Personality Types Explored: Type 2 of 9

Personality Type 2 explored

Core Motivation: feel needed;
Action Goal: give

True type 2 people are in the minority.  They define their own value primarily in relation to their ‘usefulness’ to others.  Some may come across as stoic or martyr types, while others seem content to subject themselves to the demands of more dominant types.  If you are wondering whether someone is a type 2, it may help to consider these questions:

1. Do they always seem to be giving something to somebody?
2. Do they seem offended when their offer to give is not accepted?
3. Do they turn down opportunities to focus on themselves?
4. Do they have little to say when asked about their own needs or feelings?
5. Do they interpret not being allowed to give as not being liked?

All of these statements would be true for most 2 types.  As always, wings influence the core type, so there may be some minor exceptions.  In the workplace, 2 types would generally be easy to work with, as long as they are not struggling with major self-esteem issues that could interfere with task completion.  It would be rare to have a 2 type as a boss.  And, if you did, it may help to stay particularly aware of the professional boundaries you want to maintain, and not let your boss give you more than feels appropriate to you.

On a personal level, I think 2 types could be compatible with 1 types, 3 types, 6 types, 7 types, and 8 types.  If you care about someone who you think is a type 2, you may want to explore shared experiences that offer opportunity for 2-way giving.  You may also want to consider ways to show how much you value that person for who they are, not just for what they give.

Personality Types Explored: Type 1 of 9

Personality Type: 1 

Core Motivation: feel safe;

Action Goal: make the world right

Most of us are familiar with some type 1 people.  They like structure, rules, a clear ‘right’ way to live and do things.  They are generally uncomfortable around emotional intensity, and avoid talking about feelings.  I believe they are so deeply sensitive to all the painful, brokenness in the world that they feel the need to shut down their emotional reactivity in order to function.  They make it a priority to find a ‘system’ where they can feel safe from all the unpredictable ‘danger’ in the world.

If you are wondering whether someone is a type 1, it may help to ask yourself these questions:

1. Do they like routine?
2. Do they tend to be organized?
3. Are they loyal to one particular way of life?
4. Are they very bothered when things do not go as planned?
5. Do they often seem inflexible?
6. Do they generally avoid change?
7. Do they seem uncomfortable around deep, emotional expression?
8. Do they pride themselves on being devoted to at least one ‘good cause’?
9. Would most people label them “perfectionists?”

All of these statements would be true for most type 1 people.  As mentioned in previous posts, each type interacts with the ‘wings’ on either side of it, so it would be possible to have some minor exceptions. 

In the workplace, it is generally easy to be the boss of a 1 type, and difficult to have a 1 type as your boss.  I will be discussing personal compatibility in a later post.  But overall, I think 1 types are most likely to be compatible with other 1 types, 2 types, 3 types, or 9 types.  If lots of personal validation is important to you, a 1 type is likely not your best bet for a partner.  If you like to back up your thoughts with supporting data from the outside world, a 1 type might be a great fit.

If you have regular contact with a type 1 person, it might help to understand that any external rigidity is in place to protect their vulnerable inner child.  The overwhelming threat of an ever-changing world puts 1 types in a constant state of self-preservation that translates into what many interpret as perfectionist behavior.

The Big Picture: Part II

Here is a quick glossary of the nine personality types referenced in my previous post.  I define them in terms of their core motivations (what they want to feel most), and fundamental action goals.

1- Motivation: feel safe; 
     Action Goal: make the world right

2- Motivation: feel needed; 
     Action Goal: give

3- Motivation: feel successful; 
     Action goal: lead a major agenda

4- Motivation: feel understood; 
     Action goal: communicate honestly or not at all.

5- Motivation: feel important; 
     Action goal: reveal what is important and true

6- Motivation: feel seen; 
     Action goal: be everywhere at once

7- Motivation: feel the high; 
     Action goal: Seek out where thrill can be had in each moment

8- Motivation: feel powerful; 
     Action goal: take charge of people & circumstances

9- Motivation: feel accepted; 
     Action goal: find places and ways to belong

What makes this approach interesting is that the 9 types are diagramed in a nine-sided shape (an enneagram), where each motivation has a relationship to the others.  Our core motivation is influenced by other motivations on the spectrum.  Specifically, I like looking at the relationship between each core motivation and the ‘wings’ on either side of it. 

So, for example, someone whose core motivation is to feel safe (“1”) is influenced by the desire to feel needed (“2”) and accepted (“9”).  Someone whose core motivation is to feel the high (“7”) is influenced by the desire to feel seen (“6”) and powerful (“8”). 

And here’s where it gets complicated… There are many ways that the wings can influence the core.  So for each person, the relationship between the core and the wings expresses itself in the traits that make that person unique.

The Big Picture: Part I

As a champion of individuality, I have always had strong resistance to relying on any personality system.  The goal of reducing the number of personality types to a number small enough for people to remember seemed offensive to me.

So it took a new angle on personality typing for me to even consider that all people could somehow be represented in a 9-type system.  Any other personality typing I have come across configures its different types independent of one another.  So that even if one human being has some kind of overlap personality, the actual ‘types’ themselves are designed to convey completely mutually exclusive human qualities.

The single conversation (in 2005) that informed my current view on human personality became memorable the moment I realized that we were talking about a perspective that allowed for personality elements to interact in what amounts to an infinite number of individual identities.  I now could imagine a vantage point that facilitated conflict resolution and predicted behavior without sacrificing what I held as the sacred truth of human individuality.

The conversation I had in 2005 was focused around a friend sharing his appreciation of the Enneagram system with me.  Although I never went on to study the Enneagram, I have taken all that I heard that day and forged my own approach to understanding the individual and interactive human experience.  The next post offers a broad overview of that understanding.

What & Why?

 This is my take on people, relationships and all the stuff that goes along with people and relationships.  I've been thinking about people and relationships for at least a few decades.  And, a few years ago, a friend told me about the Enneagram personality system.  I never studied the Enneagram system beyond that conversation.  

But that conversation stuck in my head, and helped me make sense of some really crazy situations.  It is important to note that officially Enneagram-trained professionals would see little to no correlation between my analyses and the Enneagram perspective.  But if this blog had a muse, it would be the Enneagram.