Just My Type: Enneagram Compatibility (INFOGRAPHIC)

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I first took the enneagram about a year ago when my family mentioned it. (Yes, my whole family talks about this kind of stuff. If you’re into a sports team or politics, we might not be able to help you out).

With a husband who’s a Human Resources exec, you can bet I’ve taken my share of personality tests. (I’ve even tried to outwit some of them?)

Personally, the enneagram has brought me more self-knowledge–knowledge that actually helped me truly change–than any of the others. I even keep basic profiles on my Kindle. (Yeah. I’m one of those.) With 207 subtypes, I’ve found it to be fairly accurate for me, which hasn’t always been the case with other profiles.

What I like: As a Christian, the enneagram narrows down my basic fear and my basic desire–my essential motivations. I feel like it gets right at the heart of some of my deepest-seated drives.

It even helps distill, from there, basic ways I tend to wander from God and reject him–my sin tendencies. (This site and many others help understand your type from a spiritual perspective. You might also find this site and this site insightful from a secular perspective.)

I also like that the enneagram gives an entire type-specific spectrum to help me understand what it looks like for me to be fully-functioning and healthy…and not so much.

Just my type?

So I was tickled pink when Gifts.com asked me to post their enneagram-based infographic on relational compatibility. (Relationships and infographics! What’s not to love? )

I’ve written before about love languages and other tools like this–and the equal amount of detriment if we use tests like these as a way to avoid loving someone well or receiving love–or simply as a way to pigeonhole the people we love. Use tests like these as a springboard for more conversation toward understanding, not less.

Gifts.com analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of each Enneagram type to determine which are the most compatible. Take the free test here to learn your type, and check out the compatibility of Enneagram chart to learn more about your relational strengths and challenges.

Post-publication note: A couple of keen-eyed readers pointed out that some of these matches seem incongruous.

For example, Dave points out that an Enneagram 6’s (loyalist) best match is a 9 (peacemaker), but the Enneagram 9’s worst match is a loyalist. And Kelly found that the worst match for achiever is peacemaker and peacemaker is the best match for achiever. What gives, right?

My contact at Gift.com writes,

Thanks for sharing this feedback. There’s a ton of different resources and research that our team looked at when putting together this compatibility chart, and we used our findings to determine what would be compatible matches. Based on the weaknesses of a particular type, we looked to pair them with a type that complemented them with strengths. Sometimes that pairing didn’t work vice versa.

One study even showed that a type 9 female and a type 9 male might not have the same most compatible match, so there’s a lot that can be interpreted about enneagrams. It’s definitely important to note that no two types are particularly doomed even if they’re listed as a “worst match.” When it’s meant to be love always finds a way!

I hope that helps. And thanks for the feedback, readers. I always love hearing from you.

-Janel