Center of Intelligence: Gut

Motivation: To uphold their inner standards of ethics, morality, diligence, and goodness

Core Fears: Being wrong, bad, corruptible, evil, or without integrity

Ones are ethical, measured, rational, detailed, and judgmental. Ones are motivated by their need to live by their sense of morality, ethics, and what they believe is right. They are responsible and often feel it's up to them to maintain a sense of decorum, standards, and appropriateness in their family system, work environments, and relationships. Ones have a robust ethical code and must adhere to their convictions of correctness. They report having had very early convictions about right and wrong and expressed those beliefs about their moral or ethical worldview, even as children.

Firm Convictions, Standards, and Ethics
Ones are stubborn about what they believe is the correct way to behave in the world. They want to guard against their inappropriate, libertine, or wild impulses because they believe those impulses will expose an innate wrongness or corruption. This defense was coined sublimation by Sigmund Freud. Sublimation is the process of channeling unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable behaviors, ideas, or thoughts. It is as if Ones possess a natural propensity toward the philosophy of “original sin." They feel they must atone for inherent rottenness through striving for perfection, prudence, and reason. They fear being bad or wrong and seek above all else to be above reproach and incorruptible.

They project their fear of being wrong out into the world and focus their need for inner perfection into efforts to improve upon or reform the world around them. They can be exacting, critical, demanding, and uncompromising in executing their standards. This worldview makes them discerning arbiters of ideal standards, procedures, and rules. They can be incredibly wise, balanced, and value fairness and equity.

A Fair Judge & Trap Doors
Others often turn to the One to offer moral and ethical guidance and act as a fair judge of truth and morality. Ones can struggle with restrictiveness and often feel at war with their desires and beliefs, bringing about "trap door" behavior. Their strong superegos can become oppressive, and Ones often feel the need to indulge themselves in behaviors, habits, or activities they might ordinarily deem inappropriate, wrong, excessive, or imprudent. The trap door could be as simple as cheating on a stringent diet or, to the extent that the One has demonized their desires or impulses, they could engage in more outrageous or otherwise inappropriate behavior. For example, they could condemn infidelity, engage in extramarital affairs, or be conservative and rigidly opposed to homosexuality while secretly engaging in clandestine same-sex encounters. The trap door allows the pressure of their natural human impulses some relief, while externally, they continue adhering to their convictions and the intention of rightness or purity.

Righteous Anger and Resentment
Ones can become incredibly punitive and increasingly rigid and inflexible when very stressed. They hold onto codified beliefs about the right way to be and can become righteously angry at violations of what they see as the appropriate, correct way to behave. The more restrictions they put on their desires, the greater their shame and disgust grow, and the more likely they will become hypocritical, scolding, and cold. They can be stubborn about relinquishing resentment of others' past indiscretions or mistakes, believing they won't be afforded the same grace or forgiveness.

When Healthy and Balanced
Healthy Ones are in tune with their emotions and value empathy and emotional expression as integral to balance. When healthy and self-aware, Ones teach others how to balance responsibility with one's desires and the necessity for occasional spontaneity and playfulness. Healthy Ones inspire others to do the right thing by staying true to their moral and ethical codes and standards without being punitive or punishing and recognizing that there may be other ways of viewing what is right. At their best, Ones help to guide others toward self-improvement. They allow themselves to integrate the often messy emotional truths of the human experience and the necessity for joy, frivolity, and freedom to make mistakes. This shift in their perspective loosens their fear of making mistakes and allows for greater peace in the present moment.

Exemplars: Puritans, Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews, Miss Manners, Al Gore, Hilary Clinton, Hermione Grainger, Christian Bale, Eleanor Roosevelt, Michelle Obama, Joan of Arc, Emma Watson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ayn Rand, The Inquisition, Martha Stewart, Gloria Steinem, Wolf Blitzer, Don Lemon, David Koresh, Greta Thunberg, Kourtney Kardashian, Ralph Nader, Leonard Nimoy, Nelson Mandela, Sidney Poitier, George Harrison, Katherine Hepburn, Nina Garcia, Natalie Portman, Vanessa Redgrave, Colin Powell, Lawrence Fishburne, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Margaret Thatcher, Harrison Ford, Emily Post, Switzerland, Mike Pence

Center of Intelligence: Heart center

Motivation: To be seen as loving, kind, generous and supportive

Core Fears: Being useless, indispensable, without significance, attention, or love

Twos are effusive, emotionally expressive, people-oriented, willful, and manipulative. Twos are motivated to be seen as helpful and want to be the "special person" in the lives of others. They pride themselves on their ability to easily see what is needed and fill those needs before being asked. Their attunement to what others need and want and how to present a pleasing image can make them highly desirable, generally likable, and well-received. Twos struggle with pride and have difficulty seeing how their attentiveness and supportiveness come with considerable reciprocity expectations. However, because they fear being needy, they are often unaware of their own needs and project what they want into the environment and fill their own needs in others. If Twos needs a compliment, they will compliment someone else; if they want a hug, they will offer a hug; if they want to be surprised, they will surprise others.

False Abundance
Twos are often unaware of this projection and very frequently don't notice that when the need to be taken care of arises, they project it outward and disown their expectations. Twos feel a sense of sadness that others do not readily help, support, compliment, or love them as frequently as they do for others. Their sadness converts into martyrdom because, as positive, prideful people, being sad or somehow deficient is unacceptable. Naranjo taught that Twos suffer from a sense of "false abundance." Twos believe that others don't see, acknowledge, or appreciate what they do for others when they are in a state of martyrdom. Their disappointment is expressed indirectly through critical advice-giving, bossiness, histrionics (heavy sighing, brusqueness, temper tantrums, sulking, etc.), emotional manipulativeness, or an inability to be pleased.

Over-Extension of Self
Twos often offer more than they can realistically give yet deliver more than they promise. They may spread themselves a bit thin through a desire to be valued as indispensable to others. Twos are the most outwardly emotional type on the Enneagram and are prone to easily crying or spontaneous expressions of excitement and joy. Twos need others to mirror the positive image of themselves as loving, kind, and supportive but because of their pride, they can become convinced that others might not survive without their care or attention.

Indeed, they often have made themselves indispensable to others to defend against the fear of being inconsequential. Because of this strategy, they hold considerable power in their relationships.

Other-Focused Pushiness
Twos are masterful at ascertaining what will make people feel valued, special, and encouraged. If Twos are pleased with you, it can feel like the sun shines upon you. However, many Twos recognize that their adoration is contingent on the admiration of the other. If the other person meets their standards (which will vary from Two to Two), they feel positive. However, if the other person does not value their advice and doesn't recognize their efforts, support, love, or attention, Twos feels hurt and angry with others.

 When Twos are stressed, they become increasingly pushy, manipulative, and overbearing, and their hostility and anger are more direct. They may fall ill expecting others to care for them or become overtly aggressive and dominating as a way to punish others for the Twos perceived suffering. Their pride blinds them to the fact that they may not know what other people need or want and become focused on executing their own will at the expense of what is truly needed.

When Healthy and Balanced
When healthy, Twos remember to attune to their needs and desires first to avoid feeling underappreciated or undervalued by others. They learn to ask directly for what they want rather than manipulating out of fear of being rejected or rebuked. They can exemplify selfishness in the highest sense of the word, understanding that a genuine helper is useless if their needs are not satisfied. They illustrate the principles of compassionate support and can be immensely encouraging. Many Twos can be like a fairy godparent to those they've taken under their wing and truly make magical things happen.

Exemplars: Kim Kardashian, Madonna, Lady Gaga, John Travolta, Oprah Winfrey, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Lopez, Eva Peron, John Voight, Cinderella/Fairy Godmother, Joe Biden, Jimmy Carter, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Danny Glover, Tyler Perry, Glen Close, Ariana Grande, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Walters, Andrew Cuomo, Kerry Washington, RuPaul, Ed Sheeran, Tyra Banks, Sarah Jessica Parker, Paul Rudd, Courtney Love, Bette Midler, Lana Del Rey, Jon Bon Jovi, Bill Cosby, Satya Sai Baba, Keith Raniere, Lizzo, Katy Perry, Reese Witherspoon, Mario Lopez, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift.

Center of Intelligence: Heart Center

Motivation: To be seen as successful, competent, attractive, and admired

Core Fears: Being a loser, incompetent, unmasked, exposed, or failing

Threes are motivated to be viewed as successful, attractive, accomplished, and competent. They derive their sense of self by gaining a favorable response from those in their world. They learned early on that they received admiration and praise by becoming someone who wins, so, Threes make it their business to be the best at everything they do. They are naturally gifted at adjusting to others' responses to them and are the most image-conscious of all of the nine Enneagram types. Threes always strive to put their best foot forward to achieve their desired results. Threes value competency and efficiency and need the feeling of progressive success in their lives to feel worthy of the attention they crave. They are hard workers and see themselves as deserving of praise and accolades because they work hard and look good while doing it.

Image Management and Hyperactivity
Threes' focus on success and image often requires them to put their genuine interests, emotions, and thoughts to the side to do what is needed to achieve their desired ends. They can become human doings rather than human beings as they adjust and calibrate their presentation and image to become the image of success. On the high side, this allows Threes to be extraordinarily successful in their professional lives and generally well-liked by those around them because they know how to project a winning image.

Threes are the Enneagram's natural motivators. Threes are a galvanizing force and teach others the value of positive self-worth, motivation, and hard work. Threes seek achievement and success to maintain a healthy self-image and, when self-aware, they can be immensely inspirational to others. They understand that to have a genuinely balanced sense of self, they also need a healthy dose of genuine humility. The obsessive doing of average Threes turns into conscious and present action. This presence replaces pathological artificiality and hyperactivity, imbuing their achievements with more meaning. 

Inauthenticity and Fraudulence
Threes strive to be the perfect person. They want to say and do the right thing and look good while doing those things. Threes can substitute polish for depth, and to avoid being unmasked, they can keep others at a distance to prevent others from seeing behind the proverbial curtain. When Threes become more unhealthy, they become obsessed with winning at all costs and become deceitful. Their characteristic confidence then devolves into cocky arrogance. As Threes begin to devalue their authentic expression and put more stock into the image they project. They lose touch with themselves and others. They can become ruthless in pursuing their goals and aspirations and seek to win at any cost. At this point, Threes have mistaken their winning image for themselves and can run themselves ragged trying to achieve their next goal, win the next race, and crush the competition without being unmasked for being a fraud.

When Healthy and Balanced
Healthy Threes can safely embark on an internal journey toward spiritual or psychological health without feeling the need to impress others by playing the "most" spiritual person, which can trap them when not self-aware. Threes become attractive and successful both internally and externally at their best because they recognize that our true worth is not measured by the way we look or what we have accomplished but by our mere existence. Self-aware Threes bring presence into their action, enabling them to be even more effective and reminding them and others that they are human. More importantly, healthy Threes have learned that artifice and mimicry can only take them so far and thus become refreshingly honest with themselves and others about the need for human validation in constructing self-esteem.

Exemplars: Tony Robbins, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, David Bowie, Sting, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Jay Z, Ivanka Trump, Rob Lowe, Lenny Kravitz, Justin Bieber, Tina Fey, Halle Berry, Benson Boone, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, John Cena, Bruno Mars, Andy Warhol, Ryan Seacrest, Pete Buttigieg, Christie Brinkley, L.L. Cool J, Jared Leto, Demi Moore, Vanessa Williams, Lucy Liu, Angela Bassett, Michael Jordan, USA, Corporate America, Wall Street, Gordon Gecko, Joe Jonas, Chris Brown

Center of Intelligence: Heart Center

Motivation: To be seen as unique, sensitive, deep, creative, and flawed

Core Fears: Being without meaning, mundane, emotionally flat, and inadequate

Fours are insightful, melancholy, creative, and analytical. Fours are motivated to be seen as authentic, deep, intuitive, and original. They are the Enneagram's emotional barometers and have a deep need to express their emotional experiences and share their innermost feelings to retain a sense of themselves. Fours seek emotional intensity to make up for a deep feeling of inadequacy. They learned early in their lives that if they can maintain an intimate connection with their emotions, they can maintain a sense of self. Fours' emotional intensity makes them adept trackers of others' emotional states, and they often describe themselves as intuitive and empathetic. They want to bear witness to the pain and suffering of others because they are familiar with these states.

Insight Mastery
Fours often have an extraordinary gift for identifying what is missing. As one of the three reactive types (along with types Six and Eight), they call off what is emotionally absent or not acknowledged in any given situation. For example, they may identify emotional triggers or psychological patterns that others may not see. The propensity to explore their psyche affords them the skills to quickly understand others' motivations and emotional structure and offer insight and compassion. Fours are champions of emotional expression, authenticity, and exploration of human life's painful and uncomfortable aspects. Fours both idealize their flaws and feel shameful about their perceived lacks.

Envy, Compensation, and Analysis
Fours are aesthetically driven and seek beauty in their lives to compensate for the ugliness they perceive in the world around them (or within themselves). Some Fours can find beauty in the grotesque or avant-garde because the Four identifies with what is different or the exception to the rule. Fours intensely experience envy because they perpetually compare themselves to those around them who seem to have more than they do. They are all-too-aware of their envy and may become spiteful or vengeful toward those who possess gifts, talents, relationships, careers, beauty, strength, or intelligence that they believe they don't have. Fours are intellectual and introspective, and their emotional world is often analyzed and over-analyzed to locate the "fatal flaw" that makes them feel bereft, deprived, and constantly longing.

Fours can be therapy addicts, preferring the analysis of a problem, trauma, or their psyche to moving past an issue toward freedom. Fours are "insight masters" but may reach the same insight multiple times without taking steps to shift the emotional pain. Their aptitude for self-awareness stems from the Four's need to maintain a state of suffering or frustration.

Frustration, Dissatisfaction, and Hatefulness
For the Four, being chronically frustrated opens the possibility of being rewarded in some way for their suffering. However, Fours often feel angry and discouraged that the rewards or benefits of life never happen for them but seem to happen for other people. The feeling of frustration allows them to see themselves as exempt from the rules of "regular people" and, as such, exhibit haughtiness or diva-like qualities; "I can't do the dishes, I'm upset today."

Because of the Four’s focus on beauty and refinement, they may be exhibit elitism around their chosen interests (whether music, art, or an intellectual pursuit). Fours are moody, but their emotions are often outwardly understated and refined. As such, they do not exhibit frequent extroverted displays of emotion, but may pout, withdraw, and display irritation, frustration, and dissatisfaction. Unhealthy Fours can be self-involved and can have difficulty seeing things from the perspective of others. Their emotional pain and suffering become paramount. They can be dismissive and disdainful of others' experiences, believing they suffer more intensely than others and that no one can understand what they're going through. They begin to control others with their emotional moodiness, expecting others to exempt them from regular life and tending to basic everyday tasks. Unhealthy Fours can become hateful and emotionally erratic. They prefer wallowing in negative, unpleasant emotions more than finding productive solutions to their emotional distress.

When Healthy and Balanced
At their best, Fours can transform their subjective emotional pain into something universal (art, music, poetry, or just their perspective on the world). They recognize that their suffering is human suffering and thus representative of our humanity. They bear witness to others in crisis or distress, and people generally feel seen as healthy Fours see past facades and illusions to help uncover the true essence of others. Others look to Fours to create refinement, beauty, and nurture depth.

Healthy Fours manage to stay true to their emotional experiences and maintain a balanced, practical existence, tending to mundane daily life with the same passion they tend to intense emotions. Self-aware Fours understand the spiritual truth that depth comes from the transmutation of pain, suffering, and trauma.

Exemplars: Prince, Prince Charles of Windsor, Diana Ross, Naomi Campbell, Marilyn Manson, Bob Dylan, Fiona Apple, Jewel, Edgar Allen Poe, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Anna Wintour, Judy Garland, Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Frank Ocean, Frida Kahlo, Diane Arbus, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Alan Rickman, Stevie Nicks, Annie Lennox, Martha Graham, Rudolph Nureyev, Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Meryl Streep, Alan Ginsburg, Lauryn Hill, Cat Power, Bette Davis, Tom Ford, Alexandra Savior, Maggie Rogers, Gary Oldman, Angel Olsen, Mary Kate Olsen, Marion Cotillard, Billie Holiday, Tori Amos, Dracula, Anne Rice, Florence Welch, Virginia Woolf, Kurt Cobain, Jeff Buckley, Alanis Morrissette, P.J. Harvey, Julian Casablancas 

Center of Intelligence: Head Center

Motivation: To seek security through knowledge and pursue their intellectual interests

Core Fears: Being overwhelmed, invaded, manipulated, or contaminated by subjectivity

Fives are remote, logical, sensitive, and intelligent. Fives are motivated to seek knowledge, avoid being overwhelmed and depleted, and conserve their time and energy to pursue their intellectual interests. They are sensitive and idiosyncratic and often incredibly perceptive and observant of the world around them. Fives feel they can combat their anxiety and fear by obsessively seeking and hoarding information as a defense against the unknown. Fives feel an inner scarcity and fill this deficiency with data, knowledge, and the pursuit of intellectual mastery. Fives seek mental stimulation and enjoyment through intellectual depth and the specialized quest for expertise that aligns with their interest (astronomy, chemistry, epidemiology, psychology, 3D printing, etc.).

Observation, Competency, and Solitude
Fives feel inept with human interaction and are afraid that they can't emotionally engage with others and thus feel awkward and uncomfortable with initiating and maintaining relationships. Many Fives report the belief that there must be a rule book for human interaction that they didn't receive, which intensifies their avoidance of other people out of the fear of looking incompetent or being rejected. Their avoidance of relationships does not mean that Fives don't want or need connections (although they are more comfortable being alone than most other types).            

Fives require relationships that understand their need for alone time to recharge and pursue their interests and those that don't have prescribed expectations for emotional reactions or responses. Fives need to feel safe to reveal themselves and may take a very long time to expose aspects of their lives to even their closest friends. Their ability to compartmentalize their relationships can be surprising. The Five can be surprisingly adept at only allowing people to know what they want them to know. In many ways, Fives hide in plain sight.

Annihilation and Minimizing Needs
Many Fives are frugal and can live with very little, minimizing their needs (both physically and emotionally). The avarice of Five reveals their immense sensitivity and the fragility they feel internally. They fear annihilation if they give too much of themselves. Rationing themselves (their energy, feelings, ideas, resources) is a way of ensuring their survival. When Fives finally allow themselves to connect with others, they can often hold those relationships admiringly. However, others may not realize the extent of their affection because they feel uncomfortable expressing emotions or letting others know the degree to which they want or even need others in their lives. In fact, because of the tendency to minimize their needs, they may be unaware of the degree to which they want or need relationships in their lives.

Abstraction of Self and Others
When very stressed, Fives typically abstract themselves so much that they no longer feel human and may disidentify with others. At this point, their disdain and misanthropy grow, perpetuating their antagonistic, provocative, and cold detachment from others. They may deem "normal people" unworthy of their concern or attention and develop an inflated and grandiose sense of their intellectual superiority. They become highly isolated, miserly (materially and emotionally), and prone to immature emotional outbursts or intense brooding and dark fantasies. Unhealthy Fives reject and provoke others' fears and insecurities through data or their disturbing interests out of disdain for other people's apparent comfort with a world they find terrifying and alien.

When Healthy and Balanced
Healthy Fives are incredibly penetrating with their wisdom and insight, utilizing their keen ability to research, synthesize and disseminate valuable and potentially life-altering information. They recognize the importance of both emotion and logic in navigating human interactions. While still preferring the realm of the mind, they can be adept at understanding human beings as a complex system complete with predictabilities and mysteries. Many healthy Fives appreciate mystery as much as they value facts and data.

Exemplars: Issac Asimov, Bill Gates, Ebenezer Scrooge, Trent Reznor, Fredrich Chopin, Ralph Fiennes, Bjork, Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Day-Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, H.R. Geiger, Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, Elon Musk, Werner Herzog, Natalie Merchant, Jack White, Stanley Kubrick, Jane Goodall, Anthony Hopkins, Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tim Burton, Russ Hudson, Tilda Swinton, Annie Leibowitz, Joan Didion, David Lynch, Georgie O'Keefe, Jonah Hill, Jesse Eisenberg, James Spader, Vincent Van Gogh, Judith Butler, Patti Smith, Emily Dickinson, Shirley Jackson, Ian Curtis, Claudio Naranjo

Center of Intelligence: Head Center

Motivation: To seek certainty through skepticism and preparation and avoid anxiety

Core Fears: Fear itself, uncertainty, cowardly, submission, and being unprepared

Sixes are loyal, relatable, skeptical, anxious, and provocative. They are motivated to avoid feeling fearful, anxious, uncertain, or unsafe. Sixes are the alarm systems of the Enneagram and are frequently misunderstood by others because they are a mass of contradictory mental positions and emotions. By far, Sixes find it the most difficult to find their Enneagram type and frequently mistype as the other eight other types. The propensity to mistype is because Sixes evaluate their personalities situationally rather than their motivations. Sixes often utilize the phrase "it depends" because they know that their emotions constantly change and their behavior is contingent upon the situation.

Emotional and Mental Complexity
If Sixes are angry, they may feel more 8ish and identify themselves as Eights. If they're feeling sad, they may feel 4ish, or if they're feeling withdrawn and analytical, they may feel more 5ish. Sixes can have difficulty seeing the role that the avoidance of being afraid and anxiety play in their everyday lives. Six is the most emotionally complex, and subsequently, misunderstood type on the Enneagram because of their rapidly shifting emotional states, vacillating opinions, the tendency to play devil's advocate, alternating loyalty and mistrust of other's motives.

Certainty, Doubt, and Authority
Sixes want to be sure of themselves and others but do not trust their inner authority or intuition. They look to others (friends, family, parents, philosophies, religions, political ideologies, etc.) to help them eliminate the uncertainty. Because they are naturally skeptical and apprehensive about others' authority, they never fully trust those they look to for support. Sixes will alternately seek advice and certainty and then challenge and oppose authority figures or confidants they've turned to for guidance. Sixes want to avoid being paralyzed and cowardly and deal with fear in two distinct ways.

When the Sixes are in a phobic response, they avoid what scares them and look for protection, reassurance, or shelter from a more confident person, group, or institution with whom they've aligned themselves. When Sixes are in a counterphobic response, they move toward what scares them; they adopt a mind-over-matter approach to anxiety management and appear like Eights or Threes. If they are afraid of public speaking, they enroll in a public speaking seminar. If they're fearful of dying in a car accident, they may be inclined to drive fast cars at high speeds. In both instances, Sixes react to the overwhelming dread of being paralyzed by fear and finds strategies to deal with their paralysis.

Anxiety, Reactivity, and Planning
Because Sixes fear the consequences of their anxiety, they spend a lot of mental energy planning, projecting, postulating, theorizing, and rehearsing potential danger, chaos, or situations that could bring about anxiety. Sixes are excellent problem solvers, and as mental types, they have usually thought of all potential contingencies and potentialities in each situation. They possess the gift of seeing potential problems on the horizon and planning accordingly. Many people misunderstand this tendency in Sixes as "negative" or "naysaying," but it is an act of service and care. Sixes tend to question the motives of others and see underneath what's not said to the unspoken intentions of others. Their suspicion makes them adept at ferreting out danger or recognizing when something is not quite right.

Some Sixes inadvertently seek advice or guidance from others through complaining, fretting, or "spinning" about a particular issue or decision and unconsciously invite others to guide them. The Six then becomes defensive, reactive, angry, or defiant when others direct, guide, or instruct them. Other Sixes blatantly ask others what they think they should do and relinquish their authority to have someone else to blame if something goes wrong.

Bravery and Fairness
Sixes can be incredibly funny, ironic, lighthearted, quick-witted, and immensely supportive and helpful. They feel a duty to help and defend the underdog or those in need. When Sixes overcome their anxiety and find the courage they crave, they can perform heroic acts to rescue others from danger or stand up to unfair authorities or injustice.

Sixes are reactive types, and as such, if they sense inauthenticity, unfairness, or mistreatment, they often sound the proverbial alarm. However, unlike the more self-directed types, it's difficult for Sixes to confront injustice or inequity directly, so they rally others to help take down an enemy or foe. Sixes hold immense power in their ability to sow doubt and uncertainty in others.

Persecution and Volatility
When stressed, Sixes undermine others through provocative questioning, becoming rebellious or defiant, and demonstrating a relentless desire to persecute those they believe have targeted them. However, their paranoia has often clouded their judgment at this stage, making them reckless and erratic. Unhealthy Sixes become extremely ambivalent, reactive, and persecutory. They are so emotionally unpredictable that others find it challenging to interact without the Six exploding or becoming evasive or obsequious. When stressed, Sixes can expect others to take complete responsibility for them and their actions out of fear of acting.

When Healthy and Balanced
On the high side, Sixes truly exemplify courage if they recognize that fear can never truly be conquered but can be managed and endured through bravery. Healthy Sixes learn to laugh at their anxieties and fears and genuinely empathize with others who are afraid, uncertain, or indecisive. Healthy Sixes can help guide and encourage others patiently to find their inner voice, establish boundaries, or find the courage to conquer what scares them. Self-aware Sixes have mastered overcoming anxiety and performing brave and bold acts. Healthy Sixes defend and support others and know who (and what) deserves their considerable commitment. Many have strong values of fairness and equity. At their best, Sixes have finely tuned intuition that acts as a guiding light in murky waters when they allow themselves to trust their inner voice.

 Exemplars: Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Melissa McCarthy, Steve McQueen, Diane Keaton, Ellen DeGeneres, Charles Manson, Mark Wahlberg, Justin Timberlake, Eminem, Nicki Minaj, Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson, George Bush Sr., Adele, Chris Rock, Jessica Chastain, Megan Thee Stallion, Michael Moore, Bruce Springsteen, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Kit Harrington, Rachel Maddow, Amy Winehouse, Daniel Craig, Louis C.K., Ed Harris, Masie Williams, Amy Schumer, Richard Pryor, Robert Redford, Michael Cohen, Colin Farrell, Tom Hardy, Marilyn Monroe, Colin Kaepernick, Jon Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Ben Stiller, Seth Rogan, Byron Katie, Richard Nixon, Tom Condon, Khloe Kardashian, Iyanla Vanzant, DMX, Chris Christie, Dave Chapelle, Kendall Jenner, Shania Twain, Eliot Page, Post Malone, Nick Jonas, Anderson Cooper

Center of Intelligence: Head Center

Motivation: To avoid emotional pain and boredom through planning and excitement

Core Fears: Being bored, in pain, commitment, stagnation, and disappointment

Sevens are upbeat, fun-loving, curious, creative, and distractible. Sevens are motivated to avoid pain and to seek novel experiences to prevent feelings of boredom or emotional distress. Sevens want first and foremost to ensure that they always have positive and exciting plans and are constantly thinking of ways to satiate their need for the new, exciting or unexpected. Sevens are often visionaries who easily see how enjoyable and happy others could be if they expanded their minds. Sevens are mental types and struggle with anxiety; however, they reframe anxiety into opportunities to experience fun and excitement. Fear in the Seven arises when they experience something they find unpleasant, sad, or limiting. They are afraid they will be marred in negativity and drowned in a swamp of pain.

Pain Avoidance and Variety
Sevens prefer dealing with the broad picture and thus pass minutiae to others. They are frequently charming, intellectual, quick, and aspire to be well-traveled, worldly, and enjoy the avant-garde and unusual.

Sevens learn that they won't have time to get caught under a wet blanket if they constantly create novel and fascinating distractions to avoid being in pain. Sevens have quick minds and easily imagine various options; however, this gift can be their weakness. Sevens experience resistance with commitment and can become compulsive about the need for freedom and variation. Many Sevens leave trails of unfinished projects, half-baked ideas, and compelling but ultimately empty promises or plans. If a bigger, better deal comes along, they will gladly abandon old plans, people, or situations for the shinier, newer fascination.

Visionary and Creative
Sevens are creative types, and they are often quite multi-talented. However, they rarely, if ever, take the time to master their various interests and aptitudes. Their fear of being exposed as a charlatan or superficial fraud creates a defense mechanism that allows them to default to being dazzling, entertaining, zany, brilliant storytellers by which others are fascinated. They use their considerable mental curiosity to learn about many different things, and as such, they are renaissance people who leverage their experiences to adapt well to new situations. They are, however, acutely aware their skills, emotions, or knowledge lack depth, which stirs feelings of inferiority.

Inferiority/Superiority and Reframing
When Sevens feel inferior, they compensate by becoming superior. They employ intellectual arrogance, dismissiveness, and a biting or sarcastic sense of humor to place them back into a position of superiority. Ironically, Sevens prefer egalitarian environments. If no one is in charge, then no one can tell them what to do, and they can avoid being trapped in boredom or pain. However, if they can't be equal, they prefer the superior position and may often take on leadership roles and lead others into uncharted (and hopefully exciting) new territory. Overall, Sevens don't like restrictions, rules, regulations, or limitations.

Sevens thrive in environments where they can generate intriguing ideas and options but feel uncomfortable with execution, particularly with detail-oriented work. Sevens have a low tolerance for emotional pain and compulsively reframe any experience that isn't ideal into something interesting, fun, or positive. Compulsive reframing and manic-like activity keep them busy and distracted from pain, but it also prevents them from experiencing their own emotions or the emotions of others.

Boredom and Selfishness
Sevens feel an inner scarcity, and their method of dealing with feelings of emptiness is to fill it with mental planning, activity, and gluttonous satiating of their whims and desires. Gluttony represents the Seven's primary vice. As they consume more and more experiences, they grow cynical and jaded, and soon nothing is compelling, and they require inordinately variation, intensity, and excitement to feel anything at all.

Unhealthy Sevens can be spectacularly selfish, reckless, highly distractible, commitment-phobic, and superficial. When unhealthy, Sevens will say and do whatever is needed to get their way and throw temper tantrums or con other people in service of chasing happiness or getting what they want. Sevens can be champions of self-pampering and treating oneself to whatever indulges arise. They may thus encourage others to participate in excessive behavior (drinking, shopping, sex, partying, etc.) as a projection of their fear of being limited or in pain. They also have trouble limiting themselves and can be prone to addiction to many vices.

When Healthy and Balanced
Healthy Sevens learn to stop and savor their experiences, and following through with commitments creates greater feelings of satisfaction for longer. They understand that negative emotions will not swallow them. Dealing with what they're evading creates greater depth that others appreciate and find equally as interesting as their hyperactive, entertaining façade. At their best, Sevens are resilient and allow all positive or negative experiences without premature reframing, evasiveness, or avoidance. They help others see positive possibilities through their infectious and genuine joie de vivre.

Exemplars: Brad Pitt, Steve Jobs, John F. Kennedy, Lilly Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Dick Van Dyke, Joseph Campbell, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Russell Brand, Erol Flynn, Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen, George Clooney, Shaquille O'Neil, Kevin Hart, Jack Nicholson, Michael Kors, Vincent Price, Bob Fosse, Cher, Ava Gardner, Robin Williams, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jude Law, Harry Styles, Matthew McConaughey, Steve Irwin, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus, Giselle, Charlize Theron, Cate Blanchette, Ron Howard, Stephen Spielberg, Liz Minelli, Samuel L. Jackson, Blondie, John Mulaney, Seth McFarlane, Michael Bublé, Britney Spears, Jim Carrey, Cookie Monster, Zendaya, Blake Lively, Eva Mendes, Lil Wayne, Lil John, Salvador Dali, MIA, Andy Cohen

Center of Intelligence: Gut Center

Motivation: To avoid weakness through independence, strength, and acquiring power

Core Fears: Being disempowered, weak, taken advantage of, harmed, or naive

Eights are motivated to avoid weakness, vulnerability, and the feeling of disempowerment. They seek power, influence, and strength to prevent others from overpowering or taking advantage of them. Eights employ denial to disown their vulnerabilities and weaknesses, allowing them to plow through obstacles and intimidate those who would underestimate them, making them formidable opponents. The characteristic anger of Eight is expressed through callous indifference and implied threat rather than explosive reactivity (although this can happen). Eights have the psychological vice of lust, which refers to a lack of inhibition or self-regulation about one's desires or impulses and a desire to have what they want in excess when they want it. Eights take a "too much is almost enough" life orientation. Eights won't be controlled and resist any limitations and become self-referenced, so they never have to answer to someone else.

Power and Intimidation
Eights naturally attune to who has power in each situation because they're infrequently if ever intimidated; they project an air of strength that drives others to seek their protection and leadership. Eights are aware that others are intimidated by them but do not go looking for a fight; instead, Eights will not back down from a fight if challenged. Eights have visceral instinctive responses as gut types and quickly and easily "size up" another person to identify potential weaknesses.

 The predatory nature of Eights is a defense designed to prevent others from taking advantage of their vulnerabilities (which they sometimes believe they don't have). However, they deny their weaknesses and often conceptualize themselves as indestructible.

Cynicism and Callousness
Eights are naturally skeptical of others' motivations. Because of early perceptions of the absence of innocence in the motivations of others, they grow up quickly and are parentified or made into authorities far too young. As such, Eights often feel like adults long before adulthood. Most Eights are extraordinarily sensitive, and as reactive types, have a visceral response to any perceived threat. However, they believe showing their emotions or sharing their sensitivities with others will be exploited or unappreciated. They tend to appear cold, dismissive, or indifferent when defended. Eights focus on equity, and if that means getting even with a perceived enemy for a transgression, they will do what it takes to ensure justice, as they've defined it, is served.

When Eights are stressed, they fear being betrayed and disempowered. They often test others' loyalty and look for ways people manipulate, coerce, or otherwise take advantage of them. This worldview often reinforces their cynical "dog-eat-dog" perspective and hardens them further. Eights see their relationships as transactional, where they take care of or protect others. In turn, they expect others to pledge their loyalty to the Eight. Those who gain entry into the Eight's inner circle of care will see a softer, accommodating, and naivete they fear will be used to harm or overpower them. They go out of their way for those who have proven their loyalty and that they will not exploit the Eight's weaknesses.

Predatory Rage
Eights use their strength and power to exploit and take advantage of others they see as idiotic or weak. They have a cynical worldview and see incompetency, unfairness, and callousness everywhere. They believe that to avoid becoming the prey, they must become the predator. The belief in the world as dog-eat-dog and gladiator-like causes them to feel little remorse, empathy, or guilt for overpowering or exploiting others.

Unhealthy Eights will say and do whatever it takes to win, overpower others, and become invulnerable. They can become incredibly insensitive and calloused to the brunt of their impact. They can become disdainful of weakness, vulnerability, or softness in others, and rather than protecting innocence, they take advantage of those who embody the vulnerability they're trying to avoid.

When Healthy and Balanced
Healthy Eights are magnanimous leaders and utilize their considerable self-confidence and strength to protect the vulnerable and champion justice. At their best, Eights learn to see people three-dimensionally and come to appreciate the vulnerability and emotional authenticity of themselves and others. Healthy Eights are mindful of their impact and mitigate their forceful, blunt, or cold presentation to learn the art of diplomacy.

Exemplars: P!nk, Muhammed Ali, Donald Trump, Chrissy Hynde, Denzel Washington, Rosie O’Donnell, Roseanne, Yolanda Hadid, Danny DeVito, Queen Latifah, Idris Elba, Kathy Bates, Liev Schriber, Ray Donovan, Chris Hemsworth, Martin Luther King Jr., Marilyn Horne, Natalie Maines, Alec Baldwin, Suzanne Pleshette, Russell Crowe, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Michael Douglas, Fidel Castro, Josh Brolin, Joan Jett, Joseph Stalin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Penn, Dr. Dre, Ammachi, Bruce Lee, George Gurdjieff, Jim Jones, Nina Simone, Etta James, Ice-T, Hulk Hogan, John Lewis

Center of Intelligence: Gut Center

Motivation: To maintain inner and outer peace by avoiding complication and conflict

Core Fears: Conflict, disconnection, being loveless, complication, and complexity

Nines are easy-going, pleasant, conflict-avoidant, agreeable, and passive-aggressive. Nines are motivated to maintain their inner peace and want peace in the world around them. Nines want to feel even-keeled and seek moderation and evenness internally and externally. As gut types, they experience the world instinctively and respond viscerally to their convictions and emotions when they rise to their awareness. Nines do not like to feel anything too intensely, so they tend to keep their passions, opinions, and identities blunted or hidden from themselves and others. Nines engage in self-denial and self-neglect. This avoidance isn't because they don't care for themselves but because they fear disharmony, disconnection, and complication. Their conflict avoidance causes them to anesthetize any state, emotion, or condition threatening their inner peace. Nines adapt interpersonal strategies to avoid conflict and difficulties that create an open, gentle, relaxed, and non-judgmental demeanor.

Avoiding Complication and Confrontation
Nines see themselves as pleasant and friendly and believe this is the most effective way of preventing conflict or complication in their relationships. Nines are afraid of being loveless and believe that confrontation or differentiating too strongly from others will create disconnection. They will be shut out and thus without the comfort they crave. However, their search for comfort and connection is compulsive, and they often amass a sophisticated array of buffering strategies to avoid disruption of their inner and outer comfort. Nines struggle to find their Enneagram type because they readily identify with all states of being and see parts of themselves reflected in all types. This universalism is part of a defense strategy that wants to merge with others to feel safe.

Interestingly, finding their Enneagram type can rouse annoyance or anger. Mistyping is part of a defense strategy designed to obfuscate what is vital, allowing them to avoid self-development unconsciously. Nines are masters of keeping secrets from themselves to avoid action. Nines know they'll have to act once something comes into their awareness. So to prevent from upsetting the proverbial apple cart, they prefer to keep uncomfortable truths out of their awareness.

Repression of Strong Emotion
Having a definitive identity or strong feelings and emotions feels dangerous because it could mean that others may not like or approve of their authentic emotions, thoughts, feelings, desires, or interests. Or, worse yet, for the Nine, might cause others to challenge and rouse the anger they strive to repress. Nines will use a variety of distractions to keep others from arousing strong responses or emotions, including; obfuscating, appearing clueless, not paying attention, compulsive positivity or niceness, confusion, acquiescence, stubbornness, or obstruction. However, the pleasant demeanor of the Nine hides the incredible ability to endure, stoic patience, and formidable determination.

Nines may seem agreeable, but underneath, nothing has changed about their genuine opinions or positions. They know that it's difficult to attack someone who appears benign and unassuming. Being even-tempered, pleasant, and moderate is a defense against potential conflict and a way to keep others from bothering them too much to avoid upsetting their equilibrium.

Of course, Nines experience anger just like everyone else, but their rage is repressed and may be difficult for them to access directly. Some Nines claim to have or rarely become angry, later becoming irate at a restaurant server for an incorrect order or becoming explosive if they can't watch their favorite movie during a holiday. It's safer to become angry about relatively trivial inconveniences rather than acknowledge genuine resentment or anger they may have with people close to them.

Passive Aggression, and Numbing
They are passive-aggressive to help dispel their rage toward others. Forgetfulness, neglect, callousness, dismissal, or nonchalance are passive-aggressive methods used to punish those they believe don't respect them. Respect is just as crucial for Nines as for Eights and Ones. However, because Nines are withdrawn types, they feel guilty or shameful taking up space in the world. Nines, however, have a strong sense of self that they've learned must be kept hidden to avoid conflict.

Nines tow the middle of the road because extremes feel existentially unsafe. Their fear of being disconnected blunts strong exclamations, emotions, passions, or desires. Nines go through life in a conscious sleep state, which helps them stay comfortable and calm. However, this often occurs at the expense of self-development. When Nines wake up and begin to proclaim their space in the world, they are effective and self-possessed. They can become driven, effective and strong but maintain a gentle and calming influence on people in their lives.

Self Neglect and Other-Dismissal
When stressed, Nines become calloused and have trouble feeling much of anything. They utilize substances, food, unessential busy work, or distractions to help them push out anything that could be disruptive or upsetting. Unhealthy Nines become dismissive, obstructive, passive-aggressive, and ineffectual in their interpersonal relationships and begin neglecting others in the same ways they neglect themselves. The repression of their rage has outward effects, and they may be prone to outbursts of anger or emotionality, only to later act as though nothing has happened out of the shame of their extreme reactions.

When Healthy and Balanced
Healthy Nines are both gentle and firm and feel comfortable expressing their needs or opinions, knowing that true friendships or relationships will not disintegrate because of a disagreement. They have a discernible and strong sense of themselves and can be a calming and stabilizing presence to those around them. At their best, Nines are effective mediators because they're able to see all points of view and can acknowledge negative or difficult emotions or situations without going to sleep to avoid being overwhelmed. 

Exemplars: John Goodman, Albert Einstein, Mark Zuckerberg, Beyonce, Serena Williams, Janet Jackson, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Queen Elizabeth II, Jeff Daniels, Mahatma Gandhi, Carl Jung, Woody Harrelson, Josh Hartnett, Julia Child, Biggie Smalls, Sophia Lauren, Audrey Hepburn, Rihanna, Morgan Freeman, Sandra Bullock, Jessica Biel, Jack Johnson, The Weeknd, Tina Turner, Kylie Jenner, Cardi B, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Carrie Underwood, David Beckham, John Legend, Nora Jones, Anna Paquin, Renee Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Dali Lama, Winnie the Pooh, Khalid, Oscar Ichazo, Alicia Keys, SZA, Peyton Manning, Chris Martin, Ronald Reagan, Jennifer Hudson, Caitlin Jenner, Jhené Aiko, Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Toby Maguire, John Wayne, Kevin Spacey, Ina Garten, Gale King, Kate Middleton, Chelsea Clinton, Jeff Bridges, J.R.R. Tolkien