Seeing the progression of the campaign, I figured some of the readers here may be looking for a break from the silliness as of late.
In the past, people have tried to introduce me various kinds of personality typing including Myers-Briggs and others. None of those things seemed to really work all that well. But, then I was introduced to another scheme of Enneagrams. This system accounts for personality changes caused by stress and seems to work really well.
My question here is if this type of personality typing can help figure out where someone might belong on the political scale. What about the type of public service a person may be best suited for? I’m curious if learning about your personality type reaffirms what you do or if it makes you think twice.
The Enneagram Institute identifies 9 personality types. In theory, everyone has components of all 9 types. If you take the test thought, you’ll probably have one or two types that dominate. I alluded to this above, but the real power of this stuff over schemes like Myers-Briggs is in the way it deals with levels of emotional health. At any given time, I can read through my type info and identify where I am across the Healthy, Average, and Unhealthy levels (thankfully I’m rarely into the unhealthy levels).
This test that seems to work pretty well. There is also another one that I don’t have as much experience with. Both are free.
The nine types are arranged around a ring with lines between some of them in an interesting pattern. I can’t say that I completely understand how all of this part works but one line represents a path of growth and the other a path of stress. A given personality can be further described by identifying the person’s "wing." The wing is adjacent to the basic type on the ring. Again, this is something I haven’t completely gotten my hands around.
Here are the 9 types. I should say here that it is worth taking the time to take the test and not just grab the one that sounds like it fits you best. I’ve grabbed just the absolute basics from the links provided. I also only grabbed the examples that fit the political sphere.
Type 1: The Reformer
The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic
* Basic Fear: Of being corrupt/evil, defective
* Basic Desire: To be good, to have integrity, to be balanced
Key Motivations: Want to be right, to strive higher and improve everything, to be consistent with their ideals, to justify themselves, to be beyond criticism so as not to be condemned by anyone.
Examples: Mahatma Gandhi, Hilary Clinton, Al Gore, John Paul II, Sandra Day O'Connor, Martha Stewart, Ralph Nader, Jane Fonda, Michael Dukakis, Margaret Thatcher, Rudolph Guliani.
Type 2: The Helper
The Caring, Interpersonal Type: Generous, Demonstrative, People-Pleasing, and Possessive
* Basic Fear: Of being unwanted, unworthy of being loved
* Basic Desire: To feel loved
Key Motivations: Want to be loved, to express their feelings for others, to be needed and appreciated, to get others to respond to them, to vindicate their claims about themselves.
Examples: Mother Teresa, Barbara Bush, Eleanor Roosevelt, Leo Buscaglia, Monica Lewinsky, Martin Sheen, Alan Alda, Bishop Desmond Tutu
Type 3: The Achiever
The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type: Adaptable, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious
* Basic Fear: Of being worthless
* Basic Desire: To feel valuable and worthwhile
Key Motivations: Want to be affirmed, to distinguish themselves from others, to have attention, to be admired, and to impress others.
Examples: Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarznegger.
Type 4: The Individualist
The Sensitive, Introspective type: Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental
* Basic Fear: That they have no identity or personal significance
* Basic Desire: To find themselves and their significance (to create an identity)
Key Motivations: Want to express themselves and their individuality, to create and surround themselves with beauty, to maintain certain moods and feelings, to withdraw to protect their self-image, to take care of emotional needs before attending to anything else, to attract a "rescuer."
Examples: Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Edgar Allan Poe
Type 5: The Investigator (Corrected)
The Intense, Cerebral Type: Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated
* Basic Fear: Being useless, helpless, or incapable
* Basic Desire: To be capable and competent
Key Motivations: Want to possess knowledge, to understand the environment, to have everything figured out as a way of defending the self from threats from the environment.
Examples: Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, John Lennon, Stephen King, Friedrich Nietzsche.
Type 6: The Loyalist
The Committed, Security-Oriented Type:
Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious
* Basic Fear: Of being without support and guidance
* Basic Desire: To have security and support
Key Motivations: Want to have security, to feel supported by others, to have certitude and reassurance, to test the attitudes of others toward them, to fight against anxiety and insecurity.
Examples: Robert F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Princess Diana, George H. W. Bush, Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, J. Edgar Hoover, Richard Nixon, and "George Costanza" (Seinfeld).
Type 7: The Enthusiast
The Busy, Variety-Seeking type:
Spontaneous, Versatile, Acquisitive, and Scattered
* Basic Fear: Of being deprived and in pain
* Basic Desire: To be satisfied and content—to have their needs fulfilled
Key Motivations: Want to maintain their freedom and happiness, to avoid missing out on worthwhile experiences, to keep themselves excited and occupied, to avoid and discharge pain.
Examples: John F. Kennedy, Benjamin Franklin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Steven Spielberg, Larry King, Howard Stern.
Type 8: The Challenger
The Powerful, Dominating Type:
Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational
* Basic Fear: Of being harmed or controlled by others
* Basic Desire: To protect themselves (to be in control of their own life and destiny)
Key Motivations: Want to be self-reliant, to prove their strength and resist weakness, to be important in their world, to dominate the environment, and to stay in control of their situation.
Examples: Martin Luther King, Jr., Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pablo Picasso, John Wayne, Charlton Heston, Lee Iococca, Donald Trump, Fidel Castro, and Saddham Hussein.
Type 9: The Peacemaker. Worth mentioning.. This is my type.
The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type: Receptive, Reassuring Agreeable, and Complacent
* Basic Fear: Of loss and separation
* Basic Desire: To have inner stability "peace of mind"
Key Motivations: Want to create harmony in their environment, to avoid conflicts and tension, to preserve things as they are, to resist whatever would upset or disturb them.
Examples: Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Grace, Walter Cronkite, George Lucas, Walt Disney, John Kennedy, Jr, Whoopi Goldberg, and "Marge Simpson" (The Simpsons).
I'm a type 9, the Peacemaker. According to the basic description that I quote as well as the deeper info on the site, we try to find balance and harmony in our world.
I'm not going to be the outspoken slatwart, but I could serve as consensus builder (can anybody say "uniter not divider"?). When I hear someone talk about Hillary's health care mandates, I suggest mandated catastrophic care. When I hear about a right-wing-nut talk about banning all forms of abortion, I bend over backwards to find a reasonable point where we could all agree that life begins.
The type does seem to lend itself to a conservative viewpoint and that certainly does not fit me. Maybe I'm "keeping things the way they are" in my world and not necessarily what the laws state. As an example, I know that gays exist and are not going anywhere so its only right to make sure they have survivor and health benefits just like straight couples would get. I'm not sure about the "keeping things the way they are" thing means for me politically. Maybe reading conservatism into that is making too many assumptions.
Like or hate my politics or not, I'm always trying to find reasonable solutions that follow my logic and my principles while always respecting as many opposing viewpoints as I can.
So, once again, my questions. What type are you and what is your role in the political process? And.. Does your personality type reaffirm your role or does it contradict it?