MBTI vs Enneagram

How does MBTI vs Enneagram compare?

The comparison of MBTI vs Enneagram depends on an individual’s personal growth goals. Both frameworks are tools for self-discovery to journey through the complexities of our developed personalities. Both Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Enneagram are quickly gaining more popularity and becoming a part of the everyday zeitgeist, especially for people aspiring to raise their consciousness.

The two tools offer great insights for self-awareness to aid the path of personal growth. However, they really approach personality from vastly different angles. This article will compare MBTI and Enneagram to understand the differences and similarities between them.

MBTI – Valuable Insights from Cognitive Preferences

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is arguably the most widely popular personality assessment that is used by most businesses and companies nowadays. The assessment helps to classify people into one of 16 personality types based on 4 dichotomies, which are:

1. Introversion vs Extroversion (I vs E)
2. Intuition vs Sensing (N vs S)
3. Feeling vs Thinking (F vs T)
4. Judging vs Perceiving (J vs P)

MBTI uniquely offers insights on:

1. Cognitive preferences (for gathering information & making judgments)
2. Workplace applications (for team organization, career development, and communication)
3. Personal strengths (for each personality type based upon strong development of preferred cognitive functions)

Enneagram – Valuable Insights from Motivations & Fears

The Enneagram is an interesting typology that categorizes individuals into 1 of 9 personality core types that each have their unique motivations, fears, and behaviors. Additionally, it incorporates levels of development with each type and adjacent-type “wings”.

Enneagram uniquely offers insights on:

1. Motivations & fears (to understand underlying desires & anxieties that drive behaviors & actions)
2. Growth & stress paths (as a roadmap for personal development & transformation)
3. Relationship insights (explaining intertype interactions, interpersonal dynamics, & potential areas of conflict or synergy)

Comparing MBTI and Enneagram

1. Scope: MBTI focuses on behavioral habits formed from cognitive preferences, while the Enneagram uncovers the emotional and more psychological aspects of personality.
2. Static or Dynamic: The cognitive functions in MBTI are static/stable over a person’s lifetime, while the Enneagram lays out a spectrum of possibilities depending on levels of stress and development.
3. Applications: MBTI is more commonly used for career development, while the Enneagram is more often applied in relationships, spirituality, and self-awareness.

Conclusion

Both MBTI and Enneagram are awesome frameworks for valuable insights to become more self-aware of and knowledgeable about innate differences between people. They are lens for a clearer perspective on human behaviors. Choosing between the two depends on your specific goals.