The Enneagram is a personality assessment popular among evangelical Christians as it “describes why you think, feel and behave in particular ways based upon your core fears and core desires” according to Beth McCord, founder of Your Enneagram Coach. Through understanding these traits, one can better understand themselves and through that grow in loving others better.
The Enneagram can be confusing, but essentially there are nine numbers describing a distinct set of personality traits according to the designation created by the Enneagram Institute. When I was first introduced to the Enneagram, I was very confused as to what my number was. I attempted self-identifying, took a couple of tests and even asked close friends; I got varying responses from each source. Thus I became skeptical of the entire process. How could 7.53 billion people accurately fit into nine personality types? I just couldn’t believe it. Each and every person on this earth is so varied and different, yet Enneagram users so wholeheartedly believe that they identify with one certain number, often taking it so far as to believe that everything they do and every thought that they have must be in coherence with their identified number.
Ultimately the Enneagram has the ability to be helpful, but the way people have begun to utilize this tool has tremendously lessened its usefulness.
“Sometimes people put you in boxes because of it,” said freshman Emilie Miller. “I think it’s useful too, but they’ll make excuses for themselves.”
Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed people use their number as an excuse to do and say whatever they want. For example, since Eights are known to be aggressive and blunt, I could use this as an excuse to say whatever is on my mind with no filter and play it off as that “just being my Enneagram.” However, that behavior is not a result of me being an Eight; that’s just me being a rude person.
“If they try to use it as ‘Well, I can only be this way, or I have to be like this,’” said junior Katharine Doty, “then that’s a problem.”
This is especially true since the entire purpose of the Enneagram is to recognize those areas that need improvement and grow from them. I believe this change of merely accepting your Enneagram as it is and not working towards bettering yourself is a result of our incorrect view of the Enneagram. This stems from the rising popularity of the test resulting in an entertainment aspect, which has diluted its intended purpose. Instead of stemming productive growth in individuals, it’s become a shuttle for funny memes and Instagram pages dedicated to specific enneagram numbers.
While they may be fun to look at, it isn’t helpful or beneficial to us at all.
“With the Enneagram of Personality, when someone first comes across it, they hear it and they love it, because they’re like, ‘Oh my god, that’s true, I’m totally like that,” said Christopher L. Heuertz, author of The Sacred Enneagram. “And it’s funny and endearing, and you can see this in your partner or your friends or your community. But the real challenge right now is to resist the reductionism of reducing characters to quirks, to labels and to personality.”This rise of reductionism within Enneagram users is a detriment to our understanding of people as we begin to believe that we can understand people purely based on a number. But we are more than a number and a set of predefined characteristics. Each of us has layers and motivations that may exist outside of what our Enneagram describes and that is okay. Your Enneagram cannot define you, and people cannot fully understand you based on a personality assessment.
