Separating Constructions from Realities
On the topic of Enneagram and other such personality tests, Jaymie states that “you pretty much choose your own Enneagram type by what mood you are in when you take the test.” In spite of the wisdom of those words, is this what the designers of the test had in mind? What validity could a test have whose results vary according to the whim of the test taker? One website gives the following definition of the Enneagram test:
The Enneagram is a powerful and dynamic personality system that describes nine distinct and fundamentally different patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting.
Analogous to the previous posting on artificial bodies, it is imperative to make the distinction between our personality and our *perception* of our personality. When we answer questions on the test, we are basing those answers on how we see ourselves; what we *believe* to be true. It makes no differenece what is actually the case. Consider the following Enneagram test question, about which we are to choose a range of five possible points between ‘very inaccurate’ and ‘very accurate’: I have tremendous ambition. Well, one very ambitious person might see herself as being not at all ambitious, while another person may recognize a hint of ambition amidst a background of sloth and feel that he is the most ambitious creature ever to live.
It is a mistake to believe that the results of a serious Enneagram test inform us of our true personality patterns. Rather, they are simply a reflection of our own self-identity. And this is useful, perhaps more so than ‘real’ results (as if that were possible). This seeming flaw of the test is not important, for the benefit of the test comes from encouraging us to gaze inward and examine the way we are constructed. By paying more attention to our patterns of cognition and emotion, we increase our self awareness, moving closer toward a better understanding of how the condition of ‘I’ continues to arise. With that understanding, we can begin to let go those reactional patterns that cause negative states to flourish while simultaneously encouraging those patterns that bring about positive results. In this way the Enneagram, like the weblog, can be a tool for raising self awareness.
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