Why your test scores may not reveal your true type

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: I often see messages in here with new people coming in after taking one : of the 2 tests we now have and wondering out loud whether, if the test : comes out with Type X as the highest, Type X is really their true type. : To help out those folks, I thought I'd list several reasons why your : test results may not accurately indicate your true type. ;) BTW these : are by no means mutually exclusive. : 1) Your highest score is in a type which has plenty of similarities to : your true type. : Both tests available on this board ask you to evaluate a series of : statements, asking you to indicate which ones "best" describe you. : Unfortunately, quite a number of statements, while likely soliciting : answers from the type they were "designed" to measure, will also consist- : ently solicit replies from certain other types. For example, consider : the following statements, taken from the RISO indicator: the first number : it the type that is being tested: the others are other types which often : will also choose that statement: : 1) I have tended to focus too much on myself. (4-5, possibly 3) : 2) I have generally been and outgoing, sociable person. (7-2,3, maybe 6) : 3) Being independent and self-reliant has been important to me. (8-4,5,7,1) : 4) I have stood by my friends, even when they were wrong. (6-all?!?) : Given enough questions, such problems should, in theory, be minimized, : but by no means eliminated. Number 4 is probably just a case of a bad : question-who wouldn't generally stand by their friends? (except for rigid : Ones!) Three possibly is as well since at least half of the types have : a healthy independent streak in them. : For the Riso test (and possibly the Personality Online test, tho I : give no guarantees) here is a list of types which are similar. The first : number after the main type is the most likely to share similarities, and : so on. : ONE 8, 3, 5, 6 : TWO 7, 9 : THREE 8, 1, 7 : FOUR 5, 9 : FIVE 4, 9, 1 : SIX 1, 9 : SEVEN 2, 3 : EIGHT 1, 3 : NINE 5, 4, 6 : 2) Your highest score is in your wing, with the 2nd/3rd highest being : your actual type. : This can especially be a problem if your wing is either very strong, : almost as prominent as your true type, and/or said wing shares similarities : to your main type (re: #1 above). Carefully reread the descriptions of : each type to confirm or deny the test results. Some people can almost be : said to be "dual" types as well. : 3) You took the test as you are now (and not as you were in young : adulthood), and you have been hard at work on improving/actualizing your- : self via therapy/meditation/spiritual practice etc., and as a result : most of your scores are more or less equal to each other, indicating the : ability to draw on the characteristics of other types to enhance your life. : Well, you probably won't get much out of the Enneagram, as you : probably have already transcended the vices and pitfalls of your type via your : personal growth. (you will probably chuckle when reading about how your : type typically does improve, having already done most of the things listed!) : Take the test again, answering as you were when younger. : 4) You made errors on the test-skipping/misreading questions, you were : tired, your cat was dancing on your keyboard at the time, etc. Try to : set aside some quiet time when you are alert, and retake the test again : (and put the damn cat in the bathroom!). : 5) You are a Nine or Three: a Nine often mistypes itself because their : sense of self is so often dependent on extrinsic factors (your lover is : a Five so you transmogrify into a Five to "merge" with him, for ex.). A : Three will mistype if she is trying to project a certain image to people : for personal gain/prestige etc.--ex. you are working in a university so : you project a Fiveish persona. To tease apart all of the confounding : factors will probably take awhile (some Nines on this board have admitted : that it took themselves ages to finally realize they are Nines!), so : hang in there. : OK-you have taken the test, and are now reading one of the books on : the market, trying to figure out which of your three highest scores is : your type. I often find that the best "test" at this point is when you : read a description of Type X and have what is called the "OH Crud!!!" : reaction as you realize the passage is describing your personality to a "T". : Hope this helps! : ---John DiFool : "How can you be so invisible? : Give me the nerves to see!" : ---The Church

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