[Traditional Enneagram] Identifying With Multiple Enneagram Types

[highlander]

I did five hours of driving yesterday and listened to the Don Riso Enneagram descriptions again. I purchased them on CDs. While I don't question my type (6), it became clear to me that there are aspects of several of the types that I identify with. I'm a 6w5 and it's interesting that a lot of the aspects of the 5 resonated pretty strongly. There are also parts of 3 and 8 that resonate.

Has anyone else felt this way - that you have attributes of multiple types? If so, are the other types that resonate with you associated with your wing or lines of integration/disintigration? I can see that for me, the 3 is in my line of disintigration, 5 of course is the wing and as a 6sx (counterphobic), the fact that parts of the 8 resonate makes some sense.

 

[small.wonder]

Yes. I can definitely see myself in the descriptions of 4, 5, and 8 and depending on health, 1 and 2. 5 is a given as I have a pretty heavy wing, it took some time to discern my preference for 4 (I'd say it's something like a 60/40 balance). Even before I read into tritype I knew I had some 8ish tendencies, that at the time I figured were possibly the integration of my wing-- I'm aware that probably isn't a thing, though I often think the concept makes sense. The more I read and examined the types and my own life though, I realized (unlike my integration to 1) my 8 traits have been apparent both in health and unhealth. This is when I caught on to tritype and realized that 8ishness was a fix.

I unfortunately had a season of pretty extreme unhealth in my late teens that practically shone with 2 disintegration. To this day 2's are a challenge for me to interact with because I associate their behaviors and tendencies (co-depency, neediness, passive aggression, martyr complex, manipulation) with my own unhealth. My line to 1 has really shown up strongly in the last few years, my first Enneagram test noted that and I've even had people think I was a 1 (usually 1's themselves) from time to time. People have also guessed 8 or 5.

[MENTION=8936]highlander[/MENTION], I wonder why your gut fix is 9 if you resonate with 8? Unless you meant (by your comment about sx counterphobia) that it's a false relation to 8-- as in, similar behavior but different motivations. Just curious.

 

[Kullervo]

I did five hours of driving yesterday and listened to the Don Riso Enneagram descriptions again. I purchased them on CDs. While I don't question my type (6), it became clear to me that there are aspects of several of the types that I identify with. I'm a 6w5 and it's interesting that a lot of the aspects of the 5 resonated pretty strongly. There are also parts of 3 and 8 that resonate.

Has anyone else felt this way - that you have attributes of multiple types? If so, are the other types that resonate with you associated with your wing or lines of integration/disintigration? I can see that for me, the 3 is in my line of disintigration, 5 of course is the wing and as a 6sx (counterphobic), the fact that parts of the 8 resonate makes some sense.

I always have trouble choosing between 4 and 6. While I always test as a 4, and have temporarily bowed to the weight of consistent test results, the question isn't closed and probably won't ever be

 

[Evee]

Relate most to 4 & 5.

9 too, but not as much as I do with 4 or 5.

 

[Chad of the OttomanEmpire]

Yes, although I've been combing through the enneagram and how it applies to me for a very long time. In doing so, such resemblances are bound to occur.

 

[TheCheeseBurgerKing]

It is hard.

I think that anyone closely affiliated with 5 is going to have a hard time in a sense that 5s are the most perceptive and therefore see so many different things that cause a final decision is difficult hard.

By definition of 5, it's also gonna be hardest for this type to put mbti/typology up and stop thinking about it.
WE WANT TO MASTER IT.

 

[pmj85]

Yes, which is why I created a thread about it (a few below this one). I most identify with five on a surface level, but I have to wonder how much of that overlaps with dominant Ni. The biggest indication of five seems to be the feeling of disconnectedness, or as though your body is some kind of awkward vehicle for dealing with the external world... but that is a symptom synonymous with introverted intuition, too. I've always felt like an observer, but that doesn't for one second mean I'm a five

Every test I take has me pegged as a nine... I guess I just have to roll with that until I can become better versed in the enneagram, but I'd be lying if I said it described me adequately.

 

[Bush]

Anyone who believes that they don't overlap with at least a few other types is kidding themselves.

 

[Kullervo]

[MENTION=8936]highlander[/MENTION] and others: I've just taken Riso-Hudson's extended test and they identify me as 4w5, and tritype 458 (the WEPSS I took month ago identified me as a 4w5, as did the free test I linked people to here). I am lying in bed doing nothing, so I couldn't have a more clear mind. It is probably time to admit defeat...I must confess that a lot of my dislike of E4 has been a result of the descriptions I've seen online, which conjure up images of skinny, effeminate guys who dye their hair black and cry all the time.

Of course an INTJ 4w5 would behave differently to, say, an ISFP 4w3. Oh well, on the flip side, I suspect nobody else has this MBTI and tritype on the forum, which is kind of cool even though it is incredibly screwed up.

 

[highlander]

[MENTION=8936]highlander[/MENTION], I wonder why your gut fix is 9 if you resonate with 8? Unless you meant (by your comment about sx counterphobia) that it's a false relation to 8-- as in, similar behavior but different motivations. Just curious.

Yes, I think it's like a false relation to 8. Counterphobic 6s often mistype as 8s.

 

[small.wonder]

highlander and others: I've just taken Riso-Hudson's extended test and they identify me as 4w5, and tritype 458 (the WEPSS I took month ago identified me as a 4w5, as did the free test I linked people to here). I am lying in bed doing nothing, so I couldn't have a more clear mind. It is probably time to admit defeat...I must confess that a lot of my dislike of E4 has been a result of the descriptions I've seen online, which conjure up images of skinny, effeminate guys who dye their hair black and cry all the time.

Of course an INTJ 4w5 would behave differently to, say, an ISFP 4w3. Oh well, on the flip side, I suspect nobody else has this MBTI and tritype on the forum, which is kind of cool even though it is incredibly screwed up.

I share the tritype but the jury is out on what my MBTI is (though I'm pretty sure I favor F, even if by a small margin). I suppose I tend to believe T and F are the difference between 4w5 and 5w4 (since 4 is a heart type and 5 a head type) but I guess there would have to be some crossover.

For the record, I don't think anyone's reaction to their Enneagram type is supposed to be, "yay, just what I wanted to be!". We are talking about sin patterns and our dark sides.

 

[Kullervo]

I share the tritype but the jury is out on what my MBTI is (though I'm pretty sure I favor F, even if by a small margin). I suppose I tend to believe T and F are the difference between 4w5 and 5w4 (since 4 is a heart type and 5 a head type) but I guess there would have to be some crossover.

I am sure that there is with most Enneatypes. E5 is a bit unusual though, I posted about that in another thread to an INFJ who thought he was a 5.

For the record, I don't think anyone's reaction to their Enneagram type is supposed to be, "yay, just what I wanted to be!". We are talking about sin patterns and our dark sides.

That's true.

 

[small.wonder]

I am sure that there is with most Enneatypes. E5 is a bit unusual though, I posted about that in another thread to an INFJ who thought he was a 5.

Actually, if you are speaking in terms of rarity, 5 is very unusual-- but so are 4 and 8 (in that order). It does kind of make sense that the independent types are the least common, they wouldn't be independents if they weren't the minority.

 

[Kullervo]

Actually, if you are speaking in terms of rarity, 5 is very unusual-- but so are 4 and 8 (in that order). It does kind of make sense that the independent types are the least common, they wouldn't be independents if they weren't the minority.

The distribution of MBTI and Enneatypes online does baffle me sometimes, but TypeC is an example of a specialised niche...INxx types probably have a natural proclivity towards sites like this, and they are more likely than average to have these "independent" Enneatypes.

It's an aside, but I am cautious about ascribing complementary words like "independent" to certain Enneatypes. They are all independent in their own ways. The 4 isn't as naturally inclined to fix a car, or control finances, as the 3. But the 4 is more independent philosophically and aesthetically. This is just one example. Basically what I am saying is that it is very situational.

 

[Galena]

^ I've been typed as INTJ 4w5, too, by a few people I trusted. But even then, I make a piss-poor T.

As for the thread topic, people list fixes for a reason. 6 I don't identify with as much as 9, but the 9 upswing is a more recent thing and a type that used to be easy to rule out. I expect it to pass (if I don't strike it out of myself first, because it's just not right).

I do go into tritype frivolously, though - treating it more as a written shorthand for how I may look different from others of my core than a system I actually accept as legitimate. My two fixes relate to me on more of an ephemeral, surface basis with neither of them telling the full story at depth. By ephemeral, I mean that at one time, I could very solidly have typed myself as 451 or even 458. Sx, too, if you can imagine! But things change you - maybe not the core of what you're made of, but more otherwise than I could have possibly imagined before. Maybe it's not forever, but maybe it is.

 

[small.wonder]

It's an aside, but I am cautious about ascribing complementary words like "independent" to certain Enneatypes. They are all independent in their own ways. The 4 isn't as naturally inclined to fix a car, or control finances, as the 3. But the 4 is more independent philosophically and aesthetically. This is just one example. Basically what I am saying is that it is very situational.

While I think what you've said is true (and wise), I do not see the word independent as solely complementary. Being independent can be more than a little screwed up, and has been in my experience.

Edit: I should have probably explained that outright. I can see now why you took my expression of it as only positive. Noted for future use.

 

[skylights]

For the record, I don't think anyone's reaction to their Enneagram type is supposed to be, "yay, just what I wanted to be!". We are talking about sin patterns and our dark sides.

So, so true. I think it probably usually feels kind of humbling and generally shitty to realize your Enneatype.

IRT OP, 3 resonates with me stronger than I would expect given that it's almost definitely not in my tritype. What is interesting is that I feel like I am a 6 who typically behaves like a 9 (kind of floaty, pacifistic, tolerant, inert, stubborn) and feels like a 3 inside (competitive, comparing, workaholic, status-conscious, needing to feel admired). It's only when stressed that the 6ness really rears its head. Of course those two types connect to 6 via lines of integration(9)/ disintegration(3), but I feel like I carry some of 9's negatives in the day-to-day and some of 3's positives, especially over long time spans. I suspect that the Social instinct ends up combining with what 3 is in me to make those motivations appear particularly prominent in my mind, even though they're not always strong enough to alter my identity for.

[MENTION=8936]highlander[/MENTION], how does 3 manifest for you? I feel like mine is so entwined with Social-style perception that it would be hard for me to separate the two.

 

[Forever_Jung]

I don't think the enneagram is as fixed and static as MBTI, so I think it's pretty normal to identify with multiple types. Our type is just the coping mechanism we fall back on the most.

I resonate with every type except for 8.

 

[gromit]

Yeah a bit of almost all of them, but esp 9, 7, 4, 6 (?)

 

[Seymour]

Identify mostly with: 5, 4, 9 (triple withdrawn, anyone?)
A little bit with: 1
Not much at all with: 2, 3, 7
Most foreign: 8, 6 (esp cp6)