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Introduction to the Video Samples of the Nine Personaluty Types

A major limitation of books about the typology is that written descriptions of the nine personality types are often over-generalized and fail to convey the variations within each type. As a result, much confusion has resulted. Attempts over the years to construct personality tests based on questions based on stereotypes about the typology have been inadequate for the same reason: people whose personality traits do not match the stereotypes in the questionnaires will be mistyped. Another major problem with teaching the typology is a lack of agreement between experts of the Enneagram typology. I addressed this difficulty in my dissertation for a Ph.D. in Psychology: "Judgements of Interrater Reliability and Validity of Enneagram Personality Types" (1986, California Institute of integral Psychology, San Francisco, California). I did structured interviews of students at the University of California at Berkeley using a video tape recorder. I showed the interviews to Dr. Naranjo (who was teaching at my graduate school at the time, was on my dissertation committee, and who kindly agreed to help me with my research). The goal was to make two testing tapes based on interviews of two men and two women of each of the nine types. Naranjo and I had to agree strongly on the types for them to be included. Toward the end, the biggest challenge was to collect interviews of female Type Eights and male Type Fours (with which I had little experience in recognizing). I looked for tough-looking women students, invited them to be interviewed, showed the interviews to Naranjo, he would say that they were Nines and not Eights, and then I had to return to the campus and do more interviews until we agreed. (I payed students $3 and the opportunity to watch their interviews on the television.) Finally, he agreed. After that, when I showed him an interview of what I thought was a male Type Three, Naranjo said that the student was a Type Four-- and so the test tapes were completed. I then tested two groups of individuals: those who l earned the typology directly from Naranjo, and those who learned it from students of his students. They watched one of the test tapes and wrote down their judgements about the Enneagram personality types of the selected students. Using statistical analysis (kappa, the statistic of agreement), I found that the amount of agreement between the first group and the criterion (the judgements of Naranjo and myself) and the amount of agreement between members of the first group was stronger than with the second group. The agreement levels of the first group was also significant (in other words, higher than chance). However, the amount of agreement was not strong enough to be of practical value. In other words, the amount of disagreement was disappointingly high.

A year later, I sought to increase the amount of agreement by inviting a few of the best raters to study the unused student videotaped interviews, with a hope of understanding the Types better (and even, perhaps, learning to discern the subtypes) and then using the second testing tape to measure the increase of agreement. However, the group only lasted a short time.

Now, many years later, I feel that I now have enough experience in recognizing the nine types (with the assistance of my wife) so as to select video samples of the types from the Internet (mostly from YouTube) that may be useful for others to learn to distinguish the types in an efficient manner. I concluded long ago that belief about one's personality type is insufficient (even if that belief is accurate), because one is adhering to a conceptual opinion and not seeing directly and with certainty. The best way is to see directly and clearly that one definitely has the same type as someone who is correctly typed, and also to see clearly that one's type is definitely not one of the other eight types.

It is my hope that the video samples on this website will have a high accuracy rate that is useful to those who wish to learn the typology well. And to increase the level of accuracy, I am relying on my wife, Sher Phillips Gamard, as co-judge (we must agree strongly for a video sample to be included, as I did with Dr. Naranjo). She was also in Naranjo's original group with me, has maintained a keen interest in trying to see the personality types of other over the years (which we have often discussed), and has a talent for seeing the types accurately (she has corrected my opinions accurately many times). Although I was averse to including written descriptions of the nine types--since these can be simplistic, stereotyped, and superficial--I have included the descriptions from my dissertation especially for visitors to this website who are unfamiliar with the typology. These descriptions, though brief, have the unique perspective of showing polarities within the types. For example, a common stereotype about Type Six individuals is that they are indecisive and seek reassurance from others. However, many Type Sixes do not present like this at all: instead, they cultivate an attitude of certainty and self-assurance to such an extent that they if they read the stereotyped descriptions, they would deny that they are Type Sixes. It is important to keep in mind that each Type has three subtypes that can present as quite different. And within the three subtypes are numerous sub-subtypes. It is due to this amount of variety that verbal descriptions of the Types are limited in what they can convey.

It is better to view accurately typed samples of the Types in person or on video. This is because the non-verbal manifestations of the Types (especially facial expressions) provide the best confirmation of observed reality that is not conceptual opinion. At first, beginners try to type individuals by comparing them to descriptions from books. Later, as advanced students, they try to type individuals by comparing their non-verbal behavior to that of those in their memory "file" of which they feel confident about the accuracy of their personality types.

SUGGESTIONS FOR VIEWING THE VIDEO SAMPLES

The ads on YouTube can come on suddenly and loud, so keep the volume initially low and be prepared to click "Skip Ads." If you get a page that says, "Video Not Available," do a YouTube search ("xxx interview") on the peson's name to find another video. It is best to search for and select interviews (rather than speeches, movie roles, or comedy routines) in order to view a more sincere expression of the individual's personality. Interviews of celebrities can often be found at younger or older ages, which may reveal different facets of the individual's type. Interviewees may behave differently with male or female interviewers. Two YouTube webpages of different individuals can be placed side-to-side in order to study similarities and differences. To make a quick check on individual videos you, can use the cursor to move the recording time-line to the middle of a video (instead of starting at the beginning). In cases where the names of interiewees appear in blue, I have clipped seconds or minutes from the beginning (such as program announcements, comedy routines of the interviewer, and movie clips that star the interviewee.)

SOME THINGS TO LOOK FOR THAT CHARACTERIZE OR DISTINGUISH THE NINE TYPES

Things to Look for that Characterize or Distinguish the Nine Types

Certain facial expressions are so characteristic of particular Types that they cannot be made in the same way by individuals of other Types; when seen in combination with other aspects, these constitute proof that the individual is one of the nine Types and not another. These expressions can be hard to describe in words. The following are common characteristics, but do not apply to all varieties of a given Type.

ONES: See how serious and self-righteous they generally are, and how precisely they generally speak, often with an irritable tone of voice. Ones project an attitude of, "I am right about what should be corrected." Good examples are Video Interview M1-24) and Video Interview F1-2). On the other hand, some varieties use humor to point out defects.

TWOS: See how fast and fluent they speak, and with such confidence, often centered around themselves and how they are admired Twos project an attitude of, "I am admired for being special." Good examples are Video Interview M2-3) and Video Interview F2-11). On the other hand, some varieties become energized by criticism; since they need attention, if positive attention is not available, negative attention is better than none.

THREES: See how good-looking they usually are, how they look attractive while saying or doing anything. Threes are often pleasing, yet tend to have a certain coldness in their eyes. They project an attitude of, "I am successful at whatever I strive to achieve." Good examples are Video Interview M3-1) and Video Interview F3-18).

FOURS: See how "mannered" and "cultured" they often are, with a look of maturity that comes from having suffered loss. They project an attitude of, "I am a person of emotional depth." Good examples are Video Interview M4-3) and Video Interview F4-2).

FIVES: See how introverted, detached, and "cold" they look. They communicate through their intellect in a "dry" manner. Fives are pleased to share their knowledge or abilities (such as artistic or musical). They project an attitude of, “I am objective and knowledgeable.” Good examples are Video Interview M5-14) and Video Interview F5-1).

SIXES: See how cautious and nervous they often are, speaking hesitantly with a start-stop pattern, frequent "uh's," and nervous laughter. They appear sensitive and vulnerable, generally with a sweet "niceness." Sixes often look younger than they are. They can be guarded and defensive when talking to to others and tend to lower their gaze during moments of silence. They project an attitude of, "I am striving to fulfill my commitments in spite of feeling pressured and stressed." Good examples are Video Interview M6-26) and Video Interview F6-13). On the other hand, some varieties are more proficient speakers and have trained to speak more smoothly and confidently.

SEVENS: See a particular (and often frequent) way of smiling that is combined with a "wide-eyed" look with raised eyebrows, a "sing-song" cheerful voice tone, and fluid hand gestures. They project an attitude of, "I am optimistic and cheerful about life." Good examples are Video Interview M7-33) and Video Interview F7-19). On the other hand, some varieties are more often serious, but still idealistic.

EIGHTS: See what a strong gaze they generally have, indicating great underlying power. They are often large, and tend to hunch forward toward the person to whom they are talking in a somewhat intimidating manner. Some purse their lips in a characteristic way. They project an attitude of, "I am powerful, so be careful around me." Good examples are Video Interview M8-2) and Video Interview F8-7). On the other hand, some varieties present as intensely interested and eager for contact.

NINES: See how they generally present as ordinary, down-to-earth, congenial, and relaxed. They tend to enjoy talking about the most ordinary topics as much as more interesting ones. Nines project an attitude of, "I am comfortable." Good examples are Video Interview M9-2) and Video Interview F9-1). On the other hand, some varieties can be intellectual and inquisitive.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE CURRENT VIDEO INTERVIEW SAMPLES

As of 6/29/21, T=424

M1=28, M2=15, M3=25, M4=26, M5=27, M6=35, M7=33, M8=28, M9=29, T=246

F1=28, F2=15, F3=27, F4=22, F5=15, F6-17, F7=21, F8= 14, F9=19, T=178

sub>Last updated 6/21