Enneagram test

Daughter Carrie texted me the other day wondering if I'd ever taken an 'Enneagram' test. She wondered if any of our "numbers" matched. While I have heard a lot about it, I have never really looked into this world a great deal, and can't recall ever having taken this particular personality test myself. I think I had been somewhat overwhelmed (and turned off of) personality tests in seminary and during my time in church leadership, so I'd pretty much just glossed over the enneagram.

My curiosity got the best of me, though, so later that night I took a simple test at enneagramtest.net on my phone. I flew through it and scored as a 6, 4, 5. I don't know how reliable this particular online site is - it never did send my results where it was supposed to (twice!) - but after taking it a second time this morning... I scored a 6, 5, 4... so at least it had me in the same bottom level of the triangle.

For those who are curious, the Enneagram, or Enneagram of Personality, is a description of the human psyche which is principally understood and taught as a typology of nine interconnected personality types. The word Enneagram comes from the Greek words ἐννέα [ennéa, meaning "nine"] and γράμμα [grámma, meaning something "written" or "drawn"]), and is symbolized by the picture above.

My results as a Loyalist, Investigator, and Individualist are explained here: https://enneagramtest.net/tests/496589. I would guess the fact that 4 and 5 changed places in subsequent tests has no real significance. This site (https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/how-the-enneagram-system-works/) seems to offer a pretty detailed analysis of how the entire system works.

As to who/what a #6 is... a detailed description can be found on this site: https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-6/. A decent summary is as follows:

Type 6: The Loyalist

Loyalists are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.
How to Get Along with Me

• Be direct and clear.
• Listen to me carefully.
• Don't judge me for my anxiety.
• Work things through with me.
• Reassure me that everything is OK between us.
• Laugh and make jokes with me.
• Gently push me toward new experiences.
• Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

What I Like About Being a Six

• Being committed and faithful to family and friends.
• Being responsible and hardworking.
• Being compassionate toward others.
• Having intellect and wit.
• Being a nonconformist.
• Confronting danger bravely.
• Being direct and assertive.

What's Hard About Being a Six

• The constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind.
• Procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself.
• Fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of.
• Exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger.
• Wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right.
• Being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations.

I also found this chart quite helpful for the entire Enneagram "type" reference:

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So, what do I make of all this? Well, it sounds about right. I was not surprised, and am not surprised my daughter and I have the same dominant type (with different wings).

As far as what this means... On the one hand, whatever. It's just another personality test (of which I've taken way too many). On the other hand, though, it probably doesn't hurt to be reminded of my strengths and weaknesses, and can be helfpul in understanding why I react or don't react in the situations I find myself - whether that is at work, home, ministry, or whatever.

All told, I am glad I took the test, but am going to try not spend much time dwelling on it. I've been trying to be more aware in my daily life of "dying to self" and stearing my mind toward thoughts of Christ in me, and quite honestly, that is difficult enough in and of itself. So... there's that.