Please help me with my Enneagram type!

[Ulta]

I'm kind of new to this.

To start off, I'm pretty sure that I'm an INFJ (I believed I had mistyped myself as an ISTJ, up until now) I also just found out my Socionics type is SEI..

I'm conflicted over my Enneagram type. On 9types.com, I identify most with type 5, and a bit of type 6; however, once I looked into tritypes, I realized that I identify most with 3w4, 4w5, and 4w3 (a little of 6w7, but not so much).

According to one test that I took, my tritype is 4-5-9.

Can someone give me general descriptions for 3w4 INFJs, 4w5 INFJs, and 4w3 INFJs?

A little about me, if it helps:

Strengths: loyal, honest/blunt, dependable, supportive, affable (I've been told that I make people feel very comfortable in conversations), very open about my feelings (not effusive though - I'm not good with being heartfelt), very good at communicating my feelings (especially through writing), able to get good grades in school without trying too hard (compared to peers, I study significantly less and still somehow manage to always pass my classes), creative/artistic (I used to draw a lot...I love wearing makeup - I would call myself an aesthete), individualistic, sometimes very carefree in my attitude towards life (may or may not be a good thing?), not easily influenced by others' opinions, quick learner

Weaknesses: lazy, easily discouraged, selfish, moody, neurotic, indecisive, sometimes irresponsible, self-absorbed (tend to talk too much about myself at times), doesn't take criticism easily (even if it's constructive), judgmental/critical, assuming (tends to jump to conclusions), sometimes comes off as aloof (I don't go out of my way to talk to others unless they approach me first), passive-aggressive, combative, irritable/easily upset, complains a lot, nitpicky, a bit controlling, perfectionist (want things to be done MY way) domineering & codependent in relationships (and, sometimes, friendships), easily bored, a bit vain - yet has low self-esteem (I don't know, but that's the best way to describe it), very concerned with my physical appearance, materialistic, sometimes very impulsive (especially with spending money)

That's all I can think of for now.

Any help would be GREAT, thank you so much!!

 

[charlatan]

Hi -- my very first piece of advice is to say that the enneagram and Jung are systems where philosophy seems to be emphasized over science, which is unsurprising given their mystical origins.
So, you're going to find a myriad of interpretations (not unlike the many theories of ethics or metaphysics out there).

That said, they're not *purely* philosophical systems -- they have an empirical component too. But just know that you can't expect whole empirical certainty -- personality psychology has long established that people don't generally fall into neat "types," so much as there are continuous spectra of traits we can use to describe them ( so eg so and so is this much extraverted compared to that person -- not so and so person is EITHER one or the other).

I think the concept of a type is more based on introspection into your very core psychology than what you'd use to generally describe the various facets that make up your personality.
______________________

Now on to some content! Here's my interpretation of the types, based on a synthesis of all I learned from different perspectives. The heart triad fundamentally is based on the idea of whether someone has value or not, and there are different "approaches" one can have to this fear. Note that I think other triads can be concerned with such themes in a different way -- feeling emotionally threatened is a universal issue, it's just I tend to find gut types and head types have a more indirect attitude to it (e.g. nobody wants to be humiliated, but you could say the heart triad types are more directly concerned with questions of their identity/worth).
A 3 tends to be most concerned with ensuring that what is presented of them is worthy, so their strategy is most direct: achievement and so on to bolster the image. A 4 shows a kind of conflict about validation based on inner vs outer factors: on the one hand, they seek authenticity, but on the other hand, they have a fear that by retreating totally inwards into who they "really are," there will be nothing to connect with others with/to be valued. This can lead to a feeling that there's something wrong/incomplete about oneself/one's life.
The conflict of inner/outer factors displays that 4 is sandwiched between 5 and 3 -- at one end is the despair of isolation, and on the other end is the problem that what one does is a reflection of who one is, but isn't "really" who one is (in the 4's mind) -- it's just that subset which is presentable.
A type 2 could be said to run counter to this 4 anxiety, in that there's generally a greater effort at feeling direct satisfaction with the goodness of oneself, e.g. by identifying one's aims with the concerns of others/winning approval. This is sandwiched between 3's need for external validation and 1's focus on enforcing the intrinsically perfect way in all situations (including on oneself), thus crushing all possible doubts about one's own image by aligning oneself with a certain ideal.
Some type 2s are egocentric, others are more "righteous". Type 3 is called vanity, because the seeking of external validation involves constructing some image that one can stare at, as if a mirror image of oneself, that isn't quite who one is, but covers the surface.

Some things you say make me want to ask you about type 1, just because you seem to be considering image types, and type 1s can sometimes come across similarly. I'd guess Hermione Granger is a 1, not a 3, but she has a lot of righteous pride in herself.

 

[Ulta]

Hi -- my very first piece of advice is to say that the enneagram and Jung are systems where philosophy seems to be emphasized over science, which is unsurprising given their mystical origins.
So, you're going to find a myriad of interpretations (not unlike the many theories of ethics or metaphysics out there).

That said, they're not *purely* philosophical systems -- they have an empirical component too. But just know that you can't expect whole empirical certainty -- personality psychology has long established that people don't generally fall into neat "types," so much as there are continuous spectra of traits we can use to describe them ( so eg so and so is this much extraverted compared to that person -- not so and so person is EITHER one or the other).

I think the concept of a type is more based on introspection into your very core psychology than what you'd use to generally describe the various facets that make up your personality.
______________________

Now on to some content! Here's my interpretation of the types, based on a synthesis of all I learned from different perspectives. The heart triad fundamentally is based on the idea of whether someone has value or not, and there are different "approaches" one can have to this fear. Note that I think other triads can be concerned with such themes in a different way -- feeling emotionally threatened is a universal issue, it's just I tend to find gut types and head types have a more indirect attitude to it (e.g. nobody wants to be humiliated, but you could say the heart triad types are more directly concerned with questions of their identity/worth).
A 3 tends to be most concerned with ensuring that what is presented of them is worthy, so their strategy is most direct: achievement and so on to bolster the image. A 4 shows a kind of conflict about validation based on inner vs outer factors: on the one hand, they seek authenticity, but on the other hand, they have a fear that by retreating totally inwards into who they "really are," there will be nothing to connect with others with/to be valued. This can lead to a feeling that there's something wrong/incomplete about oneself/one's life.
The conflict of inner/outer factors displays that 4 is sandwiched between 5 and 3 -- at one end is the despair of isolation, and on the other end is the problem that what one does is a reflection of who one is, but isn't "really" who one is (in the 4's mind) -- it's just that subset which is presentable.
A type 2 could be said to run counter to this 4 anxiety, in that there's generally a greater effort at feeling direct satisfaction with the goodness of oneself, e.g. by identifying one's aims with the concerns of others/winning approval. This is sandwiched between 3's need for external validation and 1's focus on enforcing the intrinsically perfect way in all situations (including on oneself), thus crushing all possible doubts about one's own image by aligning oneself with a certain ideal.
Some type 2s are egocentric, others are more "righteous". Type 3 is called vanity, because the seeking of external validation involves constructing some image that one can stare at, as if a mirror image of oneself, that isn't quite who one is, but covers the surface.

Some things you say make me want to ask you about type 1, just because you seem to be considering image types, and type 1s can sometimes come across similarly. I'd guess Hermione Granger is a 1, not a 3, but she has a lot of righteous pride in herself.

This is kind of confusing, but I just looked at this link (http://similarminds.com/desc.html) and I'm stuck between 4w3, 1w2, and 6w7 now.

 

[Ulta]

I feel like 6 is my core type

 

[Ulta]

Not sure if this is any help...

 

[Ulta]

 

[charlatan]

Why 6?