Brief Overview

Welcome to our website and the world of the Enneagram personality theory! Chances are that you have found our website because you already have some knowledge of the Enneagram and you are seeking more. However, if this is your first exposure, the following overview should be helpful. For additional information, see my book, The Road to Wisdom, Chapter Four.

Now, more than ever, we live in a time that requires a greater knowledge of human behavior and the ability to take control of our lives. In my professional opinion as a psychologist, the Enneagram is the single most useful, profound, insightful, powerful and practical tool available to help individuals grasp the depth and the complexity of the human personality and human behavior.

The Enneagram (pronounced “any-a-gram”) is a theoretical system for classifying human behavior--designed to help individuals understand the complexity of their behavior as well as that of others. In Greek, “ennea” means nine and “gramma” means point, hence there are nine points or styles of perceiving and responding to people and events, leading to nine distinct personality types.

The Enneagram theory of personality or individual differences is a typology system. This means that it is a system of classifying human behavioral traits into types. Personality traits are enduring (lasting, continuing) patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that are exhibited in a wide range of personal and social contexts. For example, with Type One in the Enneagram system, you will typically see such behavioral traits as being conscientious, moral, or principled, or, possibly more unhealthy traits such as being judgmental, inflexible, or self-righteous.

At the heart or core of the Enneagram theory of “individual differences” lies the belief that:  the key to understanding oneself and others is the knowledge or awareness of differences in “how we view the world” or “reality” (Perceptual World Views).

Perceptual World Views are preconceived assumptions and beliefs that influence our perceptions (what we think we see or hear), our interpretations (what we tell ourselves about what we think we see or hear), and as a result, how we feel and what we do. For example, the Perceptual World View for Type One is to per-fect themselves, others, and the world, and this type filters everything through this strongly held “view”.

Different types think, feel, and act differently and tend to believe that their view of the world is “right” and the “best” or the “only” view. There are also environmental and physical factors that can influence our perceptions outside of our “type”. For example, our perceptions (what we think we see or hear) are influenced by stress (acute or chronic), sleep deprivation, substance abuse, hormonal imbalances and pain. Think of the last time that someone you know was “wasted” or “high”. How accurate was their perception of reality at that time?

Unlike any other personality system developed to explain personality, the Enneagram theorizes that we are a product of nature and nurture. That is, we are genetically predisposed to be a certain personality type. And, as a result of all of the learned experiences that we have had (adapting to environmental challenges) both positive and negative, both rewarded and punished, our genetically predisposed type either becomes more dominant or becomes more dispersed or differentiated (a created mixture of the different types).

Due to our influences from significant people in our lives and the environmental conditions, it is sometimes a challenge to determine one’s true Enneatype (referred to as one’s Essence or Core type). The Butlers Enneagram Type Assessment (BETA) is a very helpful tool for starting your journey of determining your Essence or Core type. (See “About the Assessment” on the home page of this website.)

Origin of the Enneagram

The origins of the Enneagram are open to debate. I have read several articles and books on the origins and there are many points on which the authors agree and many on which they disagree. Most authors are of the opinion that the philosophy behind the Enneagram contains components of mystical Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Buddhism and ancient Greek philosophy, particularly that of Socrates and Plato. If you choose to search for the origins of the Enneagram, you will undoubtedly come across the names of Pythagoras, the Christian desert monk Evagrius Ponticus, the Franciscan Ramon Lull, and George Ivanovich Gurdjieff.

The “traditional Enneagram,” or modern day use, goes back to the 1960’s when a psychiatrist named Oscar Ichazo first began teaching it. Ichazo, born in Bolivia, raised in Peru, and residing in Argentina, created what he called the Arica school to transmit the knowledge that he had received.

In 1970, a group of Americans, including noted psychologists and writers Claudio Naranjo and John Lilly went to Arica, Chile to study with Ichazo. The Arica school teaches a system of “inner work”--a complex body of teachings in psychology, cosmology, metaphysics, and spirituality to bring about a transformation in human consciousness. Since that time, many have studied and written about the Enneagram, including Don Riso and Russ Hudson, two pioneers in the development of Enneagram theory and applications.

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