This free, short test was featured in Time Magazine as one of the top personality tests in use today.
It's called the Enneagram, and it's used by psychologists, executives, academics, and world leaders alike.
It is unique among personality tests as instead of “putting you in a box”, it's known for “showing you a way out of the box you're already in”.
The test and the material that follows are copyrighted by the Enneagram Institute, and are used here with their permission.
“Last year the Stanford University School of Business course called ‘Personality, Self-Awareness and Leadership’ focused on the Enneagram for the first time. The CIA now uses the Enneagram to help agents understand the behavior of individual world leaders. The U.S. Postal Service recently turned to the Enneagram to help employees resolve conflicts. Clergy from the Vatican signed up for an Enneagram seminar last year. And last month the First international Enneagram Conference, with 1,400 participants who came to Palo Alto, California, from as far away as Japan, was cosponsored by Stanford Medical School's Department of Psychiatry.”
“A hot new management idea has just arrived on the scene. The Enneagram is a personality typing system that groups people into 9 categories. Executives from companies such as Motorola and Marriott have attended workshops devoted to the Enneagram system, and it's part of the continuing education program at Silicon Graphics. The CIA has even held Enneagram briefings on the behavior of world leaders.”
“What sets the Enneagram apart is that it contains such detailed, useful information about what drives us to behave as we do. It's valuable not just for those seeking to understand themselves but also as a source of insights into one's friends and family, colleagues, and even enemies.”
“As a guide to human character, behavior and motivation, it has no equal. More practical than typologies derived from conventional psychology, the Enneagram provides a clear and easily recognizable map of nine distinct personality patterns. For most people, it simply rings true.”
“The apparent universality of the Enneagram is a big part of its attraction. People use it to improve themselves and their relationships. Many psychologists and marriage counselors swear by it. Members of the clergy and business managers use it to understand their congregations and subordinates. It is even accepted by academics.”
“The Enneagram system of personality types is gaining in popularity among partners seeking a window on themselves and their relationships. But now some Boston-area psychotherapists are using the Enneagram, especially for couples counseling. Helen Palmer said she teaches the Enneagram as a “personalized road map for spiritual experience”. The theory is that by identifying your particular defense mechanisms, you can recognize and dissociate from the repetitive thoughts and emotions they get you stuck in.”
“You've never heard of Enneagrams? This system of personality analysis, once faddish pop psychology, is becoming a personnel tool for corporate America.”
“There is another high profile system today (in addition to the MBTI). The origin of the nine-sided diagram on which it is based is mysterious. The first to apply the Enneagram to the human personality was the Bolivian Oscar Ischazo, founder of Arica training, a pioneering method of human development that first flourished in the 1960s. The nine types are just the beginning with the Enneagram; the heart of the system is the way the various types relate to each other, connected as they are on the nine-sided diagram.”