[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Bethy

I just took a few Enneagram tests online and I came out as Type One with a Two wing. I've read that it's most common for INFJs to be Type Fours, but that's definitely not me.

What I've actually seen in practice is that Type Fours more often end up feeling like INFPs, and INFJs (especially female INFJs) easily identify with 1w2. So you are not strange at all.

(Basically, it is the Ni idealistic nature -- the One -- with an Fe or Two-style secondary.)

When I read some Type One descriptions, I got that "someone's inside my head" feeling. I need to be good. I always need improvement. For me, there is no such thing as "good enough."

That trait seems common to Ni. (INFJs might focus more on the "personal" aspect of it, INTJs might focus a little more on the "competence" angle, but the One is a very harsh judge of self and then of others, although others don't see it as often -- because the Self receives the brunt of it.)

I'd like to find a good book on the Enneagram. I've often seen books by Helen Palmer, Riso and Hudson, and others in bookstores, but of course each will have its own slant, just like the Myers-Briggs books.

Riso and Hudson actually have done the most work in systemizing and "authenticating" the Enneagram. Most of the other people I've seen (like Palmer) seemed a little more based on folklore rather than systematic thinking. R&H also did a lot with the direction of (dis)integration, turning the Enneagram into a spiritual tool showing how each type would develop to reach its potential.

So I would definitely recommend any of their books.