personality types

When I was about 20, I took my first Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test. I am an INTJ. It became a little hobby to type strangers at a bar by asking only four questions (I know, this is a very INTJ thing to do). I got decent at it. I know many people push back against personality tests. They are not a box in my opinion. These tests help you understand yourself and relate to others better. When I learned I was an INTJ and started reading all about them, so many things clicked into place. It also helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses. INTJs are the rarest type for women and I had encountered few in my life at the age of 20. But once I started in a basic science lab, I was suddenly surrounded by INTJs and felt more understood.

About a decade later, I got into the enneagram types. The enneagram is a bit more complicated because although there are only 9 types (compared to 16 MBTI types), each type has a 'wing' of two options. Furthermore, each type has 9 levels of development, ranging from healthy to average to unhealthy.

I won't go into all the details here since there are so many detailed resources online. What is interesting (and makes sense) is that the MBTI types and enneagram types are highly correlated. A huge percentage of INTJs are Fives in the enneagram. Fives are the 'Investigator' type. The enneagram has elucidated some bits of understanding about myself that I did not gain from reading about INTJs. The levels of development helped me understand my tendencies when I am doing well versus not well. Furthermore, the enneagram types break down the basic desires, basic fears, and key motivations for each type.

Fives (https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-5/)

• Basic Fear: Being useless, helpless, or incapable
• Basic Desire: To be capable and competent
• Key Motivations: Want to possess knowledge, to understand the environment, to have everything figured out as a way of defending the self from threats from the environment.

I knew I had a thirst for knowledge. But I never really understood that my worst fear in life is to feel helpless or useless. It is spot on though. I just did not come to it on my own (which is okay). When I look at the choices I have made, it is clear that my basic desire is to be capable and competent. These sorts of insights layer on top of the MBTI to bring heightened levels of awareness about ourselves.

Point is, I would encourage everyone to check out their enneagram. You may learn something about yourself that you never quite put your finger on. If you are in a relationship, check out your partner's enneagram as well! I am with a Nine 'Peacemaker' and when we read about Five/Nine relationships, we are constantly amazed at how accurate they describe us.

Remember, this is not to put anyone in a box. And no type is a bad type. The world needs all 16 MBTIs and all 9 enneagram types. The key is to having patience and understanding for people who are different than us.