In the first article, you were given an introduction to how the lines and arrows play a part in the Enneagram model. Now it is time to elaborate on how they play out in all of the 9 types:
- Type One – When the type one takes on the positive qualities of the 7 they become more self-accepting, optimistic, plan their activities for enjoyment, and become more spontaneous. When they take on the negative qualities of 7, they can self-destruct with substance abuse or in other ways. And when the type 1 takes on the positive traits of the 4, they become more empathetic and creative. When they take on the negative traits of the type 4, they become depressed, feel unloved, long for what they don’t have, and they lose hope.
- Type Two -When this type takes on the positive qualities of the 4, they accept their feelings no matter how unpleasant, and express themselves in a creative way. They also express what they need a lot more, and find acceptance in being alone. When they take on the negative side of 4, they compare themselves to others and are filled with envy. They also become quite depressed and self-absorbed. They also withdraw. When the type 2 takes on the positive qualities of 8, they are more honest, they don’t beat around the bush, they are not so worried about what others think of them, and they are more confident. When they take on the negative qualities of 8, they become controlling, play the blame game, become irritable, and harden up.
- Type Three – When this type takes on the positive qualities of 6, they become more family-oriented, they care about what is best for a group, they acknowledge their feelings and vulnerability. When they take on the negative aspects of 6 they fear rejection, they become anxiety-ridden, indecisive, and dependent. When the 3 takes on the positive qualities of 9, they can relax, slow down, see the bigger picture, and be more at peace. When they take on the negative side of 9, they become apathetic, become passive-aggressive, numb themselves with substances, and procrastinate.
- Type Four – When the 4 takes on the positive qualities of the 1, they become more organized, disciplined, become great problem-solvers, and aren’t controlled by their feelings. When they take on the negative side of 1, they can become judgmental, critical, and have a holier than thou attitude. When they take on the positive qualities of 2 they are there for others and connect with others as well. However, when they take on the negative traits of 2, they become dependent, ignore their needs, find ways to get attention, and can be manipulative.
- Type Five – When the 5 takes on the positive qualities of the 8, they get in touch with their personal power, they become more outspoken, they trust their instincts, and they can defend themselves. When they move towards 7 and take the positive quality of the type, they become fun and optimistic. When they move towards the negative side to 7, they become irresponsible. When they move towards the negative side of 8, they become unreasonable, ignore the feelings of others, and become punitive.
- Type Six – When the 6 takes on the positive side of 3, they become proud of their accomplishments, and take action and are more decisive. When they take on the negative qualities of 3, they can become workaholics so they can avoid the unpleasant feelings they have, they take on an image or a role for superficial reasons, and will be dishonest just to get ahead. When the 6 takes on the positive traits of 9, they see things from a broader perspective, they are more empathetic, and are able to trust more. When they take on the negative side of 9, they become apathetic, and they abuse substances to numb their feelings.
- Type Seven – When the 7 takes on the positive side of 5, they become more introspective, accept the good and bad about life, and acknowledge their fears. When they take on the negative side of 5, they become very self-absorbed and find ways to escape responsibilities more. They also force others to believe what they do. When the 7 takes on the positive side of 1 they become more productive and are more interested in the welfare of others instead of themselves, they also will be more objective about their options. When they take on the negative side of 1, they become very judgemental, nitpicky, cynical, and will only have an all or nothing attitude.
- Type Eight – When the 8 takes on the positive qualities of 2, they reveal their vulnerabilities to others and will open up more. They become gentle, loving, and show concern for others. When they take on the negative side of 2, they overreact, become dependent, they become even more demanding. When they take on the positive side of 5, they think before they act and they become more objective. When they take on the negative side of 5, they become depressed, defeated, don’t take action, become paranoid, and become withdrawn.
- Type Nine – When the 9 takes on the positive traits of 3, they become more action-oriented, focused, energetic, and are more in control of themselves. When they take on the negative side of 3, they take on more work than they can handle, try too hard to impress others and try to earn respect for the wrong reasons. When they take on the positive traits of 6, they become more practical, direct, realistic, and outspoken. When they take on the negative traits of 6, they become even more inactive, more rigid, and become more anxiety-ridden and are filled with worry.
It was believed at one time that the types would either integrate or disintegrate into one type or another. However, they can do either. That means, for instance, if you are a type 4, you can take on the positive aspects of 2 and also can take on the negative aspects of 1. At one time it was thought that a type 4 would only take on positive aspects of 1 and only take negative aspects of 2. However, now you see that is not at all the case!
