MBTI & Enneagram

Fi users and Fe users react differently when it comes to expressions in social settings, with Fi showing their emotions more outwardly (since they’re authentic) and Fe reacting in a way to accommodate the other person (social harmony >). does that apply for all Fi and Fe users or only the ones that prioritize those functions over thinking functions?

Fi almost never ‘shows’ their feelings – it’s all buried deep inside them. Fe users are far more comfortable sharing their feelings on a visual and verbal level.

is looking at things and thinking “i have this” “i have one that looks like this” “my mom has this” Si? or would Si be more “i *used* to have this”? and if the first isn’t Si, what function is it?

Well, do you in fact, have it? If so, that would be a general statement if you are talking about an actual physical possession, so it’s not indicative of type. If you’re speaking in a philosophical sense, like “Oh I have this function,” it’s self-identification. Si is impressionism based around the sentimental nature of an object, and how it relates to ME. (I smell pumpkin spice and it makes me carsick – like that time I barfed up a pumpkin spice latte; or I smell pumpkin spice and it reminds me of grandma and how much she loved me, and how her little house sat at the end of a dirt driveway and I loved it there.)

can you explain Ni in a more realistic way? cause i feel like all the descriptions i read either sound too vague, too unrealistic or like a star wars villain

I. THE MBTI-SORTED VIDEO CHALLENGE

What I need from you:

Record a 10-min. video; don’t worry if it’s not exact, but try to be within a minute or two. Answer as many or as few questions from the list below (Section B)  as you’d like, plus the three at the bottom (Section C).  Don’t over-edit the video!  I really want all your weird long pauses, and your rambling.  If you make a 20-min. video and need to cut out some questions to make it back to 10, that is acceptable.

Upload your video to a platform like YouTube, or Google Drive, and send me the direct link using this Google Form. Either a public or unlisted video is fine, whatever you’re comfortable with doing.  If you want to make it easier to find, you can tag your video under #get sorted.

Make sure you are well lit from the front, not the back so I can see your face.  Don’t sit too close to the screen, so more of your body language can be seen.

If you’d like, you can use an interviewer or camera operator, so you are interacting with another person. Make sure to face the camera wherever possible, though.  If they want to answer questions, too, they must submit their own video (this is an interview, not a conversation!).

You must be 18 years of age or older to participate.

Please submit your videos by February 28th, 2021. This is an experiment and I have no idea how many videos will be submitted, so I appreciate your patience!

What You Get: I will try and type you! I might not be able to, but I can probably narrow it down. 

II. Video Content

A. INTRODUCE YOURSELF: What is your (first/screen) name? MBTI results will be shared via a post on mbti_sorted, so please make sure you only share information that you are comfortable with being used publicly on Tumblr. You can also introduce your interviewer or camera person.

B. PICK SOME QUESTIONS TO ANSWER (for approx. 9-minutes 30 seconds):

Tell us about a teacher or a coach who left a big impression on you.

What was your favourite subject in school and did you pursue it as a career?

Do you have any athletic injuries and how did you get them?  

Do you believe in any supernatural phenomena?

Tell us about a recurring conflict with a family member.

What character do you identify with the most and why?

How many languages do you speak?  Is English your first language?  If it isn’t, answer a question in your native language (please summarize it after in English!).

What advice would you give to your younger self and what would they think of where you are now? Would you warn them about anything?

Do you people-gather?  (If you’re unsure, ask others in your group(s) if they’re there because of you.)  How many groups do you belong to, and what do you think of this?

Are you passionate about your career? Tell us about it.

Which holiday brings you the least joy?

Are you a heartbreaker or a heartbreak-ee?

What is your dream car?  Or if you aren’t into cars, what piece of technology do you dream of owning?

Would you rather make a lot of money at a job you hate or do a job you love that keeps you below the poverty line?

Do you collect anything?

Have you ever had any alternative career paths/life gameplans?  Do you wish you had taken another path in retrospect?

Do you have a good sense of direction?  How do you navigate (when you can’t rely on GPS)?  Do you navigate new places/buildings the same way you navigate your home town/familiar buildings?  Is your sense of time better or worse than your sense of direction?

Credit to Temple Grandin for this question: if I tell you to think of a church steeple, what’s happening inside your head?

Would you be unable or unwilling to answer any of these questions?  Which?

C. ANSWER THESE THREE QUESTIONS (30 seconds):

How much preparation did you do before making this video?  If you have an interviewer, did you pick the questions or did they?  Who decided to do it that way?

What type do you think you are?

These profiles have a more negative slant than a lot of Enneagram write-ups, for the reason of ‘shocking’ you into self-awareness of the destructive habits of each Enneagram type. It’s also useful to remember: the healthier you are as this type, the less you will identify with the more ‘extreme’ points of these personalities. A healthy 4 may identify with the sense of self-alienation and rejection from the outside world, but not the perpetual unhappiness. A 6 may identify with the extreme logic / caution but not the neurotic paranoia. An 8 may identify with the need to ‘be against’ but not the pathological aggression. Etc.

It’s about evaluating your deeper impulses, defense mechanisms, and the lies you tell yourself and not focusing primarily on behaviors.

Enneagram 1: Anger and Perfectionism

Enneagram 2: Pride and the Histrionic Personality

Enneagram 3: Vanity, In-Authenticity and the Marketing Orientation

Enneagram 4: Envy and the Depressive Masochistic Character

Enneagram 5: Avarice and Pathological Detachment

Enneagram 6: Cowardice, Paranoid Character & Accusation

Enneagram 7: Gluttony, Fraudulence, and Narcissistic Personality

Enneagram 8: Sadistic Character & Lust

Enneagram 9: Psycho Spiritual Inertia and the Over-Adjusted Disposition

The path to spiritual awareness and healing comes from learning to recognize these tendencies in yourself with enough awareness to notice each time your lies and defense mechanisms kick into place. This kind of self-observation allows you to grow into total awareness of yourself at all times, and recognize the CHOICE you face in giving in to your instinct (your number) or whether you will choose to do the opposite, in an effort of self-transformation. (The 5 allowing self to engage, rather than distance itself; the 2 asking for what they need, rather than only giving all the time; the 9 saying “no” when it doesn’t want to do that.)

Enneagram teachers disagree on how to grow yourself, but all agree that self-awareness and total honesty as regards your true motives is crucial. Many suggest a period of self-observation and journaling in retrospect, looking at various situations in which you can provide exact examples of when the outside world ‘threatened’ you into using your coping mechanisms (of your core and wing). This retrospective self-evaluation will enable you to see how your number’s methods have worked in the past, to further bring you into present self-awareness. The path forward from that is up to you – some choose building from the inside out through internal change (reflection, meditation, self-questioning), others alter their behavior first (eg: doing the opposite of what their first inclination is, to break the cycle).

The inferior function is the hardest to understand and describe. It embodies the part of us that we are least accepting of. Although we are often unaware of its activities, it would be inaccurate to describe the inferior function as “weak” because all of our core functions are powerful in their own way. The power and force of the inferior function actually comes from the mistaken assumption that it has no power. We underestimate the inferior function at our own peril.

(If you are self-typed correctly, you should be able to come up with several specific examples from your own life of using the psychological defense mechanisms of your core type. Since your secondary type is also quite strong, you may also have examples to go with your higher / lower fix.)

Sourced here.

ESFJs are attractive to others because of their devotion to their loved ones, their sense of responsibility to serving others, their upbeat optimism in the face of adversity, their unquestioning loyalty and support for their loved ones, their attentiveness to the practical details that keep the machine running smoothly, and  their ability to see the good in everybody (and the silver lining in every situation).

ISFJs are attractive to others because of their attentiveness to the needs of others, their dedication to serving their community without the expectation of recognition for their contributions, their calm and level-headed reassurance that everything will be okay, the reliability with which they support others and make sure they practical needs are taken care of, their hard-working nature, their tender sentimentality, the Universal Parent™ archetype of their personality, their lack of pretentiousness and social posturing, and their selfless and altruistic nature.

ESTJs are attractive to others because of their reliability, their sense of responsibility when it comes to their family and friends, their strong sense of honesty, integrity, and hard work, their unwavering belief in the ability of themselves and others to achieve anything they want as long as they put enough hard and honest work in it, their “tell it like it is” attitude, and their dedication to lending their loved ones a helping hand in practical ways at all costs, even to their own detriment.

ISTJs are attractive to others because of their strong sense of duty, their dedication to hard work and getting it done even when they don’t want to, their dependability, their strong sense of moral righteousness, the vividness of their sensory recall, how interesting and detailed their memories are (if you can get them talking about it), the thoroughness of their explanations, the sheer volume of knowledge they’ve accrued about the subjects they find interesting, and the secret soft side that they only reveal to people they care about.

ESTPs are attractive to others because of their unwavering self-confidence, their ability to get people moving, the energy they suffuse into the vibe of a room, the way they can make even the riskiest and most dangerous of plans sound like just another fun adventure that’s Totally Going To Work Out, I Promise™, the chameleon-like quality of their personality, how quickly they’ll jump in to protect the people they care about, how rapidly they pick up new information, how creative they can be in thinking of a work-around for a problem, how you never really know what’s going to happen next when you’re with them, and how intensely physically affectionate and demonstrative they are.

ISTPs are attractive to others because of their innate coolness, their wickedly acerbic sense of humor, their clever banter, their laid back vibe, their observant and perceptive nature, their mysteriously aloof demeanor that you want to solve like a puzzle, their unpretentious personality, their ability to think on their feet, their willingness to express their own opinions (even if they’re unpopular), their inexplicable ability to be both untouchably aloof yet intensely present at the same time, their impeccable sense of style, their physical grace, how it seems like not a single movement is wasted, the intensity of their focus, their creativity, their drive for self-perfection, and their “I don’t give a fuck” demeanor coupled with the small ways in which they display affection for those they love.

ESFPs are attractive to others because of their natural ability to be entertaining, their impressive skill for being in touch with their body and how it moves through space, the ability to think on their feet, their empathetic and understanding nature, their dedication to being unabashedly themselves (and encouraging others to do the same), their talent for making friends quickly wherever they go, their impressive knack for identifying creative solutions for solving problems very quickly, their unashamed bent for expressing exactly what they’re thinking and how they’re feeling, their surprisingly perceptive and observant nature, their honesty and straightforwardness, and their admirable desire to find mutually beneficial solutions that work out for everybody.

Social skills for INTP/Enneagram 5/reserved introverts

As an INTP 5 sp/sx, you’d likely fit most descriptions of INTPs or enneagram 5—very reserved, independent and want to be left alone except when talking about specific interests with few special people, disliking most people and social norms. We don’t come equipped with social skills but trust me, it’s a skill that we can master.

Become self-aware of how you appear to other people

The way you see yourself in your head v.s. the way people see you are likely very different, and usually not in a good way. Unless you truly observe yourself and understand how you appear to others, you may come off as either boring, creepy, or unfriendly.

Boring because you literally say nothing (and people would assume you have nothing to say) except an occasional long, dry rant about some obscure facts no one else cares about.

Creepy because you prefer to lurk at the edge of a group or a corner of a room, likely with closed body language while staring at people (to observe/study them or trying to listen in but feeling too awkward to really get involved or whatnot).

Unfriendly because you’d answer questions with very short phrases, don’t reciprocate friendly chitchat, don’t show any enthusiasm or interest, and repeatedly refuse invitations to hang out. Feelers probably think you downright hate them, even if you don’t.

Even as a so/sx, I’ve also been there my friend. Here’s a how to fix it:

Mastering social skills require a little image-management. Does that mean you have to fake it? No. It means you have to consciously choose to present the part of you that others also find interesting.

As an INTP 5, you may be reserved, but you’re also naturally very curious. Why not show your curiosity instead of saying nothing. Get curious and ask people why they chose to study what they did, their favorite place to travel, their thoughts on meme culture, or recommend a good book.

Look within yourself and observes other qualities you like about yourself. Make a decision to show them to the world instead of looking like you have no personality.

Small talk is the necessary evil, so learn how to make it interesting

I know we really hate small talk. We just want to have deep, interesting conversations all the time. But imagine this: a complete stranger walks up to you, opens his mouth, and the first thing he says is “what’s your reason to live?” You’d probably go: uh…what the fuck?

Small talk is the gateway to interesting conversations. You only need 2-5 small talk questions to find a few facts about them before getting to the interesting stuff like opinions, motivations, and values.

Ask a few what, when, where, how to find out their names, what they do, things they like, etc.

Then ask the why—based on facts you got from the small talk: Why did you become a teacher? Why is that you favorite book? You mentioned you did an exchange program in Japan, what do you think about their culture? What was the most surprising thing you learned there?

When you get to the why, you’ll likely learn a lot of interesting things you never knew before.

The easiest way to make new friends is through interest groups

I totally don’t get people’s preconception that they have to go to a party or a bar to meet new friends. If you like parties and bars, then sure. But if not, then why are you going to places you hate to meet people who like the things you hate?

If you like MBTI/enneagram, find an MBTI meetup near you or join an MBTI class. Or if you like drawing, go to a life drawing session, etc. You’ll find plenty of people with a guaranteed common interest you can have interesting discussions with.

More:

Other social skills advice I’ve written

Charisma on Command (youtube): Practical advice & logical breakdowns of what makes different famous people charismatic in their own personal styles

Life Advice playlist by Matthew Hussey. A lot of advice I gave on this blog, I learned from him.

-eilamona

SUBMITTED by Steve

Introverted Sensing

What it’s not: Memory, traditions, conservatism, obsession over details

What it is: Subjective impressions of sensory data and experiences, archived away so it can be used for future references

Extroverted Sensing

What it’s not: Athleticism, pleasure/thrill-seeking, disregard for consequences

What it is: Seeing things as they are first hand and reacting to them accordingly in the moment

Introverted Intuition

What it’s not: 6th sense, esoteric powers and obsession over personal goals

What it is: searching for the implication of things, getting to the bottom line and synthesizing an idea that hasn’t been concretely proven yet, whether it is right or wrong. 

Extroverted Intuition

What it’s not: Mental hyperactivity, flight of ideas and flakiness. Arguing different points of view just to be rattle people or being unique. 

What it is: Exploring the different facets of reality, wanting to find different ways of interpreting data.

Introverted Feeling

What it’s not: Repressing emotions so that no one can see them. Being deep and mysterious for the sake of being deep and mysterious.

What it is: Analyzing and acting on data according to one’s own personal feeling tone to it. Making personal sense of everything.

Extroverted Feeling

What it’s not: Having emotions worn on their sleeves, abiding by social protocol even if it doesn’t want to

What it is: Tapping into and adapting to the emotional atmosphere, considering the impact of one’s actions on others

Introverted Thinking

What it’s not: Analyzing everything, being ruthlessly honest about one’s opinions because people’s emotions don’t matter

What it is: Analyzing and acting on data according to one’s own personal logical tone to it. Mentally taking apart things to make impersonal sense of it.

Extroverted Thinking

What it’s not: Being a leader, wanting to control and getting things done at the expense of one and other’s feelings

Pulled off PersonalityCafe. Saw no cited source. (Know it? Tell me.)

Enneagram 2

At their best: radiant altruism, selfless empathy, appreciative nurturing.

Mid-levels: sentiment, intrusive intimacy, sanctimonious vainglory.

At their worst: manipulative blame, coercive hysteria, parasitic victimization.

Healthy 2w1: find their true calling involves helping others grow, often children. They become able to help themselves as wisely and lovingly as they help others. They enjoy watching people find their calling, accepting the delightful differences among us. Sevenish joy from one’s integration combines with fourish depth and empathy from the integration of two. The result is tolerant, patient celebration of growth and diversity. Advanced 2w1s have deep love and inspired wisdom. They are especially good at helping those who in the most desperate situations. They plunge boldly into terrifying scenes to bring forth glorious hope, love, and healing. Usually it is the least self-sufficient who benefit the most from their endless charity.

Unhealthy 2w1: lose the ability to sense their own needs, and become more likely to speak their negative judgments of others. Their increasing self-criticism usually gets repressed, because the vainglory of the two is more powerful than the one’s guilt. Their inner conflict is as dangerous and powerful as the 1w2, but less visible because it is heavily repressed by self-deception. When two goes to eight, violence erupts. In the name of love, manipulation turns into physical coercion. Self-deception reaches amazing levels as destructive acts are rationalized into hard love. Fourish guilt is submerged and converted into further denial. I am doing this for your own good, and it hurts me more than it hurts you. In the end, “loving confrontations” may generate such hatred and fear in others that they may become the target of violence, as well as the origin.

Healthy 2w3: get beyond the immediate desire to please. Pride and image-consciousness drop away and they experience real, heartfelt love. They no longer need the constant reassurance of someone else’s admiring gratitude. Two integrates to four, opening up new realms of creative expression, while three goes to six, bringing in a deeper appreciation of the value of belonging to a real community of friends. They become genuine, loving companions. Someone whose generosity is so continuous and so genuine it seems an inseparable part of the personality. Never is there the tiniest hint anything is expected in return – advanced 2w3’s become so good at giving, the recipient never finds out where the help came from (or even that it has happened). Generosity comes through them, not from them.

Unhealthy 2w3: less able to restrain repressed desires. In a misguided attempt to get others to meet their (unspoken) needs, they manufacture more and more imaginary needs to fill for others. Their intrusive, self-satisfied help causes others to move away. 2w3 may hide the resulting loneliness and anger behind an outwardly carefree appearance, but others can see the hypocrisy involved. They may break down under the stress. Suddenly the truth pops out from under the increasingly strained wrappings of self-delusion, and in a desperate effort to paste over the uncomfortable vision, they may fly into an eightish homicidal hysteria or sink into nineish psychotic withdrawal. The repressed feelings of a lifetime might spew out in days or weeks. Relationships that have lasted for years might be discarded like used tissue.

Enneagram 3

At their best: genuine acceptance, poised assurance, motivated confidence.

Mid-levels: competitive diplomacy, efficient expedience, self-promoting narcissism.

At their worst: opportunistic scheming, deceptive sabotage, relentless monomania.

Healthy 3w2: loses the false polish and becomes more real. The vanity of three turns into genuine self-observation, and the seductive pride of two turns into humility. Friendly and personable people whose natural social skills help others feel comfortable. They find a new kind of pleasure at playing without always having to win, although they still choose to be competitive when it’s appropriate. Genuine feelings emerge and are given expression as two integrates to four, while three going to six provides a sense of belonging that builds powerful bonds of friendship. Further 3w2 integration leads to an astonishing ability to generate enthusiastic optimism and self-confidence in others. Usually an expert motivational speaker, often taking advantage of that skill. The uplifting message is delivered with style and power, zooming to the heart of the listener, where the magic of positive thinking can begin. Unhealthy 3w2: become trapped by the vain desire to be admired and attractive. They hide behind their false emotional facade. Trying ever harder to show the emotional states they think others think they should show, they get further out of touch with whatever real emotions they are ignoring. The anger and pushiness from the two-wing’s disintegration to eight combine with the three’s nineish emotional deadening, for an annoying hostile self-promotion. Eightish anger at the world is the only emotion strong enough to penetrate the cotton wall of nineish deadness. They might commit horrible atrocities in a peculiar, zombielike state. A façade of niceness that covers a veneer of cruelty. See who brought you to ruin! I am the one.

Healthy 3w4: gentle, compassionate, and effective. When three integrates to six and four integrates to one, a new sense of social responsibility combines with the wisdom of emotional equanimity. Effective at accomplishing real-world goals and intuitive good advisers. Quiet self-assurance with deep emotional insight into other people’s experiences. Good at spreading confidence and optimism among team members. Wherever they go they leave behind a feeling of deep connection and belonging.

Unhealthy 3w4: hides loss of self-worth behind a veneer of artificial coolness. If the success-orientation of the three becomes too compulsive, and the fourish introspection gets out of hand, 3w4s lose their genuineness. They become less socially adept, and manipulative, as their fourish self-dislike leads to a twoish desire to reinforce self-image by “helping” others. The resulting self-deceptive pride is hidden behind emotional deadening as three pulls in the worst of nine. Such people can be difficult to like, because of the way they constantly remind themselves and others of their accomplishments. Capable of great atrocities just like 3w2, except that due to the greater self-examination of the four-wing, such crimes are more likely isolated cases. Can be self-destructive as all the normal rules of social conduct are abandoned in an attempt to generate attention of any kind from others.

Enneagram 4

At their best: inspired originality, self-aware intuition, subtle humanity

Mid-levels: symbolic drama, withdrawn melancholy, self-indulgent disdain.

At their worst: desolate confusion, guilt-ridden torment, suicidal despair.

Healthy 4w3: finds the peace of equanimity. When four integrates to one and three integrates to six, deep compassionate wisdom is augmented by a feeling of brotherhood and belonging. Reaches a point where comfort is possible without being tormented by a desire others recognize their special uniqueness. Gives sensitive, unselfish understanding to others who are feeling emotional difficulty. Tremendous emotional integrity. Others feel they are being heard, but not judged. An equal and a teacher, a sympathetic listener and a disciplined advisor. Real transformations happen in the lives of those who tell their stories to them. People become powerfully motivated to find real meaning in their lives.

Unhealthy 4w3: swings through wild emotional cycles. As fourish emotionality gets more out of control, bringing in the selfish expectations of special treatment of the unhealthy two, the three-wing’s nineish tendencies cause a split within the psyche. The more intensely the dramatized pseudo-emotions are felt, the less in touch the 4w3 becomes with the real, honest feelings underneath. The dramatic emotions become more and more staged and false. In the unhealthy extreme, there is little actual contact with real feelings, despite the possibly awe-inspiring intensity of outward expression. All the theatrical emotionality is a fearful cover for an inner emptiness that will not go away. Extremely unHealthy 4w3 has become so attached to the outward expression of the false emotions that the real feelings are overwhelmed and drowned out. The conviction of being hopelessly flawed may lead to desperate attempts to end it all in some dramatic, attention-grabbing way.

Healthy 4w5: lightens up. The five-wing’s integration to eight adds solidity and strength, while the integration of four to one provides clear judgment and rationality. Begin to escape from the obsessive, dark, inner view, looking more outward into the world. There they find new connections with others, to their surprise. They discover they have been loving people all along, although they may not have known it. The realization love has been present all along strengthens into an unquenchable thirst for deeper inner connections with an inner source of meaning. These connections are strengthened by loving compassion for other humans. A gentle, strong, deeply passionate teacher. Keen observations of the subtle states of others provide a miraculous ability to elicit powerful, transforming feelings.

Pulled off PersonalityCafe. Saw no cited source. (Know it? Tell me.)

Enneagram 8

At their best: heroic mercy, resourceful action, decisive honor.

Mid-levels: rugged pragmatism, expansive domination, belligerent aggression.

At their worst: ruthless brutality, megalomaniacal rage, murderous cruelty.

Healthy 8w7: softens up, gains charm and tact. Loses some of the compulsive combativeness and moderates the tendency to go to extremes. Real personal power, from essence, becomes more available in place of artificial bravado. Realizes sometimes the most powerful thing to do is to wait, rather than charging in blindly. Finds that when dominance is a choice (and eight integrates to two), one can choose to be kind and gentle, using power constructively instead of combatively. Seven integrates to five, and impulsive action is replaced by considered, perceptive understanding, making rash actions unnecessary. A person who may have been unpolished, rude, and rough becomes a sophisticated judge of situations, intuitively in touch with the flow of human interaction.

Unhealthy 8w7: can become physically dangerous. With little or no concern for the rules, almost no emotional sensitivity, and an unsociable, highly belligerent nature, this person can become a rough character. Here is the schoolyard bully, the street thug, and the uncultured slob. If you don’t like it, tough. Why bother to be careful when I can get what I want through brute force? Becomes violent, rude, and deadly, lashing out at whatever gets in the way. As the violence increases, so does the need to defend against counter-attacks. Eight pulls in the worst of five, creating the need for walls and protection, while seven’s stress to one brings increasingly intolerant, judgmental thoughts. The world becomes a crazy battlefield, where one must kill or be killed, and every moment requires constant defensive and offensive maneuvering.

Healthy 8w9: uses gentle strength with kindness. Becomes more in touch with the inner self, the drive to dominate becomes less compulsive, and the contradictory desire to withdraw and be settled is less overwhelming. This frees the will, allowing them to see the value of choosing carefully when to be powerful and when to pull back, rather than being enslaved by alternating sleepiness and angry outbursts. Others benefit from the well-timed use of personal power. Someone whose healthy, unselfconscious threeish ambition (from integrated nine) is augmented by a twoish benevolence (from integrated eight). Abe able to be tough when toughness is needed, and gentle and loving at other times.

Unhealthy 8w9: carries within a deep conflict between self-forgetting and combativeness. As these contradictory urges intensify, becomes less predictable and more dangerous. Times of quiet are deceptive, because anger simmers under the surface. Sudden explosions of rage become more intense and frequent. In extreme imbalance the influences of nine stressing to six and eight stressing to five add two different flavors of paranoid anxiety, which combines with the withdrawal of the nine to bring 8w9 into a state of self-protective isolation.

Enneagram 9

At their best: serene exuberance, receptive sensuality, imaginative synthesis.

Mid-levels: conventional compliance, habitual complacence, indolent resignation.

At their worst: obstinate neglect, helpless amnesia, catatonic vacancy.

Healthy 9w8: use their lusty eight-wing to pull themselves out of the dream. For them, the expansiveness and energy of eight is a direct antidote to nineish apathy and resignation. When eight begins to pull in the benevolence of two and nine finds the ambition of three, there is no stopping these powerful, generous people. Carries the goodness and generosity of two and the deep self-actualization of three, without any trace of pride or vanity. People feel uplifted in the presence of such completely humble, giving, magnificent, fully self-created beings. It is not what they do, it’s how they are. They simply are without trying to be anything in particular.

Unhealthy 9w8: tends to fall into a dream state. If the dream deepens, apathy leads to sixish suspicion, while eightish defensiveness leads to fiveish paranoia. Nine’s primary defense of withdrawal is enhanced by both tendencies, and they become a reclusive, lazy, mistrustful, hermit. In the worst cases, the tendency to escape by going to sleep leads to total avoidance of any kind of real interaction. Bills go unpaid, the phone rings without being answered, and the lawn goes unmowed. Somnolence leads them deeper and deeper into self-negation, resulting in a paranoid sort of comatose sloth. No one is home in the body, and the body is powered down.

Healthy 9w1: becomes more present. Now there is really somebody home, a genuine being with actual goals and self-interest who happily starts creating results in the world. Nine begins to show some threeish ambition and the one-wing begins to loosen up its perfectionism. While such a person is still involved in activities that are non-threatening and not particularly visible in the world at large, the results often affect others in useful and subtle ways. Finds deep sevenish joy in the accomplishment of personal goals. Usually the goals involve teaching or empowering others. Oneish intellectual rigor assumes real importance when the desire for withdrawal diminishes, allowing them to risk genuine involvement. Thoughts and internal images finally correspond to actual reality. They are able to transmit to others a special and powerful kind of integrated self-actualization.

Unhealthy 9w1: nineish withdrawal increases, accompanied by oneish judgment of self and others. Retreats into a fantasy world inhabited by comfortably fuzzy generalities and stereotyped images of other people. These are the people 9w1 wishes could inhabit the real world – wishful, perfect images of real people. Unfortunately, because 9w1 is convinced of the reality of these internally generated images, real-life interactions suffer when people do not live up to their idealized images. But the 9w1 tries very hard not to notice. It becomes nearly impossible not to see the discrepancies between the perfect inner images and the outward reality. Total isolation becomes the only way to avoid seeing the world is populated by disturbingly imperfect, unpredictable, demanding, untrustworthy beings. Life falls apart at the seams and psychotic 9w1 may reach a state of catatonic pseudo-coma. Even eating and drinking can become too much work. No one is home in the body, and the body itself is allowed to fall into ruins.

Enneagram 1:

At their best: wise acceptance, discerning rationality, self-disciplined ethics.

Mid-levels: preachy idealism, rigid logic, perfectionistic judgment.

At their worst: vitriolic self-righteousness, hypocritical obsession, sadistic condemnation.

Healthy 1w9: overcomes emotional repression, discovering an inner warmth. Although they still have a tendency to judge, they do not take their judgments as seriously, admitting they may be wrong. They consciously control their nineish tendency to withdraw from stress, allowing them to take a more active role in life, although there’s still a gentle, quiet feeling. The compulsive workaholic turns into a responsible but fun-loving person who allows time for letting go and relaxing. Has a 7ish joy for life and 3ish charisma and accomplishment.

Unhealthy 1w9: over-controls their emotions, resulting in physical rigidity and an undercurrent of explosive energy. The repressed emotions, particularly anger, build up unnoticed and leak out. One disintegrates to four, resulting in hostility, introspective withdrawal, and deep self-hatred, while nine disintegrates to six, bringing in suspicion, blaming, and passive-aggressive behavior. Keeps the fearful blaming and suspicion inside, where they bottle up more tightly. All of life becomes a lockstep repetition of stylized routines. Extremely anxious about getting everything right. Every tiny move is subject to intense, painful scrutiny, and past behaviors are examined in agonizing detail. (Did I leave the oven on? Did I lock the door? Did I run over somebody on the way to work?) Psychotic 1/9 might become completely paralyzed into inaction, stabbed through the heart by the endless need to repeat behaviors until they feel precisely correct.

Healthy 1w2: loosens up, becoming able to let go of righteous judgments. They allow for the possibility their views might not be accurate. Their other-directed corrections soften and become helpful rather than intrusive. They are able to see the difference between proud perfectionism and healthy tolerance of differences. One integrates to seven, bringing in joy and enthusiasm, while two integrates to four, replacing selfish manipulation with genuine compassionate concern for others. Deep oneish wisdom combines with twoish loving generosity for an intensely personal kind of guidance, even when addressing large groups. Healthy 1w2s seem to know exactly what is needed for maximum teaching value in any situation. They teach by asking the right questions, gently guiding the student to deeper insights.

Pulled off PersonalityCafe. Saw no cited source. (Know it? Tell me.)

Enneagram 5

At their best: profound vision, objective insight, innovative exploration.

Mid-levels: comprehensive knowledge, intense preoccupation, cynical argumentation.

At their worst: eccentric nihilism, phobic delirium, psychotic paralysis.

Healthy 5w4: more able to participate in life. When the fiveish desire to withdraw and sort things out is no longer compulsive, the consciously chosen time alone becomes a tool for understanding the world, rather than an entrapping habit. The fourish passion for beauty emerges as the conscious result of harnessing the emotions rather than being their slave. Begin to deeply understand the simple, elegant way the awesome complexity of the world emerges from fundamental principles. They find great joy in watching and learning. When the perception of five and the passion of four are augmented by eight’s power and leadership, plus one’s intuitive wisdom, clear comprehensions can be transmitted to others.

Unhealthy 5w4: gets lost in the details. The compulsive analysis of five can lead to elaborate pseudo-logical constructions designed to explain everything. The four-wing’s emotionality adds a flavor of dramatic hopelessness. Others Simply Do Not Understand. No one could understand. Retreats to a place of safety, hoping to escape from view, continuing to uncover the truth. There is little to no social involvement. The panic and scattered mania of seven combine with twoish self-congratulatory hysteria. Can come back into the world, awkward and excitable, ready to bolt but ready to passionately defend a bizarre, baroque fantasy world. As inner tension builds, schizoid withdrawal becomes more and more likely. The end result is a kind of terrified fugue, completely cut off from reality. The only escape from constant overwhelming chaos is inward.

Healthy 5w6: gains social ease. Deep perception and serene faith combine for a kind of knowing that focuses on the truth of human interactions. Overcomes the fear of intimacy and finds satisfaction in genuine relationships. Strikes a balance between the urge to withdraw to sort things out and the desire to feel safe among trusted friends. The need diminishes to protect against deceit by constantly analyzing people, leading to greater comfort and depth in friendship. Brings together the powerful insight of five, the stamina and leadership of eight, the deep faith and genuineness of six, and the inner peace of nine.

Unhealthy 5w6: becomes afraid of people. Mistrust interacts with reductionist analysis, and the world begins to seem more threatening. Threeish competitive urges might emerge, combining with sevenish mania to create a kind of intense, argumentative combativeness to hide a deep sense of inadequacy. This turns people away, leading to a greater sense of isolation. Tends to rationalize that most people are not honest anyway, and since other people fail to recognize the value of their brilliant ideas, they are not worth knowing at all. Paranoia and anxiety lead 5w6 into a terrifying spiral in which increasingly bizarre fabrications may be used to explain meaning into even the most mundane events.

Enneagram 6

At their best: self-affirming courage, faithful affection, responsible discipline.

Mid-levels: dutiful loyalty, anxious ambivalence, belligerent scapegoating.

At their worst: needy conformism, paranoid obsession, self-destructive panic.

Healthy 6w5: becomes free of anxiety and reductionist analysis, allowing their endearing gentility and good humor to emerge. Laughs easily, with a sense of relief. Can it really be so simple to live and enjoy life? There is a feeling of relaxed good nature and certainty. This is a person you can trust, someone to rely on for true friendship. Turns into a warm and deeply loving person, someone in touch with a real universal authority, internally and externally available. Acts with quiet confidence, coming from a place of peaceful faith. Essential sixness brings deep interpersonal bonding, essential fiveness builds penetrating perception, and nineish tranquility combines with eightish personal power.

Unhealthy 6w5: begins to feel anxious and wants to run away to a protected place. Unable to trust inner or outer authority, they search for an explanation for the constant tension. Others are easy to blame, and by projecting the causes of anxiety outward, 6w5 can find a temporary release. With increased stress, 6w5 loses faith in the blaming. No explanation for the anxiety satisfies, and the world begins to seem like a horrible, frightening game. Paranoia escalates. Bounces rapidly from fearful withdrawal to tense, overconfident pretense. Everyone is out to get me, and there is no place to run. I’m frightened out of my wits, and I know I am headed for a complete breakdown, but maybe if I can get myself into enough trouble someone will come and rescue me.

Healthy 6w7: has a feeling of firm steadiness, sure-footed and quiet. Sevenish impulsivity and sixish anxiety diminish, replaced by a calm deliberateness. Although fun and companionship are still highly valued, the desperate longing for security converts into inner strength. Finds a deep sense of belonging to the universe, and to mankind. Nineish calm and sixish faith combine with sevenish joy and fiveish perception. Shares with others a sense of eternal companionship and security.

Unhealthy 6w7: visibly desperate. Anxiety and insecurity become powerful controlling influences. Jumping from one colorful emotional state to another, trying to find any way to quell the increasing sense of uncertainty and vulnerability. They looks for someone out there who will help, but finds no one to trust. Will try anything to escape from the increasingly intolerable situations that arise. Physical illness, car troubles, boyfriends, girlfriends, landlords, all become scapegoats for the real problem of inner helpless dependence. You are either all-good or all-bad, and whether I like you or not can change from moment to moment. My very identity splits into fragments as I desperately cut myself into pieces to escape the horrible sense of impending catastrophe.

Enneagram 7

At their best: ecstatic gratitude, spontaneous enthusiasm, passionate accomplishment.

Mid-levels: active materialism, restless superficiality, addictive excess.

At their worst: irresponsible debauchery, manic hysteria, burnt-out debilitation.

Healthy 7w6: finds a new kind of centered calmness, as impulsivity and the desire to entertain fall away. Instead of shifting to another mood, they wait and see where this one leads. The slippery, happy-go-lucky quality is replaced by a smooth feeling of attentive watchfulness. A kind of directed, joyful intelligence like a sure presence, with an unlimited attention span. Becomes the master of many talents because of fiveish perceptivity, combined with deep fulfillment and pleasure from the experience of being fully present. Profoundly grateful for the continuing opportunity to take part in the unfolding drama of life. What a gorgeous, unpredictably fantastic world! What incredible beauty there is in even the smallest details of this universe! How excitingly alive I feel, and how at-one with the world! Let’s celebrate together the deep abundance of life and love.

Unhealthy 7w6: the search for ever-increasing levels of excitement and stimulation seems like a way out of the apparent trap of boredom and unease, but it brings only temporary relief. Maybe another kind of fun will help me avoid this increasing sense of hopeless ambivalence. Maybe I should start a new company, or have a great big party! Tries to find the answer in increasingly grand plans for great, exciting events. As the ever-growing fear and boredom keep coming back, excessive stimulation approaches dangerous levels. Without increasing awareness, this course of exciting overload leads to extreme exhaustion, and an incapacitating despairing depression. At the bottom of the scale of health, 7w6 becomes a worn-out husk, utterly debilitated by drugs, sexual excess, and general over-stimulation, and totally incapable of self-care. At every opportunity, every means available is used to provide some escape.

Healthy 7w8: settles down. Become aware of the compulsive nature of the desire for excess and learn how to moderate the constant power-trip. Finds other people are easier to get along with when they are not being pushed or receiving a hard-sell on some wild idea. Love and appreciation for subtlety become important aspects of a life that includes increasing amounts of silent, peaceful contemplation. Discovers by letting the mind’s chatter come to an end, a new level of perception emerges, with a greater understanding of how the world fits together. Instead of exploding outward into impulsive activity, 7w8 harnesses enthusiasm for practical uses. Life becomes a joyful, loving celebration. Look how much we have been given! Jump into the universe with both feet! Find your power and become what you were meant to be!

SUBMITTED by Steve

I’ve always been more interested in how middle functions work together as opposed to Dominant/Inferior functions which are really black and white. What I’ve seen is…

EPs and IJs have their feeling and thinking functions stacked in the middle. What does that mean? It means they are usually more secure about who they are and how they relate to others. They can be heavily judgmental, of course, because that’s just human nature, but IJ and EP types can usually judge others harshly just as harshly as they judge themselves. They have this innate understanding of what people are made of and also what skills they can bring to the table. As of such, they have no problem poking fun at themselves as much as they do with others. No human behavior is taken too seriously for them unless it’s totally out of line. They usually have great understanding into the human psyche and how we are all strong and weak at the same time. 

On the flip side however, their perception of things usually meets two ultimate ends of the spectrum. IJs are terribly afraid of chaos. They feel this inner need to control how their lives will work out at every turn and absolutely despise surprise twists that come out of nowhere. EPs on the other hand, actively shun control. They don’t want to be locked up and asked to do the same thing over and over again. Therefore, they have a tendency to flee responsibilities or anything that makes life mundane and stale. They see no virtue in sitting down and focusing on one particular thing. 

EJs and IPs have their sensory and intuitive functions in the middle, which means they have a broader, more realistic view of what’s happening and what’s to come. They welcome the unknown with open arms, knowing they can tackle what is coming their way. They can make quick work of analyzing data as it presents itself and then adjusting accordingly. The immediate and speculatory realm for them meshes in together to provide some sort of safety heading into the unknown. They know how to balance that carefree life and responsible life together as one entity. They are sharp observers who can tell you both what is and what could be. 

Most Common: 5w6, 5w4, 6w5

Less Common: 1w9, 3w4, 8w7

Type 1: The core desire of this type is perfection. The core fear is corruption. There is a fixation with right action and ethics, the nature of which varies with the wing.

1w2 individuals focus on making morally correct decisions. 1w9 individuals focus on making logically correct decisions. Both view themselves as operating in the realm of right and wrong, the difference is that the 1w9 orients himself through reason, rather than static principles that go unquestioned.

As a result, 1w9 individuals have the potential to be reformers. If we examine Martin Luther (INTJ) he existed during a time of religious corruption in which the Church handed out unethical decrees at a frequent rate. This generally went unquestioned until Luther became active. He waged war on the Church (so to speak,) overthrew their values, and spearheaded what would later become known as the Protestant Reformation.

To be perfect is to live in line with one’s ethics, to be corrupt is stray or be forced to stray. The 1w9 is especially concerned with the outer world, and as a result, will strive to manifest their ideals and actively fight whatever contradicts their ideals.

1w9 - The Idealist

(Martin Luther - Theologian, Friar, Professor)

INTJs of this type will emphasize their Fi more than usual. They direct their values outward and into rational form through Te, thereby seeming as rational as the INTJs of other enneagrams. They also tend to strictly control their emotions, forbidding outbursts and irrationality of any kind. They are very likely to mistype as 5w6 or 5w4 because they embody the typical characteristics and behaviors that you’d expect of an INTJ.

1w9s however, are far more fixated on issues of ethics and rightness, and are attuned to how they manifest in the outer world. Reformist streaks are likely to arise should they cross something that reeks of corruption or moral deficiency, and curiously, this reformist activity will be primarily Te in nature. 

Competency is intensely valued. If they accept what is requested or required of them they will perform outstandingly and consistently, hardly ever making a mistake. They tend to be more “by the book” than INTJs of other enneagrams, take fewer risks, are profoundly disciplined, and I would say more ethical than the others (especially 3 and 8 INTJs, that tend to embody a “by any means” attitude.)

Excerpted from The Dynamic Enneagram by Tom Condon Copyright 2009, 2013 by Thomas Condon Enneatype One

Enneatype Two

Enjoy!