Your dominant Enneagram Type does not change over time. By age 5, your personality has been fully in tact and so your Enneagram Type has been the same ever since & will remain the same throughout your life time. If you've taken Enneagram assessments over time that reported differing dominant Types, it is not that your Enneagram Type has changed, but simply that one of the results were incorrect. Remember, Enneagram assessments aren't 100% accurate, but rather a tool to assist in your discernment. Learn more about landing on your correct dominant Type in my previous post How do I find my Enneagram Type? It is important to note that while your core Type remains the same, you can still exhibit traits of other Types under different circumstances or levels of stress.
Some people may find that they resonate with another Enneagram Type more strongly in different settings or in different seasons of life. The difference they are noticing is often their "movement" across the diagram to their stress or security number through the internal lines from their dominant Type to two other Types in the circle. For example, I lead with Type 8 and so the internal lines of the Enneagram diagram connect me to Type 5 as my stress number and Type 2 as my security number. It's not that I take on the underlying motivations and become those Enneagram Types, but rather I exhibit some of the behaviors and tendencies of those Types when I'm stress (Type 5) and when I feel safe (Type 2). I unpack the movement for each of the nine Types to their stress number in a series of podcast episodes starting with an introduction to the Stress Movement (episode 18) through an individual look at each Enneagram Type (episode 19-28) on my podcast Enneagram Coaching with Abbi if you'd like to learn more.
Another reason you may resonate with one Enneagram Type more now than previously before is that your Enneagram wing has shifted from one side to the other. If you identified strongly with one wing and now are noticing different characteristics from the other number adjacent to yours, it may be that your wing has shifted or you have more balanced wings now. Learn more about Enneagram wings in a previous post What are Enneagram Wings?
And still another reason you may feel like your Type has changed over time is that your dominant Instinct has changed and so the presentation of your dominant Enneagram Type feels different in this season than in previous ones. Your Instinct is an overlay to your dominant Enneagram Type that impacts the manner in which you go about getting your dominant desire met. The three instincts are Self-preservation, Social, and One-to-One (aka Sexual) and all of the nine Types can have any of these three instincts as their dominant instincts. We will explore more about Instincts in a future post.
In summary, while your core Enneagram Type remains the same over your lifespan, how your Type presents depending on the circumstances and your awareness of your Type can evolve causing you to show up differently at times.
Learn more about bringing the Enneagram to your organization by scheduling a FREE consultation call with certified Enneagram Instructor Abbi Rodriguez.
Abbi Rodriguez
International Enneagram Accredited Teacher
www.abbirodriguez.com | (615) 988-0244
