Question: How do I tell if I’m an Enneagram 4 or 5?

Katherine: The type that asks for help determining if they are a 4 or 5 usually has the 694 or sometimes the 964 Tritype®. What is key is the way the question was phrased.

The way type 6s mistype as other types and other Tritypes®

23 research studies
I began studying lexicon use, the words we use to describe ourselves and others, in 1970. Since then, I have conducted 30 research studies, 23 of them with the Enneagram types, Tritypes®, Instincts, and Subtypes, beginning in 1994. I have now worked with and interviewed over 100,000 people with the Enneagram types alone.

Type 5 vs Type 4
5s are impersonal and unemotional

I have learned that the 5 truly does have a defense strategy that does not ask others for help, especially in a public forum. They do not personalize a question in this manner. Instead, they need to become their own expert by gathering the data in an impersonal way.

4s are personal and emotional

The 4 will not ask either because they want personal rapport, and they know they are emotional. They will comment on the internet because it can be incognito, and they are very self-referencing.

9s with the 954 or 964 Tritype®
9s can wonder if they are a 4 or 5 but will generally include the 9 because they have pride in the fact that they are enduring and do not have pride. ;)

6s ask this question
“How do I tell if I’m an Enneagram 4 or 5?”

6s ask this kind of question regularly. It is personal and vague. 6s reach out and ask questions, and generally in several places, to see how many people say the same thing. The more that say the same thing, the more likely the 6 will value it… unless they want to be another type. ;)

However, it is extremely common for the 6 to reach out for help, and it is also the way this question was asked that is very common for the Type 6.

When someone asks this question, they are often the 694 or the 964 because the 4, 6, and 9 all tend to doubt, but in three different ways.

The sensitive, elusive, emotionally complex type that overthinks is the type 6.

The one type that does ask the question above is the type 6 because they know that they are emotional and can see themselves as the smart, sensitive 5. They are usually the type 6 with the 5 wing.

Unlike other typology systems, the Enneagram system is based on motivations rather than behaviors. This can make it tricky for the 6 to accurately type themselves and others because their defense strategy is meant to track behaviors.

Doubt
The 5 and 4 are opposites. As I mentioned above, the 5 knows they are the 5 because they have the most unemotional defense strategy and do not ask others to give them feedback. And the 4 knows they have an emotional defense strategy and will ask about themselves.

But the 5 does not doubt that they are a 5, and the 4 does not doubt that they are the type 4. The 6, however, does doubt they are the 4 and/or the 5.

The 6 doubts their own typing and the typings of others. They generally never feel quite certain about their types until they recognize they are the 6.

Doubts are normal for the 6 and a part of their defense strategy.

The Enneagram type 6 has the greatest difficulty determining their type because they are meant to track behaviors in every given situation. So, they ask a lot of questions of others to help them land on their Type, Tritype®, Instinctual Type, and Subtype. But it takes time…Once the 6 knows they have the 6 defense strategy, they begin to rapidly integrate old problems and see them in new ways. If the 6 does not realize their Enneagram type is in constant motion it can take longer as they may continue to see their struggles as issues of behavior rather than see the motivation for the behaviors.

6s and creating change
Enneagram 6s do not succeed at unpacking their deeper personal work until they have accurately typed. 6s do not like change, but when they are ready they may still struggle because is not easy for 6s to identify their motivations. Once they have identified their core issues and have tagged the ages they were when they first felt a strong emotion they begin to take giant leaps towards creating the change they want to see in their life. With this knowledge, they can track the way their defense strategy operates in real-time and begin to intervene on their own behalf when they feel stuck in rigid beliefs, negative emotions, and repetitive behaviors.

The interventions for the types will not work because they are not focused on the 6’s hidden “fear of fear” itself.

6s need to explain the way they are, unlike the type they think they are ;)

This is, of course, because the type they have identified with has a different defense strategy than the 6.

If the 6 types according to their behaviors or perception of their behaviors, they don’t see the benefit of using their type other than to identify what they are feeling or have felt at any moment in time. They may also use it to describe the ways they have felt hurt or intimidated by others.

When Mistyped
6s need to explain. In particular, they need to explain how they are the 1 that does not have resentment, the 2 that does not give to get, the 3 that does not need an audience, the 4 that does not have envy, the 5 that is not unemotional, the 7 that is not scattered, the 8 that is not aggressive, the 9 that is not checked out, etc.

This is because they are not the type in question.

It can take 20 or more years for the average 6 to correctly type because their defense strategy is focused on tracking behaviors rather than motivations.

9s struggle too
This can happen to the 9s as well. They usually identify a little bit with all of the types until they realize they are the 9 that wants to be successful without having to live a life that is overly stressful. If the 9 has the social instinct and has the 937 Tritype® Archetype, they are much more ambitious.

They still would like their life to be simple and comfortable rather than stressful and complicated. Obviously, some jobs they might want to do are stressful at times, like being a doctor or an attorney, but they will quickly find the type of practice that allows them to follow their own style.

Enneagram Tritype® Test v8
So, to help the 6s and some 9s, I paid to have the type 6 and type 9 patterns programmed into the test to help them accurately type from the beginning.

In my latest Enneagram Tritype® Test, https://enneagramtritypetest.com, I have focused on the 6s and 9s testing patterns to help them identify their type. Many 6s and some 9s struggle because they identify with one of the other types. So, there are nine types of the 6 and nine types of the 9. This way, they have a much better chance of finding their Truetype.

More on Tritype® here:
Katherine created a test that has been programmed to pick up particular patterns that the types use.
Take the Test here: https://enneagramtritypetest.com
General Information: www.katherinefauvre.com/tritype
YouTube: Katherine Fauvre | Creator of Tritype®