The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge

by Beatrice Chestnut

Sexual Ones can travel the path from anger to serenity through being clearer about the deeper motives behind the desire to perfect others. You are worthy not because you help us learn how to reform and improve ourselves, but because you deeply value the higher goal of creating a better world.

A helpful way to understand the distinction between Ones and Twos is that while Ones look internally to determine whether or not they have done a good job or made a mistake, Twos are more highly affected by how others perceive them than by how they view themselves.

Not viewing the end goal as the most important piece of the task process, Ones can tend to procrastinate for fear of making a mistake, where Threes, in contrast, tend to want to find the fastest, most efficient path to the goal and do not place as much attention on the possibility of making a mistake.

while Ones focus more on the structure and process and details of completing tasks, Fours focus more on relationships and people and their own creative expression.

while both Ones and Fours base their judgments on their internal sense of what is ideal, Fours are much more conscious of how things look to other people.

while the One’s inner critic provides a running commentary about how things could have been done more perfectly, the Four experiences a deeper sense of something being fundamentally flawed within them.

Fours attend to other people, paying a lot of attention to what interactions are like on an emotional level, and how much they feel connected or not to the people around them. Ones are more likely to focus on the structure of relationships or the work tasks they share in common.

At times Fours can be dramatic and emotionally expressive in communicating with others, while Ones tend to be more controlled, straightforward, concise, and precise.

Fives require more privacy than Ones.

However, Ones are more rules-based and Fives are more appreciative of simplicity and the conservation of resources than reliant on a specific set of rules.

While Fives can be self-critical, Ones are much more self-critical than Fives.

Ones also tend to be more judgmental of others than Fives; they can be openly angry or irritated when others do not follow the rules or do not do things the right way

One particularly stark contrast between Ones and Sixes is that Ones tend to obey authority, whereas Sixes tend to be suspicious of authority and may even rebel against it.

Ones tend to trust people and give them the benefit of the doubt unless they break the rules or engage in some kind of bad behavior, whereas Sixes mistrust others initially until they have observed them enough to satisfy themselves that they are trustworthy.

Ones are generally more consistently concerned with perfection than Sevens, who can let go of the effort to “do it right” if it becomes too onerous.

for Ones, work has to come before play, and for Sevens, planning for play and engaging in pleasurable activities is more primary.

Ones like structure and can work within prescribed limits, while Sevens dislike limits and so may have a harder time with constraining elements of organizational structure.

Because Ones naturally pay attention to errors that need correcting, they can seem to the Seven to focus too much on the negative—Sevens always want to focus on the positive aspects of things.

Eights think in terms of the big picture, like high-level work, and dislike having to deal with details. Ones, on the other hand, excel at and may enjoy detail work.

Internally, Ones are extremely self-critical, while Eights do not criticize themselves as much. On the contrary, Eights often move into action quickly, feeling much freer than Ones to exercise their power and their will, without overanalyzing things or entertaining critical thoughts about their intentions or behaviors.

Ones tend to be fairly opinionated, often believing they know the one right way to do something, and Nines can have a hard time locating their own opinion as a natural consequence of being so attuned to other people’s varied perspectives.

Nines seek consensus, wanting to hear from others when making decisions about what the standards should be. Ones are more observant of rules and will confront those who do not follow the rules, while Nines are more easy-going and much less likely to confront people who don’t obey guidelines.

While both styles pay a lot of attention to creating an impression that matches what others value, Twos focus on meeting others’ needs and being friendly, likable, and accommodating, while Threes focus on achieving goals and attaining success to win the admiration and respect of others.

Twos are more relationship-oriented and Threes more task-oriented.

Both Twos and Threes can be confused about who they really are—with so much energy going into the maintenance of an image designed to impress others, it can be hard for people of both styles to have a clear sense of self. Related to this, both Twos and Threes tend to avoid their emotions, Threes because feeling can get in the way of doing, and Twos because feeling can get in the way of forging positive connections with other people.

Twos tend to express anger when their unacknowledged needs are not met and Threes when someone puts an obstacle between them and their goal.

Twos work hard, sometimes behind the scenes, at achieving positive connections with others to avoid experiencing rejection. Threes structure their work and other goal-directed activities to avoid failure. Because of this, Twos can be less direct and assertive than Threes, and Threes can be more driven to win and reframe failures as learning experiences.

Twos want to be seen as likable and friendly and Fours prefer to be viewed as special and unique.

Both Twos and Fours can feel their emotions fairly readily, though Twos can sometimes repress feelings and may at times be out of touch with their inner experience, while Fours can overdo or overidentify feelings or dwell in some feelings in an extreme way to avoid other feelings.

Twos want to be helpful through meeting others’ needs and so neglect their own needs because their attention is so focused on others. Fours have more access to their own needs and wants and make their own desires more of a priority.

When interacting with others, Twos place a high value on being liked and so often adapt their presentation to be more of what they think others want them to be, while Fours value authenticity and so do not alter as much to please others.

Fours are more able to engage in conflict when necessary, finding it more important to express truthful feelings and needs than accommodate others and avoid anger. Overall, Twos are usually upbeat and highly positive

Twos feel their emotions fairly frequently, and Fives have the habit of detaching from emotion.

Fives hold the belief that they can easily be drained of energy and resources if they interact a great deal with others, while Twos can feel energized and affirmed by contact with other people, especially close friends and individuals who are important to them.

Sixes worry about overall safety, bad things happening, and problems occurring, while Twos worry more about whether or not people will perceive them in a positive light, the possibility of being rejected, and the safety of specific individuals who are important to them.

Twos have a hard time making choices because they often don’t know what they need or want.

In contrast, decisions can be challenging for Sixes because they continually doubt themselves and question their potential choices.

Twos would like to avoid conflict most of the time if they can, while Sixes, and especially counterphobic Sixes, can sometimes move toward conflict, especially if they feel motivated to challenge an authority figure who they believe is abusing their power.

On a fundamental level, Twos are motivated by pleasing others; Sevens are motivated by pleasing themselves. Twos tend to be more feeling-oriented, having regular contact with their emotions, while Sevens are more mental and more oriented to thinking.

Eights’ attention typically focuses on power and control and who has it and how they use it. Twos may sense this at times, but they primarily pay attention to what people need and how they feel, not how much power they have.

Twos tend to focus more on feelings and tend to feel their emotions more readily, while Nines focus more on maintaining an energetic harmony with others. Twos tend to feel a wider range of stronger emotions more frequently than Nines, who tend to be more emotionally steady and even.

Both Threes and Fours focus their attention on how others perceive them. While Threes pay a great deal of attention to creating an image of success and achievement according to external standards in specific contexts, Fours focus on communicating an image based on their own unique sense of what they think is important to express. In addition to focusing on image, both of these styles also belong to the heart triad and so are oriented at a fundamental level to feelings and emotional connection.

Threes tend to focus their attention on tasks, goals, and work, while Fours place more importance on feelings, self-expression, and emotional connections with others.

Threes numb out their feelings to get things done while Fours believe that all feelings should be felt and authentically expressed.

When presenting themselves to others, Threes strive to match the image of whatever other people will think is most attractive or admirable, even if it means conforming to appear as something they’re not (and thus losing sight of who they actually are), while Fours value authentic self-expression.

Threes tend to be dependent on others for approval and admiration, while Fives pride themselves on their independence and objectivity and don’t evaluate themselves based on others’ perception of them.

Both Threes and Sixes specialize in reading people, though they do this for different reasons.

Threes focus on moving quickly and efficiently toward their goals, while Sixes can procrastinate for fear of doing it wrong or because they are looking for problems.

Sixes can also become stuck in fear or paralyzed by overanalysis and imagining the worst-case scenario.

while Threes are action-oriented and success-oriented, Sixes often avoid taking action that might lead to success because they fear that success leads to exposure and exposure may lead to being attacked.