Blank's Essay Entry

Most people don't seem to understand what the enneagram system measures because of the misinformation. To understand it better, a scientific thought process and analysis are required to understand what the enneagram categorizes. Starting from the iconic enneagram web, we can gather interesting information by analyzing it. First, the enneagram is divided into three general sections: the gut, the heart, and the head. All three groups have associated negative emotions: anger, shame, and anxiety (respectively). Already, there is a pattern here that describes what each group is about—the heart, head, and gut cause each group's negative emotions. Analyzing those negative emotions, the past, present, or future, is highly correlated to them. Shame is felt when your identity is challenged, where the past defines identity. Anxiety is an emotion caused when thinking about a dire future. Anger is caused by a momentary reaction to your surroundings. These understandings are a hint at what the centers of intelligence are. The head is logic and the future. The heart is identity and the past. The gut is instinct, morals, and the present. In fact, there are more than these three negative emotions, such as disgust, a negative gut-based emotion. Within each center of intelligence are three types defined by the harmonic triads. This is where the enneagram becomes increasingly complex, as the analytical process used in the first paragraph can be used to reach each harmonic triad. Five sets of harmonic triads currently describe common traits found between each type. If you were to consider, the groups we discussed earlier are a harmonic triad. (Check the replies to read about the harmonic triads.) When the types are defined, there are nine distinct types. Lines of integration and disintegration show the difference between healthy and unhealthy qualities of the type. For example, a healthy E7 would show more qualities of an E5 when healthy and E1 when unhealthy. When observing the Enneagram web, there are subtypes called wings. These wings describe more minor influences of the types, and their neighboring types are the influence. What's most interesting are the wings that cross the border of the triads, such as the 2w1 or 7w8. Notice how these enneagram types are on the edges and are not influenced by the central type (9, 6, and 3) of their respective group. This causes these subtypes to act more unconventionally. Take the difference between 2w1 and 2w3 as an example. The E2 has heart, disconnection, compliance, optimism, and rejection qualities, which describe someone clueless about who they are and what they want to do in life. They live directionless lives, hoping to stumble on something that gives them an identity. A lot of buried childhood guilt in the E2. A 2w1 will create an ideal identity and a vision of who they want to be, an ideal self. Whereas the 2w3 will seek external influences to give them identity, like a partner. The difference is similar for the 4w5 and 4w3, as the non-three wing isn't reliant on others' perspectives for identity. The enneagram generally measures how people use their gut, head, and heart and cope with those negative emotions. It gives insight into their worldview and how we may have been raised.

Centers of Intelligence: 
>Head (567): Logics and Future 
>Gut (891): Instinct, Morals, and Present 
>Heart (234): Identity and Past

Emotional Management: how we prevent experiencing negative emotions.
>Confrontation (358): Confronts respective negative emotions.
>Immersion (146): Immersed within respective negative emotions.
>Disconnection (279): Disconnects respective negative emotions.

Coping Strategies: how we deal with negative emotions.

>Withdrawn (459): Withdraws into its triad to cope with the respective negative emotions.
>Compliant (126): Compliant to its triad and its respective negative emotions.
>Aggressive (378): Aggressive with its triad and quickly deals with respective negative emotions.

World View: How we perceive others’ management of triads.
>Rationales (135): Balanced Worldview based on respective triad. Takes time to come to conclusions.
>Pessimists (468): Pessimistic Worldview based on respective triad. Quick to conclusions.
>Optimists (279): Optimistic Worldview based on respective triad. Ignores conclusions.

Object Relations: explains why we became our type.
>Rejection (258): No Object during childhood to cope with respective negative emotions.
>Frustration (147): Object causes respective negative emotions during childhood.
>Attachment (369): Object reduces respective negative emotions during childhood.