Why Taking an Online Enneagram Test is Not Enough: Mistypes

The Enneagram is a tool. It can be a very helpful tool for understanding yourself better & hopefully understanding how you interact with others and respond to your surroundings. But can a standardized test really predict your personality?

All Too Common

Something I hear often is, "I don't need someone to tell me my Enneagram type. I took the online test a while ago." While that may be true, the thing they haven't considered is that they may have taken the test in the wrong mindset or if they're young enough (before the age of 22+/- for girls, or 25 +/- for boys) they may need to take it again.

Mindset

How does the mindset matter when taking a personality test? I'm glad you asked! Basically, it matters a lot. But, to be more precise, you must take the test under the guise of "who I am, not what I do [for a living]." If you were to get fired or quit your job tomorrow, your personality would still be the same. Think of it this way, a certain enneagram type is known as "the helper". If everyone who works in the helping profession: cops, firefighters, doctors, nurses, therapists 😉, pastors, etc, took the test and based it upon their profession, they would all come up as "the helper" or maybe possibly even "the achiever". Make sense?

In a nutshell, our profession doesn't define our personality, but our personality does help us in seeking a certain profession.

Age Range

In psychology, you learn of a part of the brain known as the Prefrontal Cortex, or "PFC." This part of the brain is responsible for "the complex cognitive processes that allow us to think critically, make informed decisions, regulate our emotions, and interact effectively with our environment." (Neuroanatomy Frontal Cortex-NCBI, 2023).

Plainly put, the complex part of the brain, according to some researchers, has not fully developed until certain ages. Where women typically tend to have their PFC develop sooner than men. So, if it has not fully developed, and this part of the brain helps form our memories, functions, and all the different things that go into our personality, then taking it before a certain age will cause us to come up with different findings.

Tests

With addressing a test that measures someone's personality, a test is a way to administer standardized questions to help someone understand better. In this case, the test narrows down the most likely types that you could be based upon your answers.

In other words, the test in and of itself cannot follow you around and judge what you do, say, and think in any and every given scenario in life.

Types

The Enneagram is complex, to say the very least. There are 9 "core types", with 2 possible different "wings" per type, and 3 different "subtypes", making there 127 variations total. Most tests will only help you discover just the core type (and not be exact at that). Knowing this, you will see that finding your precise type is not something a simple test can answer.

Mistypes

If we just went off of the test, the likelihood of mistyping yourself is quite high. And with all the variations and nuances of each type, you could have very easily ascribed yourself to a type that isn't truly you. Mistyping yourself, like self-diagnosing, can have a detrimental effect on your life. Especially if you truly try to understand the Enneagram, and how powerful of an impact it can have on one's life.

The Need For a Coach

Whether you have taken the test or not, having a trained Enneagram Coach can guide you more thoroughly and intentionally. Coaches know how & when to ask precise questions, while making room for someone to process the questions. If you're taking the test, you don't get to leave any explanation. Most of them are Likert style questions; 1 = Strongly Agree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Disagree, 5 = Strongly Disagree.

Stats

"The accuracy of free, online tests is often estimated to be in the 50–80% range, with some experts citing an even lower figure. Some tests claim much higher accuracy rates (around 95%). However, even these reliable tests recommend debriefing the results with a certified professional, emphasizing that no test is foolproof." (Abbeyhowe.com, 2022).

So, its obvious, that with some direction from an Enneagram Coach, and given the space for you to provide context, where you can get clarification on certain terms, while having someone to look objectively for certain phrases, and body language that may not be congruent with your words, is the key to truly discovering your true Enneagram "core type", "wing", & "subtype."

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