...or not. Enneagram Type 1s seem to have a bit of a problem forming any significant solidarity, with themselves or others around here.
It seems to me that type 1 must be among the rarest types on this forum (in terms of how people identify themselves, anyhow). Certainly the 3 is rarer, but I think 1 may be in second place, perhaps only 2 or 6 compete for that spot, but I'm pretty sure they're more common.
On a separate forum, I found a poll asking people which enneagram type they found the hardest identify with or relate to. The type 1 lead the poll.
So, it sounds like there's a bit of an image and influence problem here. Obscure and misunderstood. I'm a 1 myself (of this I'm confident to the point of thinking I got lucky) so naturally this trend catches my eye. It makes me reflect a lot.
So here are two things this thread might do if anyone bothers to post:
1) Gather together the other type 1s on this form to get an idea of who all we are, and hear their opinion on this matter and explain whether or not they feel like this is true.
2) Hear what other types have to say. What do you think of 1s? Is it true on this forum as on the other that there's a common problem with understanding 1s? Why or why not?
Some specific questions for other types might be:
What psychological trait is most admirable, and what trait is most deplorable, in 1s?
What psychological trait in type 1s is easiest for you to understand/relate to, and which is the hardest?
Alright I'm biting.
From most of the one descriptions I've read, ones need surgical removal of iron rods from their anal cavity. It's OK, I still got on the train!
So I'm going by this description of ones:
Type One in Brief
Ones are conscientious and ethical, with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are teachers, crusaders, and advocates for change: always striving to improve things, but afraid of making a mistake. Well-organized, orderly, and fastidious, they try to maintain high standards, but can slip into being critical and perfectionistic. They typically have problems with resentment and impatience. At their Best: wise, discerning, realistic, and noble. Can be morally heroic.
* Basic Fear: Of being corrupt/evil, defective
* Basic Desire: To be good, to have integrity, to be balanced
* Enneagram One with a Nine-Wing: "The Idealist"
* Enneagram One with a Two-Wing: "The Advocate"
Key Motivations: Want to be right, to strive higher and improve everything, to be consistent with their ideals, to justify themselves, to be beyond criticism so as not to be condemned by anyone.
What made me most identify with one descriptions I think was the whole anger thing. For me, anger is a really great motivator: just getting sick and fed up with something and acting on it. I'm mostly into righteous anger and indignation because they sound more noble. I
do not randomly start yelling at people, flipping tables, and generally hulking out. Anger tends to be more internal than anything else and can result in deep dissatisfaction with the way things are and human nature making them that way. I am going to dig into my love of BSG and summarize it as a disquiet following my soul. Then anger is right there again poking me constantly to make it change. I do feel very energized, relentless, tireless when that happens and all the great changes of my life have happened when I am mobilized to that stage because anger overrides fear and makes me move. I don't think I often get caught in analysis paralysis...I'm more likely to get myself into trouble because I didn't take in enough information before acting.
I also identify with the desire to be discerning, judicious, and practical. It appeals to my sense of extroverted judgment, I like making decisions. I enjoy deciding what direction to head in, I don't get so overwhelmed that I just throw my hands up in the air or get flustered and intimidated by the decision making process. I like moving things out of shades of gray and into the clear and unambiguous. That does mean I have a preference for black and white, but I realize not everything is such. I feel like by making things clearer for myself and others, there is less of a sense of wandering in the wilderness, with no guide, or no landmarks to know the direction you're headed. I guess it's a balance between social structure and social agency.
Since my extroverted judgment is Fe, I like hacking paths through dense people situations, figuring out how to handle someone, figuring out relationships, and making character judgments on people. This may sound horrible and judgmental to others, but I've avoided a lot of drama in my life because of this and I'm quite happy with this trait. I've got a really great group of friends: no backstabbers, no flakes, no leeches, emotionally stable, very open, reciprocal, and lots of trust. Even my romantic relationships, have been low drama. I can't say anything bad about anyone after the fact and thankfully I don't have much emotional baggage from being burned by a shady person. Since I prefer to evaluate people to the best of my ability, I don't think I often feel surprised by a certain behavior they manifest or something they do because if I see a quality is already there (good, bad, or neutral) it's only natural that they would act on a quality already inside of them.
I don't really think of myself as a perfectionist...everyone says they're a perfectionist. It's one of the meaningless comments you make when asked what is a bad quality you have, say "I'm a perfectionist." It's akin to saying I love too much or I'm too forgiving, you take a virtuous quality and make it excessive so that it's not a vice of defect or some absence of virtue it's just too much of a good thing, like dying from water intoxication rather than a drug overdose. I also think people work too hard for the stale beans and empty peanut shells thrown at them known as retirement and 401(K) if they even get that. No one should kill themselves to make someone else fat and happy while they choke on drudgery and unhappiness. That means I do a lot of half-ass work.
I feel like so much of what people do with their life's work is like pushing distasteful food around on a plate. So that aspect of one-ness, I don't really identify with.
I also identify with these one descriptions:
Because of this, Ones often persuade themselves that they are “head” types, rationalists who proceed only on logic and objective truth. But, the real picture is somewhat different: Ones are actually activists who are searching for an acceptable rationale for what they feel they must do. They are people of instinct and passion who use convictions and judgments to control and direct themselves and their actions.
I don't know if ones do more rationalizing and justifying than other types, so I can't comment on that. I don't think of myself as particularly self-controlled. I only feel guilty about indulging myself when it screws me up in some other way, but I don't restrict or deny myself much. I do struggle with balancing short-term ephemeral happiness vs. long-term happiness, which leads into being impatient. I would say I'm impetuous due to impatience rather than impulsivity. I am currently in the most resentful situation I have been in in my life and am in the process of figuring out how to screw a few people over without screwing myself in the process. I don't feel bad about it at all and hope they fall face first, ass up in their own shit. Yeah, I am extraordinarily mad about this.
The result is a personality type that has problems with repression, resistance, and aggression. They are usually seen by others as highly self- controlled, even rigid, although this is not how Ones experience themselves. It seems to them that they are sitting on a cauldron of passions and desires, and they had better “keep the lid on” lest they and everyone else around them regret it.
I think I have problems with aggression which at first confused me with being type eight which would be my next type if not a one. I really have to consciously control asserting my will which is why I am strongly attracted to people who don't let me run all over them and assert themselves strongly as well. This often conflicts with my Fe. It's like Dueling Banjos but in the end I'm sure it will work itself in a harmonious, licensed pop standard.
