LEARN EVENTS STORE ABOUT CONTACT TESTING CENTER BUSINESS ACCOUNTS

9
THE PEACEMAKER
Enneagram Type Nine
The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type:
Receptive, Reassuring Agreeable, and Complacent

Type Nine in Brief

Nines are accepting, trusting, and stable. They are usually creative, optimistic, and supportive, but can also be too willing to go along
with others to keep the peace. They want everything to go smoothly and be without conflict, but they can also te nd to be
complacent, simplifying problems and minimizing anything upsetting. They typically have problems with inertia and stubbo rnness. At
their Best: indomitable and all-embracing, they are able to bring people together and heal conflicts.
Basic Fear: Of loss and separation
Basic Desire: To have inner stability "peace of mind" Enneagram Nine with an Eight-
Wing: "The Referee" Enneagram Nine with a One-Wing: "The Dreamer"
Key Motivations: Want to create harmony in their environment, to avoid conflicts and tension, to preserve things as they are, to resist
whatever would upset or disturb them.
The Meaning of the Arrows (in brief)
When moving in their Direction of Disintegration (stress), complacent Nines suddenly become anxious and worried at Six. However,
when moving in their Direction of Integration (growth), slothful, self-neglecting Nines become more self-developing and energetic, like
healthy Threes. Learn more about the arrows.

Examples: Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Grace of Monaco, Claude Monet, Norman Rockwell, Abraham Lincoln, Dwight D. Eisenhower,
Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, John F. Kennedy, Jr., General Colin Powell, Walter Cronkite, Carl Jung, Carl Roge rs,
Joseph Campbell, Walt Disney, Jim Henson (Muppets), Garrison Keillor, Gloria Steinem, Tony Bennett, Ringo Starr, Carlos Santana,
James Taylor, Janet Jackson, Jack Johnson, George Lucas, Ron Howard, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia
Loren, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, Jeff Bridges, Morgan Freeman, John Goodman, Matthew Broderick, Whoopie Goldberg, Woody
Harrelson, Geena Davis, Jason Segel, Lisa Kudrow, Toby McGuire, Zooey Deschanel, “Mister Rogers,” “Homer and Marge Simpson"

Type Nine Overview

We have called personality type Nine The Peacemaker because no type is more devoted to the quest for internal and external peace
for themselves and others. They are typically “spiritual seekers” who have a great yearning for connection with the cosmo s, as well
as with other people. They work to maintain their peace of mind just as they work to establish peace and harmony in their world. The
issues encountered in the Nine are fundamental to all psychological and spiritual work—being awake versus falling asleep to our
true nature; presence versus entrancement, openness versus blockage, tension versus relaxation, peace versus pain, union versus
separation.
Ironically, for a type so oriented to the spiritual world, Nine is the center of the Instinctive Center, and is the type that is potentially most
grounded in the physical world and in their own bodies. The contradiction is resolved when we realize that Nines are either in touch with
their instinctive qualities and have tremendous elemental power and personal magnetism, or they are cut off from their instin ctual
strengths and can be disengaged and remote, even lightweight.

To compensate for being out of touch with their instinctual energies, Nines also retreat into their minds and their emotional fantasies.
(This is why Nines can sometimes misidentify themselves as Fives and Sevens, “head types,” or as Twos and Fours, “feeling
types.”) Furthermore, when their instinctive energies are out of balance, Nines use these very energies against themselve s, damming
up their own power so that everything in their psyches becomes static and inert. When their energy is not used, it stagnates like a
spring-fed lake that becomes so full that its own weight dams up the springs that feed it. When Nines are in balance with thei r
Instinctive Center and its energy, however, they are like a great river, carrying everything along with it effortlessly.
We have sometimes called the Nine the crown of the Enneagram because it is at the top of the symbol and because it seems to include
the whole of it. Nines can have the strength of Eights, the sense of fun and adventure of Sevens, the dutifulness of Sixes, the
intellectualism of Fives, the creativity of Fours, the attractiveness of Threes, the generosity of Twos, and the idealism of Ones. However,
what they generally do not have is a sense of really inhabiting themselves—a strong sense of their own identity.
Ironically, therefore, the only type the Nine is not like is the Nine itself. Being a separate self, an individual who must a ssert herself
against others, is terrifying to Nines. They would rather melt into someone else or quietly follow their idyllic daydreams.
Red, a nationally known business consultant, comments on this tendency:

“I am aware of focusing on other people, wondering what they are like, how and where they live, etc. In a relationship with others, I often
give up my own agenda in favor of the other person’s. I have to be on guard about giving in to other’s demands and discountin g my own
legitimate needs.”
Nines demonstrate the universal temptation to ignore the disturbing aspects of life and to seek some degree of peace and comfort by
“numbing out.” They respond to pain and suffering by attempting to live in a state of premature peacefulness, whether it i s in a state of
false spiritual attainment, or in more gross denial. More than any other type, Nines demonstrate the tendency to run away from the
paradoxes and tensions of life by attempting to transcend them or by seeking to find simple and painless solutions to their problems.
To emphasize the pleasant in life is not a bad thing, of course—it is simply a limited and limiting approach to life. If Nines see the silver
lining in every cloud as a way of protecting themselves from the cold and rain, other types have their distorting viewpoin ts, too. For
example, Fours focus on their own woundedness and victimization, Ones on what is wrong with how things are, and so forth. By
contrast, Nines tend to focus on the “bright side of life” so that their peace of mind will not be shaken. But rather than deny the dark side
of life, what Nines must understand is that all of the perspectives presented by the other types are true, too. Nines must resist the
urge to escape into “premature Buddhahood” or the “white light” of the Divine and away from the mundane world. They must
remember that “the only way out is through.”
(from The Wisdom of the Enneagram, p. 316-317)

Type Nine—Levels of Development

Healthy Levels

Level 1 (At Their Best): Become self-possessed, feeling autonomous and fulfilled: have great equanimity and
contentment because they are present to themselves. Paradoxically, at one with self, and thus able to form more
profound relationships. Intensely alive, fully connected to self and others.
Level 2: Deeply receptive, accepting, unselfconscious, emotionally stable and serene. Trusting of self and others, at
ease with self and life, innocent and simple. Patient, unpretentious, good-natured, genuinely nice people.
Level 3: Optimistic, reassuring, supportive: have a healing and calming influence—harmonizing groups, bringing people
together: a good mediator, synthesizer, and communicator.
Average Levels

Level 4: Fear conflicts, so become self-effacing and accommodating, idealizing others and "going along" with their
wishes, saying "yes" to things they do not really want to do. Fall into conventional roles and expectations. Use
philosophies and stock sayings to deflect others.
Level 5: Active, but disengaged, unreflective, and inattentive. Do not want to be affected, so become unresponsive and
complacent, walking away from problems, and "sweeping them under the rug." Thinking becomes hazy and
ruminative, mostly comforting fantasies, as they begin to "tune out" reality, becoming oblivious. Emotionally indolent,
unwillingness to exert self or to focus on problems: indifference.
Level 6: Begin to minimize problems, to appease others and to have "peace at any price." Stubborn, fatalistic, and
resigned, as if nothing could be done to change anything. Into wishful thinking, and magical solutions. Others
frustrated and angry by their procrastination and unresponsiveness.
Unhealthy Levels

Level 7: Can be highly repressed, undeveloped, and ineffectual. Feel incapable of facing problems: become obstinate,
dissociating self from all conflicts. Neglectful and dangerous to others.
Level 8: Wanting to block out of awareness anything that could affect them, they dissociate so much that they eventually
cannot function: numb, depersonalized.

Level 9: They finally become severely disoriented and catatonic, abandoning themselves, turning into shattere d shells.
Multiple personalities possible. Generally corresponds to the Schizoid and Dependent personality disorders.

Addictions
Over-eating or under-eating due to lack of self-awareness and repressed anger. Lack of physical activity. Depressants and
psychotropics, alcohol, marijuana, narcotics to deaden loneliness and anxiety.

Personal Growth Recommendations for Enneagram Type Nines

It is worth examining your type's tendency to go along with others, doing what they want to keep the peace and be
nice. Will constantly acquiescing to the wishes of others provide the kind of relationships that will really satisfy you?
Remember, it is impossible to love others if you are not truly present to them. This means that you have to be yourself,
that you (paradoxically) have to be independent so that you can really be there for others when they need you.
Exert yourself. Force yourself to pay attention to what is going on. Do not drift off or tune out people, or daydream.
Work on focusing your attention to become an active participant in the world around you. Try to become more mentally
and emotionally engaged.
Recognize that you also have aggressions, anxieties, and other feelings that you must deal with. Negative feelings
and impulses are a part of you and they affect you emotionally and physically whether or not you acknowledge
them. Furthermore, your negative emotions are often expressed inadvertently and get in the way of the peace and
harmony you want in your relationships. It is best to get things out in the open first, at least by allowing yourself to
become aware of your feelings.
Although this will be very painful for you, if your marriage has ended in divorce or if you are having problems with your
children, you must honestly examine how you have contributed to these problems. Examining troubled relationships
will be extremely difficult because the people involved have been close to your heart. The feelings you have for
others endow you with much of your identity and self-esteem. But if you really love others, you can do no less
than examine the role you have played in whatever conflicts that have arisen. In the last analysis, the choice is
simple: you must sacrifice your peace of mind (in the short run) for the satisfaction of genuine relationships (in the
long run.)
Exercise frequently to become more aware of your body and emotions. (Some Nines run around doing errands and
think that they are getting enough exercise.) Regular exercise is a healthy form of self-discipline and will increase your
awareness of your feelings and other sensations. Developing body-awareness will help teach you to concentrate and
focus your attention in other areas of your life as well.
Exercise is also a good way to get in touch with and express some aggressions.

Learn More
The Riso-Hudson Books offer the most complete type descriptions available anywhere. Personality Types is the most
complete, in-depth, systematic treatment of the nine types and the Enneagram system as a whole, and The Wisdom of
the Enneagram provides the comprehensive guide to psychological and spiritual growth for the nine personality types.

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

Copyright 2019, The Enneagram Institute®. All rights Reserved.