Enneagram - Quick Description - Each Number

The Enneagram system

The nine types (or "enneatypes", "ennea" means "nine") are universally identified by the numbers 1 to 9.

These numbers have a standard way of being placed around the Enneagram symbol. Enneagram authors have attached their own individual names to these numbers. On this site the type names by authors Riso and Hudson are used. They are:
People of a particular type have several characteristics in common, but they can be quite different nevertheless. It depends among other things on their level of mental health. Unhealthy (neurotic) people from a particular type can look quite different from healthy ones. Riso and Hudson distinguish 9 levels of mental health (see their book Personality Types) and have type descriptions for each level of each enneagram type.


Usually one has characteristics of one of the types that lie adjacent to one's own that are more prominent. This is called the wing. So someone who is a type 5, might have a 4 wing or a 6 wing. This may be abbreviated to "5w4" and "5w6". If one doesn't have a dominant wing, it is said that the wings are balanced.

To find out which Enneagram type you are, see which description fits you most, or do the free Enneagram Test on this site.

Enneagram type descriptions

Type 1 - The Reformer

Perfectionists, responsible, fixated on improvement
Ones are essentially looking to make things better, as they think nothing is ever quite good enough. This makes them perfectionists who want to reform and improve, who desire to make order out of the omnipresent chaos. Read more - enneagram type 1

Type 2 - The Helper

Helpers who need to be needed

Type 3 - The Achiever

Focused on the presentation of success, to attain validation

Type 4 - The Individualist

Identity seekers, who feel unique and different
Fours build their identities around their perception of themselves as being somehow different or unique; they are thus self-consciously individualistic. They tend to see their difference from others as being both a gift and a curse - a gift, because it sets them apart from those they perceive as being somehow "common," and a curse, as it so often seems to separate them from the simpler forms of happiness that others so readily seem to enjoy. Read more - enneagram type 4

Type 5 - The Investigator

Thinkers who tend to withdraw and observe

Type 6 - The Loyalist

Conflicted between trust and distrust
Sixes essentially feel insecure, as though there is nothing quite steady enough to hold onto. At the core of the type Six personality is a kind of fear or anxiety. Sixes don't trust easily; they are often ambivalent about others, until the person has absolutely proven herself, at which point they are likely to respond with steadfast loyalty. Read more - enneagram type 6

Type 7 - The Enthusiast

Pleasure seekers and planners, in search of distraction

Type 8 - The Challenger

Taking charge, because they don't want to be controlled

Type 9 - The Peacemaker

Keeping peace and harmony