The Enneagram: Does It Have to Be Scientifically Proven to Be Useful?

One of the main criticisms of the Enneagram is that the evidence for its validity and reliability is mixed. In other words, does it measure what it claims to measure, and would the result remain consistent if someone took the assessment again later?

Another criticism concerns the Barnum effect: the tendency to regard general descriptions as unusually accurate when they are presented as personal descriptions.

There are also questions about self-assessment. We may have blind spots, answer according to the person we would like to be, or describe patterns that belonged more to our past than to our present.

These are valid points, and I would not dismiss them. But I think there is another way to consider the question.

When I took the Enneagram assessment, I was curious but had no great expectations. When I read the report, however, it spoke to me.

The behaviours it described were not all new to me. What was new was having a way to think about some of the reasons behind them.

I had been aware of certain reactions for years without really stopping to ask why I responded that way. The report gave me a starting point for exploring things about myself that I had not fully understood.

For me, that was where the value lay. Recognising a behaviour is one thing; exploring what may be behind it is another. When I began to understand some of my responses, it became easier to notice them and, at times, to change them.

That did not mean change was easy or that every attempt worked. Old habits are persistent. I still drop the ball, although less often. But I became more aware of what I was doing and why, and that awareness gave me a better chance of responding differently.

I am not suggesting that the Enneagram has all the answers or that we should accept everything it tells us. Some descriptions may fit better than others, and we should question those that do not.

There is a difference between treating it as a definitive assessment of personality and using it as a starting point for reflection.

Whether the assessment got everything right mattered less to me than what I learned from considering it. Understanding why we behave in a particular way does not excuse behaviour that is unhelpful to others, but it may help us take responsibility and decide whether to change.

Perhaps the value of the Enneagram lies less in classifying people than in prompting useful questions. Used with care, it may help us examine our own behaviour.

My experience is not proof that the framework is valid or reliable, and it should not be treated as proven fact.