The Enneagram is a personality framework that describes 9 types of patterns. The Enneagram focuses on the “why” of people’s functioning, as it looks at coping, blind spots, and how was navigate relationships. However, it’s not evidenced based, so you would not see it in a psychological battery.
On the other hand, the Myers-Briggs focuses on the “how” of people’s functioning. It questions for people to respond about how they digest and processes information. In short, the Enneagram dives deeper into our motivation.
The Enneagram is definitely having its moment. I have sat around my sorority house table and doctoral fellowship consult hour asking, “What Enneagram number are you?” These assessments give us a way to communicate ourselves to hopefully increase the likelihood of being understood and seen. We have a proclivity to categorize ourselves and others, it helps us more effectively interact with the world.
I think it is doing its most useful work anytime we have close relationships. Addressing our similarities and differences through the Enneagram can facilitate meaningful conversations or identify how to engage in conflict resolution better. This is beneficial with our colleague, our family, or partner. Ideally these measures increase understanding to open opportunity, rather than limit who or what we can connect with or do.
The irony of this is that many people mistype themselves. It actually an incredibly difficult task to know who we are. We are balancing who we are now, previous versions of ourselves, and who want want to be. Our awareness shifts moment to moment, sometimes we are more defended, sometimes we are more open. If we can find some core self understanding, that may support more validity in these questionnaires.
This can come at a cost though. When we start to over identify with a self-categorization, we may stop pushing ourselves for growth. If you say, “I am a Type 5, any that is just how it goes”, we turn our mind away from openness or change. The Enneagram shows habits, and those are not fixed as our personality is dynamic and constantly evolving with change and experience.
The Enneagram is a meaningful measure, but it is not an evidenced-based psychological measure. Use with curious caution.