The 9 Enneagram Types and Their Core Motivations

The Enneagram of Personality is a personality typing system based on the theory that there are nine core personality types, each with its own unique underlying motivation. What sets the Enneagram apart from other well-known personality typing systems, such as Myers Briggs, DISC, and others, is that the Enneagram types are not based on a system that defines personality types based on behaviors – Enneagram types are based on the motivations that drive each of us.

A common misconception about the Enneagram is that it’s based on categorizing the entire human population into nine categories, which is impossible. Humans are complex and unique and have many layers to their personalities. Similarly, the Enneagram has many layers, going into much more detail than labeling yourself or others as one of the nine Enneagram types.

The Enneagram isn’t a fixed system. By that, I mean that just as our personalities are fluid and change based on our levels of health, our life experiences, the people we’re surrounded by, the way we’re raised, and many other factors. The Enneagram takes this into account, with triad groupings, wings, subtypes, and more (these topics go beyond the scope of this particular post, but I will cover them in others!)

Identifying which of these nine Enneagram types resonates with your core motivations is the foundational piece to understanding your Enneagram type, which will be transformative in your self-discovery and personal growth journey. So, if you’re brand new to the Enneagram, this is a great place to start!

In this post, we’ll explore each of the nine Enneagram types on a surface level. I’ll share a brief overview of the Enneagram types and explain the core underlying motivations of each type.

Enneagram Type 1: The Reformer

Enneagram Type 1s are called The Perfectionist or The Reformer.

Type 1s are known for having an intense, harsh inner critic – a voice within that is constantly berating them and criticizing everything they do, everything that’s wrong and that needs to be fixed, and how they’re not living up to their ideals and standards.

To those who have ever experienced the resentment and criticism of a Type 1, understand that they have an internal voice that is much more critical, harsh, and intense within their minds.

Core Desire: Their core desire is to be good, ethical, moral, and right. They are aptly nicknamed ‘perfectionists’ due to this motivation to do things the right way, do things the way they’re supposed to be done, and often feel that they are the only ones who can.
Core Fear: The core fear of Type 1s is being bad or wrong, unethical, and morally corrupt.
Core Weakness: The Type 1’s core weakness is resentment. Though they don’t outwardly express their anger, they harbor lots of resentment and anger internally. Sometimes, this can come out a bit sideways, such as being critical of others, especially if they don’t live up to their own internal standards.
Core Longing: The core longing of a Type 1 is to know that they are good.

Enneagram Type 2: The Helper

Enneagram Type 2s are nicknamed The Nurturer or The Caretaker.

Core Desire: The core desire of a Type 2 is to be giving and loving. They tend to see the amount of love, help, and care they give to others as their sense of self-worth.
Core Fear: The core fear for Enneagram 2s is being unlovable
Core Weakness: The core weakness of the Type 2 is pride. This is often surprising and difficult for Type 2s to come to terms with because they see themselves (and others see them this way too) as some of the most selfless, nice, giving people.

For this type, the core weakness of pride comes from the underlying thought that they alone know what’s best for you, and they give (often over-giving and overextending themselves) to the point of sacrificing their own needs to take care of the needs of others. As I mentioned previously, this is where they try to gain their sense of self-worth and value to others rather than believing they’re inherently valuable simply for existing.
Core Longing: The core longing for a Type 2 is to know that they are loved and appreciated.

Every type has its unique struggle with self-worth and value, and each type handles this in their own way. Just like Type 1s trying to fix and reform what doesn’t meet their ideal standards, Type 2s give and care for others with the hope and expectation to receive love and appreciation in return. If they don’t, they may become resentful of others and feel unappreciated, unlovable, and unworthy.

Enneagram Type 3: The Achiever

Core Desire: Enneagram Type 3s are known as The Achiever. The core desire of a Type 3 is to, well, achieve things. They are extremely action-oriented people who are driven to get things done in order to garner success, recognition, status, and validation from others.

They are typically efficient, hard-working people who can excel in leadership roles and prefer to be in the spotlight. The catch, of course, is that Type 3s are driven in this way because they think that their sense of self-worth and value comes from everything they accomplish and achieve.
Core Fear: The Enneagram 3’s core fear is being seen as worthless, incompetent, or failing to be successful.
Core Weakness: Due to their self-worth and image-driven nature being heavily dependent upon what others deem as successful, accomplished, worthy, valuable, etc., they can easily adapt and become chameleon-like in their appearance and behaviors in order to get that validation. This is where their core weakness, deceit, comes into play.
Core Longing: The core longing for Type 3s is knowing that they are appreciated for who they are, not what they do.

Type 3s find growth when they understand their core motivations are stuck in the belief that their self-worth is derived from their accomplishments and others’ validation. This can lead to being productive, hard-working, and driven, but never finding any true fulfillment in what they do. If Type 3s take the time to figure out who they authentically are, what they want in life, and focus on working with (and connecting with) others as a team, they will begin to find impactful growth and fulfillment.

Enneagram Type 4: The Individualist

Core Desire: The Enneagram Type 4, commonly referred to as the Individualist, has the core desire to be unique, different, special, and significant. Many 4s have a need to express their uniqueness, whether that’s through their clothing style, artistic expression (such as writing, music, photography, film, painting, graphic design, animation, etc.), or through their unique interests.

They are very in touch with their inner emotional world, and they tend to be highly empathetic people.

Type 4s believe that their value and self-worth come from being significant, being different, being special, and expressing it. They are prone to having their emotional world take them over, almost feeling as though they are their emotions. They want to express their authenticity, and are very dismissive of people who are inauthentic, fake, or have an agenda.
Core Fear: The Enneagram Type 4 fears being plain, mundane, inadequate, and insignificant. They tend to feel their emotions very deeply and seek to express themselves and their authenticity.
Core Weakness: Type 4’s core weakness is envy, often feeling that something is missing in them, making them inadequate or flawed.

It’s important to understand with the 4 that the weakness of envy is not the same as jealousy. Rather, envy tends to manifest as feeling like they’re falling short due to their flaws. Instead of being jealous and coveting someone’s possessions, they are envious that the other person has the ‘missing piece’, so to speak. For example, rather than being jealous of someone’s house, car, job, etc., they envy the other person for being the kind of person who is capable of having a nice house, a family, happiness, fulfillment, a career they love, etc.
Core Longing: Type 4s want deep, real, authentic connections with others, with their inner world, with their emotions and their ideas, and want to make a meaningful impact. The core longing of a Type 4 is to know that they are seen and accepted for who they are: unique, special, and significant.

Enneagram Type 5: The Investigator

Core Desire: The Enneagram Type 5, commonly referred to as The Investigator, is driven by the core desire to be knowledgeable and competent. As one of the 3 “withdrawn” types, Type 5s move away from people in order to give themselves space and the ability to observe the world.
Core Fear: 5s fear being intruded on and engulfed and overwhelmed by others. They manage their energy levels and need lots of alone time to replenish their energy. They can come across as aloof, cold, detached people. Though that may be true to an extent, it’s not that they don’t have feelings, or care about others, or are unaware of social norms – it’s that they need time to process things, especially emotions. The world is an overwhelming and demanding place for a Type 5: people are needy, demanding emotional expression or expenditures of energy and time, and this feels extremely intrusive and stressful to a Type 5.

Type 5s are incredibly observant people, but, like 4s, they can be misunderstood. Type 5s want knowledge to combat their fear of being unprepared, being incapable and incompetent, and not being self-sufficient, therefore needing to rely on the help of others. Type 5s can become incredibly withdrawn, and, if they’re not careful, can become isolated to the point of having no connections, relationships, or any sort of meaningful impact with others.
Core Weakness: The core weakness of an Enneagram Type 5 is avarice. Similar to greed (and not to be confused with gluttony), avarice is the hoarding of time, energy, and space, mainly for the reasons I mentioned related to their fear of being overwhelmed and depleted.

To a Type 5, being depleted of their energy due to the demands and neediness of others can feel almost catastrophic. Their energy reserves deplete much faster than other types, and they need much more time to recover. This reservation of energy can make them come across as aloof, uninterested, and detached.
Core Longing: The core longing for a Type 5 is to know that their needs are not a burden to others. That it’s okay to need (and ask for) help, to need their space and time alone, and that they process things differently than others.

Enneagram Type 6: The Loyalist

An Enneagram Type 6 is commonly referred to as The Loyalist, but may also be called the Skeptic or even The Guardian. This is due to the common association with the push-pull relationship Type 6s have with trust and security.

Core Desire: The primary motivation for the Type 6 is to have security and safety. Typically, Type 6s are focused on the things that could go wrong, often accused of overthinking, overpreparing and being too fearful, pessimistic, or too focused on worst-case scenarios.

They embody the mantra “better safe than sorry”, often complying with (and even attaching themselves to) some sort of authority, community, or idea. Type 6s are very loyal people once you earn their trust, but that doesn’t come easy – and if you ever lie to or betray the trust of a 6, it’s highly unlikely that can be mended.

Since they’re focusing on safety and security, and trying to prevent the worst-case scenarios from happening by thinking 12 steps ahead, Type 6s can be highly anxious people. You may consider them to be overthinking things, but from their perspective, it’s important to be alert, prepared, and on guard.
Core Fear: Type 6’s fear the feeling of fear itself, being without support or guidance, being targeted or blamed, or being abandoned.
Core Weakness: It may come as no surprise that the core weakness of the Type 6 is anxiety or worry. However, in later posts will dig more into the concept of subtypes in the enneagram. The typical type 6 is what’s known as a “phobic 6”, struggling with anxiety and defending/guarding themselves from that fear through preparation and loyalty in their relationships to others.

The ‘countertype’, which is the subtype that doesn’t look like a typical Type 6, is called the ‘counterphobic 6.’ The counterphobic 6s face their fears head-on, running toward and attacking their fears rather than avoiding them or defending themselves from fear. Either way, the primary driver is seeking security and safety from their anxiety, it can just manifest differently depending on the subtype.
Core Longing: The core longing for the Enneagram Type 6, of course, is to know that they are safe, protected, and can relax and let go of their fear and embrace being comfortable.

Enneagram Type 7: The Enthusiast

Type 7s are commonly known as The Enthusiasts or The Adventurers. The Enneagram 7s tend to be highly energetic people, focusing their attention on new and exciting experiences that interest them.

Core Desire: The core desire of Type 7s is to be happy, stimulated, fulfilled, and content. This can look different depending on the person’s level of health, but Type 7s will do this by chasing down anything that will satisfy them – from events, experiences, and traveling to new places to learning and trying new activities/hobbies, trying new foods, job-hopping, relationship-hopping, experimenting with drugs, etc., the focus is on experiencing all that life has to offer.

Type 5s can become highly focused and go deep into subjects to master them, and they struggle with the fear that they never have enough knowledge. This fear of not having enough is similar to a Type 7 when it comes to experiences and seeking happiness. However, in contrast with Type 5s, the ‘Enthusiasts’ aren’t working on mastering a subject or area of expertise; rather, they want to experience their wide variety of interests until they feel they’ve learned enough or get bored or become distracted by a new idea.
Core Fear: The Type 7’s core fear is that they will be trapped in painful or deprived of pleasurable experiences, being bored or limited, or missing out.
Core Weakness: The core weakness of the Type 7 is gluttony. As the Enneagram Type 7s continuously seek new experiences and highs, they never feel fulfilled and content. Therefore, they’re always chasing that feeling, leading to gluttony and never being satisfied.
Core Longing: It should come as no surprise, then, that the core desire of the Type 7 is to know that they have everything they need. They long to know that nothing is missing within them, that they aren’t missing out, and that they have all they need to slow down and be present, content, and happy.

Enneagram Type 8: The Challenger

Enneagram Type 8s are known as The Challenger or The Protector. They tend to be very assertive people, in positive and negative ways – especially depending on their levels of health. Type 8s want to be in control of things and will speak their minds and take action on what they want, not being afraid of confrontation or conflict.

Core Desire: The core desire of the Type 8 is to protect themselves and others. They tend to have a tough exterior, being assertive, direct, and to the point, dominant, opinionated, and outspoken, and not wanting to be controlled, attacked, or taken advantage of.
Core Fear: The core fear of the Enneagram 8s is that they will be controlled, taken advantage of, weak, powerless, and left at the mercy of injustice.

Core Weakness: The core weakness of an Enneagram 8 is lust, excess, intensity, and power. They use their assertiveness and take action to push their force onto the world, rather than being pushed around, in order to get what they want in life.

Type 8s can look like the angriest type externally, but Type 1s are actually the most angry type. From what I understand about Type 8s, the intensity (and expression) of anger is easier to be in control of than the emotions that are uncomfortable, vulnerable, or that they don’t feel in control of.

Core Longing: As you can imagine, type 8s can be quite guarded when it comes to their internal and emotional world. The core longing of a Type 8 is to know that they will not be betrayed and that it’s okay to be vulnerable, caring, and open with others.

Enneagram Type 9: The Peacemaker

Core Desire: The Enneagram Type 9s are called The Peacemakers. Very different than the Type 8s, Type 9s are driven by the core desire to keep everyone (and themselves) peaceful, calm, and serene. They’re often quiet people who can tend to go with the flow of life, rather than asserting their desires or needs. Since they want peace and harmony amongst others, Type 9s will often minimize their own needs to ensure others are happy.
Core Fear: The core fear of type 9s is loss, separation, or disconnection from others, as well as conflict, tension, and being overlooked or ignored.
Core Weakness: The fear of the 9 is conflict, which they believe will lead to the loss and separation from others in their life, and that they will be alone and abandoned. It makes sense, then, why a Type 9 would seek to keep peace within their internal and external world. However, this means that Type 9s can fall asleep to their desires, numbing out with things such as routines, foods, substances, or entertainment, but never waking up to who they authentically are or what they want in life nor asserting themselves to speak up or taking action to accomplish it. This is how their core weakness of sloth manifests. Sloth is not physical laziness; rather, it’s a suppression, ignorance, or falling asleep to their inner desires.

Many Type 9s will struggle with knowing what they want in life because they’ve been going along with the agenda and desires of others, trying to blend in so that they feel a sense of belonging and can keep the peace. They’re often known as the glue that will hold groups together, being able to see the viewpoints of others and helping mediate conflicts and find common ground.

Type 9s also tend to struggle with identifying their Enneagram type because they will often merge/blend into the lives of others and, therefore, can be a chameleon of sorts in their social groups or relationships. They’re the most likely to find themselves pursuing a degree or working a job just because others wanted them to or told them to. They can get pushed around in life, especially in unhealthy states where they numb themselves from feeling the anger and disappointment of not having their own agenda in life.
Core Longing: The core longing for a Type 9 is to know that their presence matters. They long to know they’re not a burden, that they’re not unimportant, and that they have a voice, an opinion, and a purpose to pursue what they truly want in life.

What’s Next?

Learning about the Enneagram types provides a unique path for each type to understand their motivations, fears, and desires. It’s a great tool for better understanding yourself in your journey of self-discovery and personal growth, but it also helps us have more understanding and empathy for other people with the same or different Enneagram types.

Understanding the Enneagram types of yourself and others is not about boxing yourself into a category but rather about developing deeper self-awareness and more authentic connections, encouraging us to embrace our strengths, be aware of and confront our weaknesses, and help us build a foundation for a more fulfilling, balanced, and authentic life.

I encourage you to continue to explore the depths of the nine Enneagram types and to share your journey with others.