In its simplest form, the Enneagram teaches that humans have three centers of intelligence: doing, thinking and feeling. Most of us don’t use all of them to the same extent. We are very skilled in using one of our intelligences and (unconsciously) underuse another. One key of becoming a well-rounded human being is to integrate and balance the three centers of intelligence. A first step is to explore which center you repress. The answer might surprise you, but holds some…

Each Enneagram type has certain values and themes that they particularly care about. These can present themselves as causes they are preoccupied with, as more invisible guidelines for their behavior, or simply as subjects they spend a lot of time thinking about, consciously or unconsciously. Below is a list with the core values of all Enneagram types. Below that, we’ll have a look at how you can use these to type yourself or someone else. Type 1 core values Type…

Have you been looking for an image that combines all Enneagram triads in one image? Here it is. The Enneagram Triads Centers of intelligence (body, heart, mind)Hornevian groups (compliant, withdrawn, aggressive)Harmonic groups (positive, competency, reactive)Object relations (attachment, rejection, frustration) These are four different ways in which the nine Enneagram types can be grouped in sets of three (hence triads), based on similar characteristics. Each of these different groups or triads are valuable, as they can teach us something about the…

Who is the person who thought of matching each Enneagram type with one of these so-called rage faces? They are all hilariously accurate. I sometimes use this image to introduce people to the Enneagram: it’s recognizable and funny and a gross oversimplification of the types, and therefore really useful. This piece of brilliance dates back to the heyday of rage faces. I found a slightly different version to have been posted on the subreddit r/psychology on March 16, 2011. On the same day,…

In the real world, Enneagram Threes are many times the people who are most looked up to, as they are often successful in what they do. In much of popular Enneagram discourse, however, Three is the type most demonized. Why do people hate Enneagram Threes? Threes are portrayed as fake. They want other people to admire them and sell their soul to become successful, or just to appear successful. They lie, they pretend, they cheat. They are narcissistic, image-oriented, self-promoting, competitive, and…

These are the four most common criticisms of the Enneagram – and answers to each of them. 1. “Personality type models put you in a box. I know myself already.” Thinking in terms of boxes can be problematic. Knowing your ‘box’ can in fact become an excuse: “I can’t help it, this is how I am!” But all Enneagram teachers will tell you a variation of this quote from Enneagram patriarchs Don Riso and Russ Hudson: “the Enneagram does not…