MBTI and Enneagram1
Introduction
In the course of this project, I developed a theory that relates these two systems. This theory (or model) proposes a relationship between the symbols of these personality systems - the Enneagram figure and the Type Table.
The theory will not fit into this brief introduction but I would like to offer my descriptions of the Enneagram personalities. But we need to know a little about MBTI types.
While working on the project, it occured to me that the circumference of the Enneagram might consist of a single functional preference change between Enneagram Points (personalities). The relationship between adjacent Points on the circumference of the Enneagram is normally referred to as a Wing, i.e., Point 5 might have either a 4-Wing or a 6-Wing. I also suggested that the lines across the Enneagram (normally referred to as Paths) might represent a preference change in a single Attitude or Orientation. If this were true, I should be able to show the relationships between the Enneagram's Points directly on the Type Table. 'One Preference Change', to quote Gifts Differing, will take you from one type table box to an adjacent box.
MBTI Personalities
Type theory, the theory behind the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (the MBTI), allows for 16 types. These different personalities arise as a result of our preferences in four key areas. I will present these preferences in the order that they occur in the MBTI results (Reported Type, or the four MBTI letters):
Jungian Personalities
The eight Jungian (Carl Jung is considered to be the father of Type Theory) personalities can be thought of as a combination of two MBTI types. These two types will have the same Attitude, Dominant Function and Orientation. They differ only in their Auxiliary. These personalites can be characterized by their Attitude and Dominant Function. This results in only eight personalities, using all combinations of the two Attitudes (I and E) and the four functions (S,N,T and F) - i.e., ES, IS, EN, IN, ET, IT, EF and IF. We will meet some of these in the remainder of this article.
Enneagram Personalities
First, let me assure you that the descriptions which follow are not the result of work with focus groups of 1s or 5s, nor are they the result of the work of Gurdieff or Ichazo. While I respect such work, these descriptions are the direct result of linking the MBTI Table and the Enneagram. The MBTI Pairs that I use to develop the Enneagram personality descriptions result directly from these models. In this sense, the preferences brought together in these descriptions are not negotiable. However, the exact interaction of preferences would be subject to interpretation.
I must pause here for some clarification. I do not mean to imply that only those whose Reported Type matches the MBTI Pair will identify with a particular Enneagram Point. In fact, my study shows that this only happens about 15 % of the time using the Wagner Enneagram Personality Style Scale (Enneagram Inventory). Most of my subjects would see themselves as their Reported Type when they are 'At Home' (the realm of the MBTI) but they also identify themselves as a Point in the 'realm of the Enneagram'. We will work to define this 'realm' at the close of the article. Further, I believe that an observer in the 'realm of the Enneagram' would see the behavior of these Reported Types as being consistent with the Enneagram Pair rather than their Reported Type! For each Point which follows, I will list the percentage of Reported Types in my study of 252 people who identified themselves with a particular Enneagram Type. These results will depend on the study population
We will start with the 'Gut' Triad (8,9,1). My model shows all of these personalities to be Extraverted. The most outstanding facet of the next three personalities is their desire to turn outward into the outer world of people and things, to Extravert! Section One: Point 8
Point 8 exemplifies the Extravert (Gut)! Isabel (mother) and Peter Myers (son) have a magnificent description of an Extraverted (very much present in the outer world) iNtuitive (craves the emergent or the possible) personality (EN) in Gifts Differing.2 The quotes which follow, here and throughout the rest of the article, are from that book:
These two letters, EN - Extraverted (Gut Triad) iNtuition - largely define this personality! This personality struggles to bring its vision of possibility into external world reality. I believe that this personality is capable of using both Thinking and Feeling (combination of ENTP and ENFP). (In my study, about 33 % of the Reported Type ESTPs identified themselves to be Point 8 through the Enneagram Inventory). The MBTI generally refers to this ability, or inability, to use either Thinking or Feeling as a 'preference struggle'. Typically, MBTI practitioners regard a preference strugle as indicating that neither function is likely to be strongly developed and may not provide a Judging balance to this personality (this is counter to Isabel's advice to develop the Auxiliary to provide balance). This Auxiliary is strengthened in the move to Point 2 (Heart of Point 8). Make no mistake about it, this personality is Perceptive (absolutely insists on their open playing field in the outer world) and is testimony to the power of Perception (most find it much easier to see power in Judging or closure). This personality is normally given names such as Confronter, Boss, or Leader.
Tater Family - I searched for a way to make these personalities real and I found the Tater Family. Admittedly sterotypical, the Tater Family was used by a member of 40 Plus of Colorado to explain different types of people. I believe that this point is Dick Tater! I am sure that all of us will recognize this powerful character. When good solid judgment is missing or weak, the attempt to transform a personal vision into an outer world reality will probably appear to be just a little heavy handed! In fact, it will probably appear very heavy handed to tose of us who share the same corner of the outer world with this character. We will immediately be challenged to either support the vision or leave this corner of the world! Many will probably identify this personality with a creative but powerful boss or with an overbearing paternal figure, father or mother.
Section Two: Point 9
Point 9 has a 'preference struggle' in its Orientation (fourth letter) to the outer world (combines ESFP and ESFJ). (In my study, 11 % of INTPs [basically chance] identified themselves with Point 9. However, I regard this as a confusion between Introversion and Indolence).
Point 9 rarely decides whether things should be left open or brought to closure! This leaves us without the MBTI pointer but I suspect that the most consistent way to handle this personality is to treat it as having two pointers, for both J and P! As a result, I believe that this personality Extraverts both Sensing (five senses) and Feeling (sense of personal values), almost as if its Attitude acted as a pointer! However, this Extraversion (Gut Triad) is simply there and normally does not have a purpose in closing or opening the external world. This personality floats along in an outer world sea of ordinary friendships (Extraverted Feeling) and sensate pleasures (Extraverted Sensing). Katherine Briggs (Isabel's mother) describes Extraverted Feeling in this way: 'Its goal is the formation and maintenance of easy and harmonious emotional relationships with other people'. Regarding Extraverted Sensing, she says it 'develops a pleasure-loving outer self, very rich in undigested experience and unclassified knowledge of uninterpreted facts'. The strength of this personality is seen on the occasion that an Orientation is demonstrated and either openness or closure is pursued with the full force that an Extraverted personality can bring to the external world. This personality is called the Peacemaker or Mediator.
Tater Family - This personality is Couch Tater! This personality makes an appearance at all of the events, cheers everyone on (might even participate in light activities), joins the participants for a beer and lingers on the bar stool long after the event is over. Couch Tater is there but almost never seems involved at the depth of his/her being. Section Three: Point 1
This personality instinctively turns into the outer world of people and things (Extraverted Gut) and uses objective, impersonal logic (Thinking) to order the outer world:
This personality has a Judging (Heart) Orientation and will require closure in the outer world (woe to those who do not want to close!). This personality rarely is adaptable (Perceiving) enough to graciously respond to new inputs. As such, their credo is likely to be, 'My mind is made up: Don't confuse me with the facts!' In fact, this Enneagram personality rarely takes the MBTI advice to develop the Auxiliary (Perceiving, Head) functions, by which we tak in information. This functional development would normally be called a movement in the Heart direction by Enneagram practitioners (to Point 7, in this case). I believe that this personality is capable of handling both iNtuition (sixth sense) and Sensing (five senses)! This 'preference struggle' (combining ENTJ and ESTJ) may be the reason that it is difficult for this personality to consistently handle new inputs and information. ( My study shows that 100% of three ISFPs, 50-60% of all IJs, 58% of ESTJs and 38% of all ENTJs identified themselves as Point 1s.) As a result Gut (Extraverted) and Heart (Thinking Judgment) are the main driving forces in this personality's efforts to close all outer world decisions in a logically correct, 'right', manner. The Enneagram literature calls this personality the Perfectionist or Reformer.
Tater Family - This is Agi Tater! Agi Tater is not a terrorist but is almost never satisfied with the way that things happen in the outer world. Agi Tater is forever telling us what went wrong and how things should be fixed so that this terrible wrong could never happen again. Agi Tater knows the right way to do anything (it will be his/her own way). While their logic is likely to be flawless, Agi Tater almost never understands or accounts for the human (Feeling) side of the equation.
We now move to the Heart Triad: My model shows all of these personalities to be Judging. The outstanding aspect of these three personalities is their desire to decide or choose, to Judge:
Section Four: Point 2
This personality wishes to choose and decide (Judging; Heart) or, at least, be influential in the choices that are made. I believe that this personality decides by using either of the Judging functions: Thinking (objective, impersonal logic) and Feeling (subjective, personal values). Extraverted Thinking was presented directly above. Obviously, the Feeling preference will give this personality both an emotional and a social life! Extraverted Feeling Types:
Since the Dominant Judging function is Extraverted (Gut) this person will be drawn to the external world of people and things. The Auxiliary (second priority) will be iNtuitive (sixth sense) and will be used in the personality's inner world of thoughts and ideas. (It is this function, Introverted iNtuition, that is strengthened in the move to Heart Point 4.) In this personality, the T/F 'preference struggle' (combining ENTJ and ENFJ) does not compromise the Judging (Heart) Orientation (wants closure in the outer world) which is central to the nature of this personality. (In my study 67% of all ESFJs, about 50% of all ENFPs, ESFPs and INFPs and 44% of all ENFJs identified themselves with Point 2. ) However, this personality's Judgments are likely to be both Feeling (personal) and Thinking (logical). They are likely to do caring things that make logical sense (or logical things that indicate a caring nature)! The source of these caring/logical acts probably arises from the inner world of possibilities suggested by the 'sixth sense' of Introverted iNtuition. Some might have problems with this personality but the Enneagram calls this the Helper or Giver. Sounds right to me!
Tater Family- This is Sweet Tater! Sweet Tater (sorry, it is probably easy to see this as a female personality but this does not do justice to all of the Sweet Fellows out there) is so sweet that she literally lives in the service of those close to her. She gives and gives and gives...even if the gift is unnecessary or even unwanted by these others.
Section Five: Point 3
Point 3, like point 2 above, wants to influence the decisions that are made (Judging; Heart). In my model, this personality has a 'preference struggle' (combining ESFJ and ISFJ) between Extraversion (outer world) and Introversion (inner life) and I believe that this results in a peer level personality 'out of touch' with either of these. The Judging (Heart) pointer is intact and the personality will Extravert (Gut) Feeling (subjective, personal values) in the outer world of people and things and Introvert (use) Sensing (the five senses) in its own inner world. ( in my study, 50% of all ENTJs and about 30% of all EPs, INTJs and ENFJs identified with Point 3.) Regarding Extraverted Feeling Katherine Briggs says, 'Danger lies in the tendency to suppress the personal standpoint entirely, and become a feeling process instead of a feeling personality, giving the effect of insincerity and pose.' (Please remember that Katherine knew nothing about the Enneagram's Fixation of Vanity!) Regarding Introverted Sensing Katherine's comments reveal this personality will, 'Value the subjective impression released by the object rather than the object itself, of which he (she) may hardly be aware'. Image, subjective impression, is very important to this personality. It is this function that is strengthened in the move to Point 6 (Point 3's Heart). This personality is normally called the Motivator or the Succeeder
Tater Family - This is Imi Tater! Imi Tater knows the murmur of the hearts of those in his/her peer group. Imi Tater becomes the desire to their hearts. This is done rather efficiently; Imi Tater simply becomes the image of success that others wish they could achieve. But who is Imi Tater?
Section Six: Point 4
Point 4 belongs to the Judging (Heart) triad and attempts to influence the decisions that others make in the outer world. Personality descriptions can be approximated by the description of Introverted (toward the inner life) iNtuition (sixth sense):
I believe that true expressions of Point 4 retain an Introverted Attitude (directed toward the inner world of thoughts and ideas) even when in the external world. In my model, this personality would have a Thinking (logical)/ Feeling (personal) 'preference struggle' which may prevent the development of an effective Auxiliary. This personality does not follow the MBTI advice to develop a strong Auxiliary (in this case, Extraverted Thinking; movement to Heart, Point 1) to effectively interface with the outer world. Despite this 'preference struggle' (combining INTJ and INFJ) this personality is Judging (Heart Triad) with a Dominant sixth sense (iNtution) which is used in the inner life (Introverted). (Unfortunately, my study contained very few 4s.) Katherine captures the anxiety and artistry of this personality when she states that Introverted iNtuition, 'Regards the immediate situation as a prison from which escape is urgently necessary ...' and 'May be creative in any field: artistic, literary, scientific, inventive, philosophical, or religious'. This Dominant function gives this personality a very individual vision of what is possible. Finally, I consider the ISTJ to be part of this personality,, involved in the path to Point 1. This personality is normally called the Artist or the Artistic Individual.
Tater Family - this is Crea Tater. Crea Tater smiles inwardly with the realization that he/she is the possessor of a gift that the rest of us really do not get. As a result, many of Crea Taer's best efforts will go unrecognized but this does not dim the inner gift. It may, however, strongly color the way that Crea Tater views the world: unappreciative slobs are everywhere!
Finally, we cover the Head Triad. My model shows all of these personalities to be Perceiving. The most outstanding trait of these next three personalities is their desire to apprehend, to experience, to take everything in, to know and to understand: to Perceive.
Section Seven: Point 5
Point 5 attempts to remain open to the outer world, let life unfold (Perceptive, Head). This personality is drawn to relate itself to the outer world by absorbing all of the iNtuitive (sixth sense) stimuli possible. Point 5 has a preference struggle in its Dominant Judging Functions (combining INTP and INFP) and can be captured by combining the descriptions of Introverted Thinking and Introverted Feeling. From Introverted Thinking:
From Introverted Feeling:
This personality retains its Introverted Attitude (directed toward the inner world of thoughts and ideas) in the face of the external world and it remains Perceptive (Head). As Katherine says, this Extraverted iNtuition is '..directed upon outer objects, searching for emergent possibilities...' This Point rarely heeds Isabel's advice to develop (or rely on) the Auxiliary (in this case, Extraverted iNtuition; movement to Point 8, Heart) to provide balance to the personality. The Dominant functionality of this personality lies in a Thinking/Feeling preference struggle. This Introverted Judging is solidly in control of the inner processes of this Introverted personality even though this personality's actions are primarily conveyed to the outer world through iNtuition. (In my study, only 5% of all INTPs or INFJs and 3% of all INFPs identified themselves to be Point 5, much less than chance.) This personality is Perceiving (Head Triad) and Introverted (dominant Thinking/Feeling). Finally, I regard ISTP to be a part of this Point, involved in the path to Point 7. This personality is normally called Thinker, Observer or Analyst.
Tater Family- This is Cogi Tater! Cogi Tater watches the world, hopes to spot something truly significant and ponders the meaning of the things seen. Cog takes everything in but not much comes out. If you take the trouble to ask, Cogi will attempt the best answer that he/she can give but rarely volunteers information.
Section Eight: Point 6
Point 6 is also Perceiving (Head) and remains open to the outer world. However, this may not be readily apparent to others. The MBTI pointer (P) indicates that this personality Extraverts Sensing and Introverts Feeling, exactly the opposite of Point 3. (In my study, about 15% of INTPs and ISTJs identified with Point 6.) In fact, I believe that this Extraverted Sensing (uses the five senses in interacting with the outer world) is so strong that this personality is rarely viewed as being Perceptive. Katherine Briggs states, 'Attention riveted to the strongest stimulus, which invariably becomes the center of interest, so that life seems wholly under the influence of accidental outer happenings'. Rather, the definitive nature of this personality's Extraverted Sensing declarations (declares what it sees) generally cause others to assume that Point 6's statements are made as the result of Judging, which they are not! They are simply a strong statement of the obvious (present reality)! Feeling, a strong grasp of personal values, is used to relate the outer world to the inner world of this personality. Again Katherine says that this Feeling, 'Depends on abstact feeling-ideas such as love, patriotism, religion, and loyalty, and is deep and passionate rather than extensive'. The Feeling function is likely to cause a negative reaction on the part of this personality to any type of change until the impact of the proposed change has been fully evaluated (relative to this personality's strongly held personal values). This Feeling funciton is strengthened in the move to Point 9 (Point 6's Heart). Unlike Point 3 which seemed 'out of touch' with either Attitude (I or E), Point 5 can display both an Extraverted (Boss) attitude or an Introverted (Subordinate) attitude, depending on their assessment of a given situation. Hence, this personality is probably 'core' relative to Attitude. By this, I mean that the E/I 'preference struggle' (combining ESFP and ISFP) serves as the core of both of these Attitudes (source of both Introversion and Extraversion). This personality is normally called the Loyalist or the Guardian.
Tater Family - This is Hezi Tater! Hezi Tater's deep and abiding loyalities make it difficult to accomodate any type of change. Any of these loyalties may be threatened by the proposed or actual change. So Hezi's first reaction will amost always be negative. Hezi will stall for time to evaluate changes. Changes will get Hezi's support only after he/she has had time to assess the impace of changes on their loyalties.
Section Nine: Point 7
Point 7 can be said to dedicate its life to the pursuit of Perceptivity (Head). This personality shows a 'preference struggle' (combining ESTP and ENTP) in the Dominant Perceptive functions, Sensing (five senses) and iNtuition (sixth sense). In fact, this personality will probably be seen simply as an Extraverted (involved in the outer world of people and things) Perceptive (pursuing all of the present and anticipated experiences of life). Extraverted iNtuitive types:
Extraverted Sensing Types:
This 'preference struggle' does not detract from the key role of Perception in the life of Point 7. (In my study, 17% of all ENTPs and 11% (chance) of INTPs identified with Point 7.) Point 7 pursues all of the Sensate and iNtuitive experiences (both plans and actively participates in experiences) that the world has to offer. Like Point 2, the auxiliary, Introverted Thinking, has an impact on the personality. Everything in their outer world will be interpreted by this personality's inner sense of cause-and-effect, right-and-wrong, etc. As a result, all of the external Perceptive pursuits will somehow by 'right' to this personality. This personality is given a variety of names - Generalist, Glutton, Idealist, Dreamer ... I don't really like these; I propose Enthusiast .
Tater Family- This is Common Tater! This name requires some explanation. Common Tater's range of experiences will leave him/her with a broad range of practical, and some not so practical, skills. This whole set of skills cannot be called common but each of the individual skills would be viewed as 'quite common' by someone truly expert in that particular area. Common Tater generally moves on to new interests before skills become truly expert. Also, in their element (and they try to be in their element every waking moment), they are verbal will make comments about everything. Some comments may 'stretch' the truth, include things that are all too possible to Common Tater.
Conclusion
Since an Attitude (focus of attention in the outer world, Extraverted) and Orientations (Judging, need for closure in the outer world, and Perceiving, need for openness in the outer world) are critical in the Enneagram personality, I have begun to think of its 'realms' as the outer world or the Enneagram personality as an 'At Work' personality. Actually the term outer world may be confusing to those familiar with the MBTI since Reported Extraverted types would be properly called outer world types but their Enneagram type may also be different from their Reported MBTI type.
The MBTI is constructed to determine your 'At Home' personality. Even though they agree with my Enneagram descriptions, many persons will show preference differences between their MBTI and the MBTI pairs that I have used to describe the Enneagram personalities. (As I stated earlier, I find these two personalities to be the same only about 15% of the time.) So, most recently I have started using the term 'At Work' or the work environment to define the 'realm of the Enneagram personality'. Since many do not identify with the work environment, this could also be called the 'realm of external expectations'! This means your personality in a world not of your own choice. This is the world in which you are not the only major stakeholder! You cannot completely dictate the terms in this world no matter how powerful you are (this includes Dick Tater, but you get to tell him!)
One of these Points represents your Enneagram personality, the one that you 'wear' in response to the world of external expectations! This personality is the one that most people would actually use to describe you, no matter what your MBTI letters are!
If you do happen to know your MBTI type, there is a 15% chance that you will match the Enneagram Pair that I have associated with your Enneagram Point. But there is a much greater chance, about 65%, that you will find your Enneagram Point at the Wings, Heart, or Stress Point relative to your MBTI. In some instances, your Enneagram Point will lie at double Heart or Stress Points. This does not mean that you are moving to your Heart of Wing Point (relative to your MBTI) in the process of moving from 'At Home' to 'At Work'. Please remember that these relationships are defined relative to the Enneagram Point and not relative to the MBTI results. This latter relationship is simply something that I noticed as I reviewed the data collected in my study. This means that a relationship existed 80% of the time in my study. Now, I am a little concerned when the inventory results (MBTI and Enneagram) do not show some relationship. Footnotes/References1. This is an expanded version of the paper that Larry sent us in 1995, which was subsequently published in the Enneagram Educator in 1997. back to text
2. Myers, Isabel and Peter, Gifts Differing , Palo Alto, CA, Consulting Psychologists, Inc., 1980.
|