Enneagram Type, Tritype, Instinctual Type and MBTI Survey

[Katherine8]

Dear Fellow Enneagram Enthusiasts.

As many of you know, I love to study all things ‘Enneagram’ as well as a diverse number of personality typologies. I especially like to correlate these typologies to find patterns that will shed additional light on the nuances of type. My hope is to make it easier to identify, understand and work with the 9 Enneagram Types.

To that end, I am conducting a new study correlating Enneagram Type, Tritype, Instincts and MBTI. I am looking for new patterns, of course… but in addition, I wish to confirm earlier patterns I found in 2010 with clients and a study consisting of roughly 400 participants.

I am hoping this data and the clusters that emerge will help us to better understand differences within Enneagram Type and demonstrate how these three typologies influence one another. For example:

Are the 478s primarily the I/ENXP?
Are those with 4 in the Tritype usually the sexual/one on one type?
Are the MBTI Fs most often the sexual/one on one instinct?
Are the MBTI Ts most often the self-preserving types?
Do social Instinctual types first mistype as Type 1?
Do ESTJs mistype as 8s?
Do INFPs mistype as 4s?

If you would like to participate in this study please make sure you are on my email list at: Enneagram Tests, Instinctual Subtypes, Tritype, and Enneagram Type Reports!. The survey will go out in the next week or two. Thanks.

[Seymour]

So I think these are interesting questions and I look forward to hearing about the results, but how does this process work, exactly? We sign up to a general email list for your site and products, and then at some point in the future, we'll get a notice of the study questionnaire(s) being available?

I guess I see a couple of potential issues with that:

• People have to sign up for an email list that is used for marketing materials in order to participate. (Full disclosure: I'm already on your mailing list, so it's not a big deal for me personally.)
• Participants are not only self-selecting, but they have to follow through multiple, time-delayed steps in order to participate (without even a clear estimate of the time involved).

Both of those seem like they will skew participant selection even further, plus it gives the appearance of using an offer of study participation as a means to build up a marketing list. I do like some of your products (I've bought several!) and theories, but you guys tend give the appearance of being relentless about monetizing whenever possible.

I understand that it may be that you merely wanted to make sure you had enough participants before mailing out a survey link, or that you didn't want to devote the resources to setting up a separate email list just for study volunteers. But still, more information would be better, so people understand the level of commitment involved. (In my 5-ish way, I'd want to know what I was signing up for!)

[highlander]

So I think these are interesting questions and I look forward to hearing about the results, but how does this process work, exactly? We sign up to a general email list for your site and products, and then at some point in the future, we'll get a notice of the study questionnaire(s) being available?

I guess I see a couple of potential issues with that:

• People have to sign up for an email list that is used for marketing materials in order to participate. (Full disclosure: I'm already on your mailing list, so it's not a big deal for me personally.)
• Participants are not only self-selecting, but they have to follow through multiple, time-delayed steps in order to participate (without even a clear estimate of the time involved).

Both of those seems like they will skew participant selection even further, plus it gives the appearance of using an offer of study participation as a means to build up a marketing list. I do like some of your products (I've bought several!) and theories, but you guys tend give the appearance of being relentless about monetizing whenever possible.

I understand that it may be that you merely wanted to make sure you had enough participants before mailing out a survey link, or that you didn't want to devote the resources to setting up a separate email list just for study volunteers. But still, more information would be better, so people understand the level of commitment involved. (In my 5-ish way, I'd want to know what I was signing up for!)

As a personal fan and also purchaser of several of your products, @Katherine8 - I would also like to know answers to these questions. We're more than happy to help you with surveys like this but our site is free of commercial interests.

As an aside, I didn't know you are an ENFP . Wouldn't have guessed that.

[Katherine8]

So I think these are interesting questions and I look forward to hearing about the results, but how does this process work, exactly? We sign up to a general email list for your site and products, and then at some point in the future, we'll get a notice of the study questionnaire(s) being available?

Good question... As I stated above, it will be going out within 2 weeks, maybe earlier. Unfortunately all notices.... whether free videos, products or surveys are the same list.

I guess I see a couple of potential issues with that:

• People have to sign up for an email list that is used for marketing materials in order to participate. (Full disclosure: I'm already on your mailing list, so it's not a big deal for me personally.)
• Participants are not only self-selecting, but they have to follow through multiple, time-delayed steps in order to participate (without even a clear estimate of the time involved).
  
  Not sure I follow? I am finishing the questions.... not sure how many yet but an email will go out with those details and you can choose if you wish to participate. I have just been letting people know should they wish to participate. If you know my work, you would know I often give out free codes and products...

Both of those seem like they will skew participant selection even further, plus it gives the appearance of using an offer of study participation as a means to build up a marketing list. I do like some of your products (I've bought several!) and theories, but you guys tend give the appearance of being relentless about monetizing whenever possible.

It appears I have offended you. That was not my intention. My goal was to let those interested in these topics know that I was about to do another study. I have always just sent to my list and have only recently visited this site so I have never encountered the misperceptions you suggest. I do not hide behind an avatar, never have and never will. I stand before you as I am with sincere intentions, however imperfect they may be. What you see is what you get...no more no less. I guess it was ill considered to believe that other enthusiasts might want to know of this survey and might want to participate. Personally, I would want to know and acted on that impulse. All studies are voluntary so it never occurred to me that anyone would have a problem being notified of the opportunity to participate. I respect your judgments. And, I would ask you to consider your comments further... and ask if you can name other Enneagram teachers that give away free products, scholarships, sliding scale, videos and services... and share their research findings in presentations and online?

I understand that it may be that you merely wanted to make sure you had enough participants before mailing out a survey link, or that you didn't want to devote the resources to setting up a separate email list just for study volunteers. But still, more information would be better, so people understand the level of commitment involved. (In my 5-ish way, I'd want to know what I was signing up for!)

Projections are understandable but not always accurate. I am truly surprised by your comments. My work is all over this site... much of which has not given attribution to me or my copyright and yet I have never complained. FWIW, my passion is and has always been the information. I have conducted 20 studies in 20 years and done 18 of them online. The surveys have been on diverse topics to better understand how the types see themselves rather than what authors say...myself included... ). I want to know what the deeper nuances of type are to help people accurately type themselves and others and to find the best way to work with people. The different research projects are simple rather than complex and have revealed a great deal about the internal experience of type. This has been my passion since I learned about the Enneagram 30 years ago. I always share what I learn as I have with the free not for profit videos. So I understand your concerns but your assumptions are inaccurate. I love patterns and I believe I recognize your writing style... it is very distinctive I am great with pattern recognition but as you can see I am lousy when it comes to responding to sites such as these.

[Katherine8]

What would you have guessed? I test 1 point more F than T.... I relate to ENTP with the F very close....so for that reason I see ENXP as most accurate. Most 8s with ENFP feel the same way.... type related issues such as this was one of the reasons for doing a more extensive study...and of course to find additional patterns. I already have thousands results of the raw data of MBTI Types, Enneacards Tests, and Enneastyle Questionnaires...I just wanted to give people the opportunity to add meaningful comments, etc., to the data. To me, the comments with the questions are pure gold... Beginning with my first survey it was clear when people had mistyped as their answers would perfectly match a different type. 20 studies later, I have questions that reveal outliers and I always follow up with interviews when new patterns emerge...

[highlander]

Projections are understandable but not always accurate. I am truly surprised by your comments. My work is all over this site... much of which has not given attribution to me or my copyright and yet I have never complained. FWIW, my passion is and has always been the information. I have conducted 20 studies in 20 years and done 18 of them online. The surveys have been on diverse topics to better understand how the types see themselves rather than what authors say...myself included... ). I want to know what the deeper nuances of type are to help people accurately type themselves and others and to find the best way to work with people. The different research projects are simple rather than complex and have revealed a great deal about the internal experience of type. This has been my passion since I learned about the Enneagram 30 years ago. I always share what I learn as I have with the free not for profit videos. So I understand your concerns but your assumptions are inaccurate. I love patterns and I believe I recognize your writing style... it is very distinctive

I don't know if Seymour is offended or not. I didn't read it that way. I'm certainly not. I think people are just sort of direct here. Confront and debate. It's a forum .

I'd be happy to promote your survey. We can highlight it through a thread on the home page for example. I think some people just don't want to be on mailing lists, especially if there are products attempting to be sold, and they don't want to give out email addresses. I like being on your list because you send out great/helpful information and there most certainly aren't an excessive number of emails. We just had a rather intense discussion about even having a newsletter for the site (not trying to sell anything), with many people objecting and saying they don't want it. If there is a way to give people the option to fill it in without signing up, we might be able to help you get more people to participate. We'd like to be able to reference the published results.

On copyright issues, we try to be careful about that sort of thing. See Posting Other People's Content in the rules. If there are any items that you have a concern with, please send me a PM and let me know directly.

[Seymour]

@Katherine8

I really wasn't (and am not) offended. I thought I had been careful in stating that I was discussing how things were coming across and how they might be perceived, rather than saying anything about your actual motivation or intent.

As I said, I was already on your mailing list, so I don't have any qualms about receiving notifications (and marketing material). I look forward to participating and later hearing about the results. I'm glad you are casting a wide net so that you can get a sufficient number of people to be able to do interesting statical analysis and discover meaningful correlations (that seems especially important when looking at the intersection of two typing systems, where the combinatorial factors make for a staggering number of possible enneagram + MBTI types).

I still think it's beneficial to be absolutely clear up front, so volunteers who are unfamiliar with your work don't feel misled (or choose not to participate). I continue to feel it would be better to have a separate list for research volunteers and results (or at least have marketing and research as opt-in options on the signup/profile page). Failing that, just being clear up front that it's a general purpose list would be more clear. It might also be nice to include that the results will be made public (and perhaps that they will be announced on the same list). You do not, of course, have to make any of those changes now or in the future (which feels silly to spell out), but I think they would leave less room for misinterpretation in the long run.

I'm glad that folks find ways to follow their passions and make careers out of them. I'm glad there are people who are passionate about the enneagram and willing to carry out much-needed empirical research. I don't think you are scamming people, trying to mislead them, or are only in it for the money. It was happy to hear you offer sliding scales, scholarships, etc. All good stuff.

I'm sure as a business owner you do a lot of outreach and broadcasting of your products, and that you must do so in order to do keep doing what you love. I hope you can understand how only being exposed to that side of your communications might create a less-than-complete impression. Still, I would agree that that stating that you guys tend come across as being "relentless about monetizing" was an exaggeration, and based on an incomplete perspective.

I'm surprised that you recognize my writing style from somewhere else. I generally only post here and don't think I've had any interactions with you previously (beyond purchasing products from your web site) nor have I posted on enneagram-specific websites. Maybe I have a writing-style twin elsewhere on the internet?

At any rate, I apologize for missing the the "one to two weeks" part of your original announcement, and that I came across as attacking your character and motivations.

[Katherine8]

Your questions and concerns are fair. I am not a scientist. I do however like to see and understand patterns. I use constant contact to run the survey.The survey questions are almost finished. There will be about 50 questions. It will take 15-20 minutes... It is completely confidential. There will be the standard easy to answer demographic questions to see who is participating and to better understand the results such as age, country region, language, field, MBTI, Tritype, Instinct, knowledge, experience, etc. For example, there is a growing group of 11-17 year olds in the Enneagram world ....... There is a comment section for each question for those that wish to say more about a question...this section is not statically relevant but always reveals a great deal of data and unexpected patterns. Again, my focus is on the clusters and patterns that emerge.... Then later, I can sort for the answers to questions based on a topic. For example, what did the 18-24 year old enfps say compared to the other age groups. Or, did those identifying with the same Type, Tritype, Instinct and MBTI type make any similar comments? Did the beginners say the same things that the advanced participants did...just to name a couple of examples.

[Southern Kross]

Sounds interesting @Katherine8

I'm already on your email list, so I look forward to hearing about it.

[The Tsarevich]

What would you have guessed? I test 1 point more F than T.... I relate to ENTP with the F very close....so for that reason I see ENXP as most accurate. Most 8s with ENFP feel the same way.... type related issues such as this was one of the reasons for doing a more extensive study...and of course to find additional patterns. I already have thousands results of the raw data of MBTI Types, Enneacards Tests, and Enneastyle Questionnaires...I just wanted to give people the opportunity to add meaningful comments, etc., to the data. To me, the comments with the questions are pure gold... Beginning with my first survey it was clear when people had mistyped as their answers would perfectly match a different type. 20 studies later, I have questions that reveal outliers and I always follow up with interviews when new patterns emerge...

Hi Katherine.

I like your stuff and I think I'm already on your list, so I'm eager to take the survey. I'm wondering if you use the cognitive functions, though? That would seem to give you the most accurate results regarding your work. For instance, I test as ISTP on the Myers-Briggs, but I'm really an ENTP, and if I hadn't studied the functions behind the theory, I wouldn't have ever come to that conclusion. I'd be saying I was an ISTP and throwing off all the data.

It's a topic most IRL enneagram practitioners don't seem to have mastered, so there's a lot of room for exploration here.

As an enthusiast of both systems, I'm inclined to wonder "Can an 8 with a heavy 4-fix ever have the Feeling function in an inferior position?", rather than debate the T / F dichotomy. My experience indicates this might be true (and I know a confirmed 478 INFJ, for reference). I dunno how much you already know about this, but I'm thinking that would help shed light on some of your questions.