Can Taking An Enneagram Test Increase Your Happiness?

By Mia Barnes

Everyone falls into one of nine Enneagram types. The right Enneagram test will tell you what percentage of each category you meet with your unique personality. Taking these quizzes is a fun way to pass the time while getting to know yourself.

But could doing so also improve your life? Yes! Here’s how knowing your Enneagram type can increase your happiness.

1. It Can Help You Meet Friends

How’s your social life? You don’t need to morph into a butterfly, but maintaining an active friendship circle is critical to longevity. Loneliness increases your risk of death from all causes — prioritize your connection with others.

Your Enneagram type might influence your tribe. For example, those with an Enneagram type two derive their sense of identity from helping others. If you score highly in this category, you might feel loneliness more sharply than others under some conditions — like the recent lockdowns. You might have found something you could do virtually, like sewing homemade masks and donating them, to feel more connected during this time.

Did you know that connecting with others can help preserve your brain functioning as you age? The more standoffish Enneagram types like five can benefit from knowing that they might need to make interaction more of a routine. Take an Enneagram test and figure out what it says about you.

2. It Can Help You Find the Right Career

If you identify as an Enneagram type five, you might die a slow and emotionally painful death working in customer service. You aren’t comfortable dealing with other people’s sometimes overpowering negative emotions. Each shift could leave you drained, miserable and feeling burnt-out.

However, you’d likely thrive in the scientific field. Conversely, those with an Enneagram type two might succeed in helping professions like teaching or counseling. Those who score high in type nine on the Enneagram test often make good judges and mediators, always finding new ways to keep the peace.

If you’re thinking of switching careers, why not take an online Enneagram test and discover which of the nine types you fall into the most? Knowing your unique preferences, strengths and weaknesses can help you find the right profession without excess trial and error.

3. It Can Help You Understand Your Kids

Can one of your little ones spend hours in front of the computer researching a topic they find fascinating while still falling behind in other school subjects? If so, you might have an Enneagram type five on your hands. Does your little one seem unusually strong-willed, routinely testing your patience by challenging your authority? If so, you might be dealing with a type eight.

If you guessed that these two children would respond differently to various discipline styles, you’re right. A little one who is an Enneagram type two or six, for example, might find isolation intolerable — sending them to their room could increase behavioral difficulties. Likewise, a stubborn type eight might resent overly harsh measures and rebel, even run away from home.

Why not spend an afternoon taking an Enneagram quiz with your kids? You can all share your results and gain insight into what childrearing practices will work best with your little ones.

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4. It Can Deepen Your Relationship With Your Spouse

Your relationship with your children isn’t the only one that matters. Have you and your spouse felt distant from each other lately? Why not take an Enneagram test together to strengthen your bond?

Knowing your spouse’s Enneagram type provides insight into little quirks you might otherwise find slightly maddening. For example, if your spouse drives you crazy with texts asking if you’re okay while you’re apart, they might not be overly possessive. If they’re an Enneagram type six, their excessive loyalty might cause them to fret when you are separated.

The next time you and your partner have a self-care day, why not make taking a quiz a part of it? They might not mind completing a little “homework assignment” if they know they get a massage afterward!

5. It Gives You Insight Into Yourself

Finally, knowing your Enneagram type provides insight into what makes you tick. Knowing your strengths and preferences helps you select activities that bring you the most joy. There’s nothing wrong with having more happiness in your life.

For example, you might have previously felt guilty about your love of spending an entire day wandering the wilds, classifying different plants and investigating their medicinal properties. Perhaps you think you should be spending more time on family activities. Understanding that your solo jaunts please your Enneagram type five can help you better balance your pastimes. One Saturday, you go to a soccer match and take the gang out for pizza afterward. The next, you don your sun hat and scour the hilly brush solo.

Mia Barnes

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Mia Barnes is a lifestyle writer with an interest in healthy relationships, and of course all things…life! She is also the Editor-in-Chief at BodyMind.com.