My Enneagram Test Results

Point Five - the Observer

Worldview: Knowledge will keep me safe.

Unconscious Drive: Avarice

Gift: Detachment

Observers have a natural ability to detach from feelings, needs, and other people. Clarity and a cool head prevail for the Five in situations where others are emotional or succumbing to chaos. The observer stance lends itself to keen observational powers. Fives are often good listeners and do not push what they know onto others. Fives are independent, self-contained people. They delve deeply into areas of knowledge that excite them, often becoming experts in subjects they explore. They exhibit a highly developed capacity for systematization of thought, for analyzing and synthesizing complex information.

Dark Side of The Gift: Five's approach can be overly mental when a more feeling approach is called for. They can seem to be distant or emotionally unavailable to the other types. Observers can seem disengaged with life, preferring the mental realms of thought to interaction. Their strong needs for privacy can extend to isolation. A belief that energy is limited can lead to compartmentalization of life. There are compartments for work, relationship,and leisure each with their concomitant time limits. Fives can withhold information, time, energy, and even themselves.

Internal TerrainFives have strong feelings just like everyone else, but prefer to deal with them later when safely alone. Observers feel that they only have so much energy and can be overwhelmed by too much input. They need blocks of private time to recharge. Yet, Fives can put out enormous amounts of energy if they know what is expected of them. They dislike open-ended unpredictable situations. Observers accumulate knowledge; they want to understand. Fives often feel safer if they do not share all that they know keeping some knowledge in reserve.