The Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator (Rheti, Version 2.5) [Paperback]

Don Riso and Russ Hudson are superb writers and teachers - their books are highly regarded, and deservedly so. But their test is a different matter; the advertised accuracy figures (85%, according to one source) are actually for internal-consistency, not correctness. Somewhat deceptively, this crucial distinction is not apparent until one has already bought the product - for example, it is not noted in the advertising on this site. Internal consistency is certainly important, but most Enneagram tests have a high internal consistency (the WEPSS by Jerry Wagner is even better than the RHETI on this measure). And internal consistency is not the same as accuracy (for example, conspiracy theories are often internally-consistent without being accurate.) At least one Ph.D. dissertation (by Josie Dameyer) notes that another test - the Stanford Enneagram and Discovery Inventory and Guide (SEDIG, now called the "Essential Enneagram Test") may be more likely to give the correct Enneagram type.

I should add that I'm not affiliated, financially or otherwise, with any of the authors mentioned in this review.

The Enneagram was a fortuitous and happy discovery for me several years ago, going wonderfully beyond the hocus pocus of "human potential" and "self-realization" psycho-babble -- to coherently integrate, in a series of compelling explanations, a whole range of seemingly disparate parts of one personality.

To oversimplify, the Enneagram concept is one of 9 personality types, complete with its own vocabulary, and subtypes classified

a) by degrees of healthy (integrated) vs. unhealthy (not integrated) states we each travel through at different times; and

b) by each person's closeness also to some type other than her principal type ("wings").

The RHETI ("Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator") analysis attempts to classify by how we have felt "during most of our lives", whether or not it is our feeling at the moment the test is taken. A sensible approach, once you understand and accept this one guideline.

This RHETI series of "forced choice" questions is THE only Enneagram test I have ever seen, taken or "administered" to others I care for, which seems to ask the truly difficult questions, revealing type most accurately. "Forced choice" is lingo for a testing method that requires that no question on the "test" go unanswered. The "test taker" *must* choose an answer from test's exact two choices offered for a question -- i.e., ways s/he have typically felt throughout his/her life -- even though (as is fairly often the case for everyone) both proposed answers seem may equally and totally inapplicable and foreign ....or equally and totally 'right on'. Choices between such puzzling options are telling, like no others can be.

I knew I was 'on to something' when, after trying the RHETI on my kids, family, friends and lovers, I dared try it on my... MOTHER! What greater insight could a son ever hope to have than to gain the Enneagram sort of insight into my dear, complex Mom's personality and her psychological underpinnings?!!! So I was full of anticipation as I began to take Mom -- age 88, and still sharper than anyone she knew -- through the questions. After a few of the "forced choice" questions, she squirmed uncomfortably, stopped abruptly and declared with finality: "I don't like this test!" She'd not allow me to ask even one more question. By the time she died not too long later, I still had no Enneagram answer to my maternal puzzle!

Raised in a world aware (by whatever name) of at least some psychological perspectives, most of us do just fine over the hour or so required for thoughtfully answering all Qs, despite momentary, mild discomfort with the tough choices. The exercise can generate lots of laughter and side discussion! It could almost remind someone of that odd board game from in the early 70s -- "Group Therapy"! But this exercise is actually useful. The results are uncanny, and each person can then use their "type" to learn about how parts of their personality work and fit together.

There is a large literature on Enneagram analysis. Helen Palmer The Enneagram: Understanding Yourself and the Others In Your Life; The Enneagram in Love and Work: Understanding Your Intimate and Business Relationships seems to be the senior stateswoman in the field, and she is very sharp. But I find her descriptions overly pessimistic and austere. Claudio Naranjo brings a very different, original and more sophisticated perspective from South America. In Enneatypes in Psychotherapy: Selected Transcripts of the First International Symposium on the Personality Enneagrams, Naranjo heads a gathering of 9 therapists, each representing a unique point on the Enneagram, who come together with the express purpose of seeing how they each relate to one another.

However, Riso & Hudson -- these guys -- are more to my liking in all they write. The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types Different analysts 'name' these types differently, and the subtleties of the analysts' differences are interesting in and of themselves.

As a "Type 4" myself. I can now see how my interest with aesthetics, music and the Arts fits with my attraction to high drama, my ability to empathize with a friend in distress, or my recurrent feeling that life's rules were 'just not meant to apply to me', the outsider ... and a host of other peculiarities I did not understand about myself. I also have come to understand better under Enneagram analysis how some of the very same characteristics which work a certain way when my life is going well can subtly transform when the going gets rough and I am feeling far less "together". The often surprising light and shadow of each trait are here beautifully illuminated

I have seen "quickie tests" for determining your type, including several on the web. (Look in Google under "Enneagram" for a ton of on-line stuff) The "quickies" are, well, like "quickies" generally -- empty and dissatisfying. Instead, I recommend this more thorough test as the very best I have seen. It is a supremely useful entry into a fascinating and often brilliant field of thought, well worth the time of any person interested in understanding how people tick.

This is a very good Enneagram test, but the price is steep and you can get the test along with an introductory book to the Enneagram by buying Riso and Hudson's book "Discovering Your Type." Going this route is even less expensive than buying this pamphlet. You can also take the test online at Riso and Hudson's website. Unfortunately, they do not offer the same test in their book "The Wisdom of the Enneagram," however; the mini-tests that begin each chapter are useful for differentiating out scores that approximate each other on this test.

If you are having difficulty typing yourself, I also recommend that you look at the childhood patterns in "The Wisdom of the Enneagram" and read all the types and notice which one tends to trigger you emotionally. Being triggered emotionally is often a sign that you are really on the trail of your type.

Sometimes it's difficult to work out your type quickly. If you fall into this category, then it is useful to look at the ego delusions of each type and work through them keeping in mind how you resemble each of them in some way. The Enneagram is a tool for self growth and eventually your type will become clear if you are patient and keep an open mind. Even Riso and Hudson clearly indicate that their test is only about 80% reliable for typing people, which is my experience in working with people.

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