Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (Paperback)

~ (Author), (Author) "What is the point of understanding personality types?..." (more)
Key Phrases: instinctual variants, instinctual types, parental orientation, Levels of Development, Direction of Integration, Direction of Disintegration (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A geometric figure made of nine intersecting lines, the enneagram is thought by some to represent nine basic personality types. These types, as defined here, are the Reformer, Helper (Bill Cosby, Gandhi), Status Seeker (Gary Hart), Artist, Thinker, Loyalist (Joseph McCarthy, Johnny Carson), Generalist, Leader and Peacemaker. If you're a type seven with an eight wing (like Joan Collins), then you're very aggressive and have a strong ego to back your demands. The trouble with this system is that, unlike astrology or numerology, it is speculative which personality type best fits an individual. Once you've established that, you then have to decide if the person in question is Healthy, Average or Unhealthy. Oscar Ichazo, founder of the Arica Institute, reportedly learned about the enneagram from Sufis in Afghanistan. The investigation here broadens Ichazo's framework but still leaves plenty of room for guesswork. Riso is a New Yorkbased enneagram consultant.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

" The Enneagram is an extraordinary framework for understanding more about ourselves. No matter from which point of view we approach it, we discover fresh conjunctions of new and old ideas." So writes Don Riso in this expanded edition of his classic interpretation of the Enneagram, the ancient psychological system used to understand the human personality. In addition to updating the descriptions of the nine personality types, Personality Types, Revised greatly expands the accompanying guidelines and, for the first time, uncovers the Core Dynamics, or Levels of Development, within each type. This skeletal system provides far more information about the inner tension and movements of the nine personalities than has previously been published. This increased specificity will allow therapists, social workers, personnel managers, students of the Enneagram, and general readers alike to use it with much greater precision as they unlock the secrets of self-understanding, and thus self-transformation.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; Rev Sub edition (October 29, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395798671
• ISBN-13: 978-0395798676
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,546 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but use it wisely, June 20, 2000

By	Ilana Teitelbaum - See all my reviews

The main purpose of this book is to type yourself in order that you should know how to become a fully integrated individual. Understanding of the self is one step to self-discovery, but the next step, as the book illustrates, is to move toward one's 'point of integration', to attain one's full potential. To that end 'Character Types' has been heaven-sent for me. It becomes painfully clear that left to ourselves, we attempt to improve in the way which is exactly the opposite of what we really need. As a Four, I was constantly introspecting and obsessing, certain that if I did so long enough I would understand everything. Not until I read this book did I understand that the only way to improve would be to fight my natural tendencies, to become more open to experiencing and to take things easier. This insight, though it sounds small, leaves me indebted to Don Riso for writing a book which was as effective as any 12-step program, and which will be applicable for the rest of my life in setting goals to strive towards.

On the other hand, this book should come with some disclaimers. The first is that this book should not be used in rigidly 'typing' other individuals besides yourself. The fact is, no one can ever presume to know what goes on inside another human being, and that natural barrier should be respected. Even if someone exhibits all the signs of a certain type, they should still be respected as the complex people they are, instead of being consigned to a filing cabinet. For people to start saying, "Oh, he's such a typical Five, always reading" is ridiculous, even degrading. For a basic understanding of the many facets of human nature, reading about the other types is fascinating--but that's as far as these descriptions should be taken to apply to real-life individuals and relationships.

Also, people should take the type descriptions with a grain of salt. The book is sometimes too specific--these types should be used to describe general tendencies, not specific details within the personality. Just because I am a certain type, that does not mean I cannot be radically different from others who share my type. The world is a wonderfully complex place, and people are the most complex things in it. Sharing some similarities *does not* make us the same.

The parental orientations, while interesting to read and perhaps even relevant sometimes, are the equivalent to psychobabble on some level and should also be taken with a grain of salt. The typing of celebrities is completely irrelevant, for reasons already expressed above.

Taken all in all, 'Character Types' is a valuable tool toward attaining self-discovery and understanding the means to attain one's full potential. The levels of development are charted at length, and the points of integration and disintegration highlight the manner in which people deteriorate, or more positively, the way they achieve health and integration. It also provides insight into people other than yourself, making it possible to appreciate the differences in each human being. For a book on the Enneagram, look no further than this.

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book on the Enneagram, December 30, 1999

By	Leonard M. Feder (USA) - See all my reviews

Out of the dozen or so books I've read about the enneagram, this one is the best. Riso divides each of the 9 personality types into 9 levels, giving us 81 different readings. The readings are in depth and on target. The levels bleed into each other, so you may find that you identify with levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 of your type, for example. Riso also does an excellent job of describing the two wings to every personality type, so if you know your type you will probably be able to recognize your wing easily. I'm sure there are other possible systems of differentiating people from each other by type, besides this and Myers-Briggs, that haven't yet been discovered, but Riso's enneagram should be more widely known than it is. Educated people should know their type. Some people make the argument that individuals are all unique, that there are no types, but this attitude basically tells us not to try to understand human nature because it's too complicated. This excellent book gives us a good system to understand people.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No other Type book has toped this and I've read dozens!, February 21, 2001

By	J.M. Leonard (wheaton, il. United States) - See all my reviews

I bought the first edition of this book back in '88 and thought it was a masterpiece. The expanded edition is even better. Simply put, I have not come across a personality discription book that comes anywhere this close to accuracy and honesty. It can be difficult to read. If you give "Personailty Types" a fair chance, it will anger, depress or even horrify you. You will feel like the authors are ilicitly peaking into your soul. With truth can come serious pain. On the other side, no other book I've read also shows you the best qualities each personality holds better than this. "Personality Types" gives INDIRECT adivise on how to improve. It's not a follow-this-formula-that's-supposed-to-fit-all mentality. It's paradoxally simple and complex, easy to read and challangeing. I can't say I know if I actually believe in the Enneagram itself, or simply Riso and Hudson's interpertation of the Enneagram, all I know is I have had some version of this book for tweleve plus years( Over a third of my lifespan ) because I can see the people in my life and the corrolations to the descriptions in the book. Forget Myers-Briggs. astrology and the like...THIS is a masterpiece. Buy it and give it a chance, I can't recommend it more highly. But be warned. As I said, If one wants to grow, there are growing pains.