker are all names for type 7. Fun is central to this type.
Sevens would prefer their entire lives to consist of pleasure, but they have a very difficult time dealing with the dark sides of life and pain. They want fun and will definitely experience it. Sevens are curious and prefer to jump from one thing to another in life as long as it is fun. They are enthusiastic, cheerful and versatile. They hate boredom and discipline, this is mainly because they have time to think and then of course less pleasant thoughts arise. So they want to get back to work quickly. They are also very productive during their activities, racing like crazy through their work. Sometimes they can come across as frivolous and superficial.
Sevens are also full of ideas and their heads are often overflowing with things they still want and need to do. This often makes them feel restless. They often abandon the ideas they have once they implement them; coming up with things is often more fun than executing them.
Making choices is also not one of their strong qualities. They can’t choose whether they want peanut butter or jelly on their bread; so they just do both. Setting priorities is also a real challenge.
The Seven’s greatest fear is that he is trapped in pain and cannot experience happiness. The Z even are often found in independent professions or have many different jobs.
Healthy Sevens and stress
A healthy Seven is cheerful, satisfied, realistic, productive and enthusiastic. However, when he is stressed, he turns into a reckless, manic-depressive and insatiable person.
Warning signs for a type Seven are:
- Extreme excesses
- Addictions
- Impulsiveness
- Aggression
- Infantile reactions
- Compulsive euphoric moods
- Uninhibited living
- Severe mood swings
- Panic attacks and anxiety attacks
If a Seven is under stress for a long time, he can ,change, into a One. Sevens realize that they have to set priorities and instead of happily getting to work, they work doggedly. They work even harder and force themselves to finish what they started. This causes them to experience even more stress.
Type 8: the Leader
The eighth type of the enneagram is called the Leader, or the Challenger, the Protector, the Boss or the Independent. This dominant type loves challenges and knows how to get others to do what he wants. Power is important to him.
Eights are strong personalities and will do everything they can to make the outside world believe that . Being strong is important. His greatest fear is that he is dominated by someone else, so he does everything he can to keep his weaknesses under control. Eights are individualists, they choose to be independent. POWER is the core word both literally and figuratively for the Eight. This does hinder them in relationships with others, after all, in relationships you also have to show your vulnerable side and that is exactly what an Eight does not want because he then has the feeling of giving his power to the other person.
An Eight’s greatest fear is being controlled by others.
Professions in which many Eights work, managers, directors and other executives.
Healthy Eights and stress
A healthy Eight surrenders to life and no longer has the need to be in control, they are courageous, independent, action-oriented, strong and self-confident. However, when things are not going well for the Eight, he is destructive, terrorizing, dictatorial and ruthless.
Warning signs for a type Eight are:
- Paranoid feelings
- Bitterness
- Social isolation
- Callousness
- Feelings of revenge
- Criminal behavior
- Outbursts of anger and violence
- Physical neglect.
If the Eight is under a lot of stress for a long time, he ,changes, into a type Five. They then retreat, as it were, to gather courage and strength. They think a lot and start collecting information during such periods. The normally energetic Eight is now very quiet and takes poor care of itself.
Type 9: the Mediator
The last type of the enneagram is the Mediator, this type is also called the Peacemaker, the Comforter, the Healer or the Reconciler. This quiet type is at the top of the enneagram, all types seem to be gathered in the Nine. The mission of the One, the generosity of the Two, the attractiveness of the Three, the creativity of the Four, the intellectuality of the Five, the loyalty of the Six, the fun of the Seven and the power of the Eight. This is the disadvantage of the Nine, they think they have no identity of their own.
Nines love harmony, they are good-natured and accommodating. They hate conflicts and painful situations, they prefer to run away from them and withdraw into their own thoughts, they escape from the real world by fantasizing and dreaming.
A Nine’s greatest fear is losing harmony in the world around them.
The best professions for a type Nine are those that do not require them to take initiative and that do not involve stress and conflict.
Healthy Nines and stress
Healthy Nines are calm, unflinching, peaceful, selfless, and comforting. They possess inner peace and stability. If the Nine is not feeling well, they are disoriented, negligent and self-denying, they feel unable to see reality as it is. They become withdrawn and seem numb.
Warning signs for a type Nine are:
- Denial of serious personal or financial problems
- Resistance to aid
- Dependent on others and allowing themselves to be exploited by others
- Depression
- Dissociation (feeling confused and disconnected)
- Greatly reduced vitality
In response to stress, the Nine will turn into a type Six. By adopting the conviction and loyalty of the Six, Nines feel that they gain control and direction over life.
Finally
The types described above are all equivalent to each other, no one type is better or worse than another. Also, no one is entirely one type, a certain type can be dominant in someone’s character, but in principle everyone has all 9 types within them.