Enneagram Overview
These one-word descriptors can be expanded into four-word sets of traits. Keep in mind that these are merely highlights and do not represent the full spectrum of each type.
Type One is principled, purposeful, self-controlled, and perfectionistic.
Type Two is generous, demonstrative, people-pleasing, and possessive.
Type Three is adaptable, excelling, driven, and image-conscious.
Type Four is expressive, dramatic, self-absorbed, and temperamental.
Type Five is perceptive, innovative, secretive, and isolated.
Type Six is engaging, responsible, anxious, and suspicious.
Type Seven is spontaneous, versatile, acquisitive, and scattered.
Type Eight is self-confident, decisive, willful, and confrontational.
Type Nine is receptive, reassuring, complacent, and resigned.
Type 9 - The Peacemaker
Nines are accepting, trusting, and stable. They are usually creative, optimistic, and supportive, but can also be too willing to go along with others to keep the peace. They want everything to go smoothly and be without conflict, but they can also tend to be complacent, simplifying problems and minimizing anything upsetting. They typically have problems with inertia and stubbornness.
We have sometimes called the Nine the crown of the Enneagram because it is at the top of the symbol and because it seems to include the whole of it. Nines can have the strength of Eights, the sense of fun and adventure of Sevens, the dutifulness of Sixes, the intellectualism of Fives, the creativity of Fours, the attractiveness of Threes, the generosity of Twos, and the idealism of Ones. However, what they generally do not have is a sense of really inhabiting themselves—a strong sense of their own identity.
Ironically, therefore, the only type the Nine is not like is the Nine itself. Being a separate self, an individual who must assert herself against others, is terrifying to Nines. They would rather melt into someone else or quietly follow their idyllic daydreams.
- Basic Fear: Of loss and separation
- Basic Desire: To have inner stability "peace of mind"
- Enneagram Nine with an Eight-Wing: "The Referee"
- Enneagram Nine with a One-Wing: "The Dreamer"
When moving in their Direction of Disintegration (stress): complacent Nines suddenly become anxious and worried at Six.
When moving in their Direction of Integration (growth): slothful, self-neglecting Nines become more self-developing and energetic, like healthy Threes.
Nines are the crown of the Enneagram because it is at the top of the symbol and because it seems to include the whole of it. Nines can have the strength of Eights, the sense of fun and adventure of Sevens, the dutifulness of Sixes, the intellectualism of Fives, the creativity of Fours, the attractiveness of Threes, the generosity of Twos, and the idealism of Ones. However, what they generally do not have is a sense of really inhabiting themselves—a strong sense of their own identity.
See Type 9 Overview and Levels of Development at Enneagram Institute
People of this personality type essentially feel a need for peace and harmony. They tend to avoid conflict at all costs, whether it be internal or interpersonal. As the potential for conflict in life is virtually ubiquitous, the Nine's desire to avoid it generally results in some degree of withdrawal from life, and many Nines are, in fact, introverted. Other Nines lead more active, social lives, but nevertheless remain to some to degree "checked out," or not fully involved, as if to insulate themselves from threats to their peace of mind. Most Nines are fairly easy going; they adopt a strategy of "going with the flow." They are generally reliable, sturdy, self-effacing, tolerant and likable individuals.
Nines tend to adopt an optimistic approach to life; they are, for the most part, trusting people who see the best in others; they frequently have a deep seated faith that things will somehow work out. They desire to feel connected, both to other people and to the world at large. They frequently feel most at home in nature and generally make warm and attentive parents. (www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/type9)
High Efficiency as a Type 9 (Peacemaker)
If you tested as a One you would not “be” a One but instead would have high efficiency” in the nature of One. When that is the case, you can further inquire, “. . . and what is my relationship to the rest of the numbers/natures?” All around the circle, you witness the efficiency or inefficiency with which you utilize each number and paint a more (w)holistic picture of your personal neuropsychology. (Rohr 3/7/20 email))
Efficiency in a number means there is an ease of relationship with the nature of that number. It means you engage often. Inefficiency in a number means there is less ease in the relationship with the nature of that number. You don’t often engage.
Based on nature, nurture, and discipline, you express the values of each number at varying degrees of intensity based on your lived experience:
Eight: Challenger, I value Autonomy
Nine: Peacemaker, I value Serenity
One: Reformer, I value Justice
Two: Helper, I value Appreciation
Three: Achievor, I value Authenticity
Four: Individualist, I value Creativity
Five: Investigator, I value Clarity
Six: Loyalist, I value Guarantees
Seven: Enthusiast, I value Experiences
We are innately capable of wholeness. This is not about being broken. It is about being more whole.