How To Figure Out Your Enneagram Personality Type Without Taking The Test (& What It Says About You)

Are you hungry for greater satisfaction, purpose, happiness, and ease in your life? The Enneagram can help.

The Enneagram is a great tool that helps you enhance your life by figuring out your personality type. Not only will it help you understand yourself better, it can also encourage you to overcome habits that no longer serve you and improve your communication with family, friends, and colleagues.

The Enneagram divides personalities into nine types. It also groups these nine personality types into tritypes, which help you see the similarities and differences between the nine types. Plus, the tritypes can help you figure out which of the nine personality types you might be.

There are different ways to divide the nine types into three groupings. One is based on your type's energy center — which indicates your preferred way of experiencing the world — and the other indicates how you deal with stress.

By using a combination of insights from both of these tritypes, you can likely figure out which of the nine Enneagram personality types you are.

Start by identifying your energy center.

There are three energy centers that describe how you experience the world around you: the instinctive center (body), the feeling center (emotions), and the thinking center (mind).

If you are in the instinctive center, you first experience everything through your body. Your body picks up the information so quickly you don’t even realize it is happening.
If you are in the heart center, you first experience everything through your emotions.
If you are in the head center, you experience everything first through your mind:

1. The Instinctive Center (Enneagram Types 1, 8, & 9)

People in the instinctive center are earthy people. You desire to make the world a better place. You find it hard to express your own needs because you sometimes forget you have them. You struggle with anger.

As a type eight, you push your anger out into the world to get momentum. As a type nine, you repress your anger to keep everything in harmony, but when you lose your equilibrium, you take your anger out on anyone who is there. As a type one, you take your anger out on yourself and others when things are not done right according to your standards.

Under all this resistance is rage.

2. The Feeling Center (Enneagram Types 2, 3, & 4)

If you are in the feeling center, you are hungry to make deep connections with other people whether they be friends, family, or lovers. You often know what others need before they do and you have a great concern for how others see you. You often don’t realize how good you have it and can be blind to what is going on in your inner self.

You sometimes have a habit to increase your self-worth by putting others down, but you have an attachment to how you see yourself no matter what others may experience with you.

Underneath all that ego shenanigan is shame.

3. The Thinking Center (Enneagram Types 5, 6, & 7)

If you are in the thinking center, you tend to live with a crazy mind. You will have many conversations going on all at once. It can be confusing and anxiety-making. You are an excellent observer. You can see the big picture. You have a hunger to learn. You do everything you can to avoid the unpleasant feelings.

As a type five, you go into your internal world where you don’t have to interact with anyone else. As a type six, you try to prevent problems before they happen. And if you are a type seven, you try to avoid the unpleasant feelings by keeping busy doing exciting things.

All of the three types experience anxiety coming from a perceived lack of guidance. Underneath all their mental gymnastics is fear.

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Next, identify how you respond to stress.

1. Assertive (Enneagram Types 3, 7, & 8)

When under stress you push yourself out into the world. You have a large amount of energy so you are at risk of becoming a workaholic. You have a habit of using your power and influence to cope with stress that accompanies interpersonal relationships. You tend to move with confidence, but also exude an air of personal power. You love being in control of the situation.

As a seven, you seek attention and power by trying to be the life of the party. As an eight, you do it by imposing your desires on to others. As a three, you do it by changing yourself into what you think others you need you to be.

All this is motivated by your desire to be successful. If you are in the assertive group, you have a compulsion to make things happen. Your goal is to keep your heart open.

2. Withdrawn (Enneagram Types 4, 5, & 9)

When under stress, you tend to withdraw from active engagement. More downtime is needed for you re-charge your batteries. If this is your primary type, you may prefer to work solo. You need time to yourself to reflect on what is the best choices for you to make in life.

Each of the types disappears into the interior world differently. As a four, you go into your favorite emotion. As a five, you go into your learned thoughts and imaginary world where everything is possible. As a nine, you avoid the stresses of the world by going into the internal land of peace and calm.

If you are in the withdrawn group you have a compulsion to stay safe in your own internal world.

3. Dutiful (Enneagram Types 1, 2, & 6)

You have a deep sense of obligation and a habit of making sure other people’s needs are met before your own. You probably scan the environment to make sure that you are following your inner rules.