How to Discover Your Type
The Enneagram System and its assessment is meant to be a self- and resource-guided, recognizing that you are the best judge of your personality type. But worry not, there are many resources available to aid in the process of self-determination. As mentioned under the "Intro to the Enneagram" tab, it's very common (and expected) to find a bit of ourselves in a number of the different types. However, with a little guidance, you should be able to identify a more central "core" type that illuminates some basic desires, motivations, and causes of stress and discomfort that drive your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Below you'll find information on how to discover your Enneagram types with links to an Enneagram test and additional type summaries that may be helpful in getting started. You'll also find information about the purpose of highlighting the different aspects of personality and what we can do with this information.
Assessment and Self-determination
In 1997, Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson, now prominent Enneagram researchers, created the Enneagram Institute with the intention to further research and develop the Enneagram (Enneagram Institute, 2021). The team also developed the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator, known as RHETI, which is a paid-for test sponsored by the Enneagram Institute. The institute's website also serves as a resource for understanding the basics of the Enneagram, different traits of each type, and the principles behind the framework.
There are plenty of useful free resources out there. Below, you will find a couple of links to aid you in your process of self-determination:
Enneagram Test: this is a link to a site with a useful free version of the Enneagram assessment. This site also has great extensive explanations for each type.
Type Summaries: this is a link with clear, succinct summaries of each of the nine Enneagram types and each wing. So, you will find summaries of each core type (e.g. type 1) as well as a summary of what it each type looks like with each of its wings (e.g. 1w9 and 1w2). This is particularly useful if you're unsure of your wing. In that case, say if you're a type 5, read both the summary for 5w6 and 5w7 and see which suits you best. This site also has a useful Enneagram test, but it's a shorter, less comprehensive assessment.
While online assessments can be useful, self-assessment and self-identification are understood to be the best way to determine one’s own type. There are three different modes of self-discovery and understanding one’s Enneagram type: self-guided discovery, which involves reflective inquiry/introspection by an individual; discovery with others, which may involve a collective inquiry with groups, coaching conversations, panel interviews, mirroring, and other conversational modalities (also known as the Enneagram in the narrative tradition); and finally, resource-guided discovery, which may involve the use of interactive questionnaires the enable individuals to partake in introspection mediated through the resource. Notably, these modes of discovery are not mutually exclusive. Many individuals find their Enneagram point of resonance and further their self-discovery process through a multimodal approach.
(Cloete & Greeff, 2013) (Daniels & Price, 2009)
Growth Points
So what do we do once we've uncovered our Enneagram typology? Well, the concept of growth may be the very backbone of the Enneagram framework. Identifying the different aspects of personality, both those that could be considered strengths as well as those that could be considered weaknesses, is a significant part of the process of self-discovery. However, it is crucial to the process that one recognizes these traits not as weaknesses but as "growth points", a key idea of Enneagram theory. In order to understand one's typology and to achieve self-awareness, growth points must be seen for what they are: common qualities that come with a given type, none of which are inherently good or bad. Rather than as weaknesses or shortcomings, these traits should be seen as areas that need some tending to, that need to be kept in check or in balance, and that should be accepted.