What are your thoughts on the Enneagram?

My lil ole opinion? Load o’ crap.

I think there’s something to it, but I don’t think the Enneagram is as accurate as the Myers-Briggs/Keirsey/Jungian types, which are based on 16 personality types. Which, honestly, would automatically be more accurate in my mind – because trying to break everyone down into 9 types just doesn’t seem possible. The Enneagram results I got weren’t nearly as accurate as the Jungian results I got – which I’ve been taking for years and never gotten a different result – which is INFP.

Jung I can respect.

I found it I be extremely accurate. I mean, I liked knowing that there was a reason for who I was, kind of. It described me really well. But, Myerrs-Briggs was good too.

@DrasticDreamer Interesting. I haven’t tried that one, but now that you have mentioned it I will. And I agree, the more types to break people into, it seems the more accurate and specific they would be, which is better.

People aren’t doing enough with trait psychology these days. It’s kind of out of favor.

I read them all, and I am a nine if any of them, but nine doesn’t really fit completely.
I think it is wishful thinking to say we are all one of nine types. Fact is we are all unique.

@deni I suggest this one: http://similarminds.com/embj.html

It’s long, but the longer they are, the more accurate your results will be. You have to be honest, obviously, and if you’re not in the mood to sit and really answer, I’d wait to take it. After you get your results though, do a search for your type in google – because the similarminds site doesn’t give a great description. Last of all, let me know what you think. :)

@DrasticDreamer – that’s the one I use. (: great minds think alike!

Your type is: ISTP

ISTP – “Engineer”. Values freedom of action and following interests and impulses. Independent, concise in speech, master of tools. 5.4% of total population.

type score type behavior motivation
5 26 I must be knowledgable and independent to be happy.
9 19 I must be peaceful and easy to get along with to be happy.
1 12 I must be perfect and good to be happy.
2 12 I must be helpful and caring to be happy.

You scored as Type 5

I think it will be inaccurate for people like me who can answer “all of the above at any given time”

@Facade Take the Jung test…They have a type for people like you… ;)

@DrasticDreamer It says I am an ESFJ.

None of the Enneagram ones seem to fit me very well. I’d be some combination of 3–5-6… I guess they just all seem a little extreme to me.

As for Meyers-Briggs, I always get ENTJ. I’m moderately ENT, and very J. I like the way that personality test works because it’s kind of mix-and-match… and it describes me very well.

it’s interesting, to some
but it certainly isn’t the path to enlightenment like some claim…the Arica group recently tried recruiting me…yeah, I don’t think so

Myers-Brigg is at least somewhat based on reality. I wish people talked about that instead of horoscopes, which make zero sense…

There is – as far as I know – no scientific basis for any of the tests mentioned on this page. The research that has been done shows Myers-Brigg and Enneagram to be highly unreliable and not likely measuring a consistent personality trait.

This kind of stuff holds entertainment value and should be regarded in that light. Any serious conclusions made towards one’s future or that of others – such as using it in selection processes – is unwise, ineffective and often even unethical.

Just my two bits.

I think your kidding right?There are infinite number of personalities and each man could have had a hole different personality if the factors were others.So you can’t define your personality with eight numbers and a stupid draw.This is all crap and is the result of people’s need to believe in idiot unrealistic things like this,dead clock,God and others

@whitenoise I do agree with you, it’s nothign to take extremely seriously. I think it’s fun to look at and for me, personally, one of them does fit me pretty well so it’s interesting to see what it says about you.

@Christian95 This test isn’t saying that there is only 9 personalities. It’s the major groups, but within them they’re divided up into smaller types. And I don’t think anyone here is trying to “define” their personality by it. It’s fun. Man.

I didn’t know about this test until you asked me so i looked it up and took it. It said i was a healthy seven. I guess it somewhat describes me in general. I don’t think i’ll take too much into though. A person should know themselves better than a test.

This seems too much like horoscope crap. FYI: type 8, Meyers-Briggs ISTJ , but also a Cambridge Autism Quotient of 45 which trumps all of the previous information.

At least all of these personality-typing systems are based on some kind of reality, as opposed to astrology.

How many kinds of jellies are there on fluther?

On a scale of Zen (being a zero) to a Matt Browne (a 10) , what kind of jelly are you?

;-)

Ennegram is not all bull, it’s just not widely accepted. I wouldn’t use the score in isolation – and pay attetion to the subtypes (lower scores) I paid the full 10$. I have an interesting in testing that is more research/professional. I need to know what makes people tick, and rely on traditional instinct, but technology makes it fun.

My 2 cents on the score I got…

I should be a nine,but my 2 and four scores are higher with the test. The other test pegs me as an engineer,

In terms of vocation, these are dead on. I am a methodical researcher, drawn to interpersonal care and interaction. I’m a scientific helper.

so you can visualize, but it’s the tip of the iceburg in terms of what makes me tick.

I happen to really like the enneagram. Came across it a few years ago.

I am type #7 the enthusiast with an 8 wing, the leader.

VERY accurate and I like the breakdown for how ones traits can show up when either at optimum ‘health’, average or unhealthy.

I can see all of my traits over the years in all catogories, fortunetly I am spiked in the healthy zone in my maturity! lololol

I think it is a great tool for better self understanding and have shared it with many friends.

Of course there are many nuances within everyone but it certainly described me to a ‘T’.

It’s not all that different than other personality tests, they just don’t use the extrovert/introvert ‘labels’. Although it is apparent through the testing where one leans.

In a famous experiment, a professor handed out a piece of paper to every student in his classes. he told them it was an astrological reading prepared only for them, and asked them to rate it for accuracy. Overall, the ratings were quite high. Everyone had been given the exact same “horoscope”. Tell you anything?

Thats just an example of subliminal manipulation, not an in depth and detailed examination of traits.

So it only tells me that someone was capable of manipulating a psychically vulnerable group. lol

Just like a group is being manipulated by the so-called Enneagram: it is just ambiguous enough that it feels like it fits you personally.

I disagree. It is far more ‘specialized’ than a random astrological reading.

Hey..don’t get me wrong..I embrace all potential ‘tools’ that lead to better understanding of self & others.

The Enneagram is just another tool, take it or leave it.

If it is completely ambiguous then everyone would fall into the same category, there would not be multiple choice outcomes. lolol

I don’t cling to any one thing as truth, but am open to new ideas.

Let’s put it this way. In the world of psychometrics it is an imprecise tool. it is not useless, but there exist far better instruments.

Whatever you say, I’m not into a debate, just sharing that I, personally, enjoyed utilizing the enneagram and did find it interesting.

Well, I didn’t mean to debate you, either. I just meant that if you look around there are other things out there which may really teach you some meaningful things about yourself.

And you assume I do not already know some meaningful things about myself? lolol
( sorry…that was just too much for ego to resist )

I’m sorry if I sounded like a jerk. I didn’t meant to.

No biggy….I’m always very humorous, no ruffled feathers here! :-)

I’ve studied the Enneagram for some time, and I’ve learned that there are many people who either aren’t interested in personality typing, don’t want to be “put in a box”, or think it’s a load of hooey. That’s fine with me. It took me a while not to get defensive, but I only wanted others to be able to see it for what it was: a tool.

The Enneagram helped me greatly by helping me understand that I am a product of my experiences (I know this is a “duh” thing for many, but you have to figure it out sometime); and allowed me to let go of my… well, guilt about being the way I am. It helped me form language around the things that make me an individual, and the flaws I see that I’d like to change, or somehow “redirect”.

It also helped me understand the dynamics of my relationship with my parents. I’m a One, my Mom’s a Nine, and my Dad’s an Eight. Now I have a better understanding of why me and my Dad often butted heads, and why my Mom was always caught in the middle. Our “surface desires” seemed to match sometimes, but our motivations were different.

I cannot stress enough that personality type models are tools. If you are manipulated by them, then they are not being used correctly. If you react to something about yourself that a model happens to point out, then there’s no harm in looking deeper, if you want.

It’s also my understanding from books on the E’gram that each person is a combination of all the types, which supports the idea that everyone is individual. It doesn’t put everyone into one of 9 types, rather some place on a very long spectrum. I also like how it suggests different characteristics of a person depending on their state, whether they are “moving” in a positive direction (growth), or negative (stressed).