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Reliability and validity study of a Sufi personality typology: The enneagram
Author(s) -
Wagner Jerome P.,
Walker Ronald E.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(198309)39:5<712::aid-jclp2270390511>3.0.co;2-3
Subject(s) - typology , psychology , personality , test validity , psychometrics , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychotherapist , social psychology , archaeology , history
Initiated research on a Sufi personality typology that describes nine life stretegies as depicted by a nine‐sided figure called the enneagram. Through workshops and classes, a S pool was formed that consisted of 390 adult and college‐age S s (311 females and 79 males) who knew the enneagram system well enough to type themselves. The stability of the typing was found to be satisfactory. The Myers‐Briggs and Millon personality inventories were administered to the S s, and on both instruments significantly different yet congruent profiles emerged among the enneagram types thereby providing some concurrent validity for the system. An objective 135‐item test instrument was devised to differentiate the nine styles, and positive results were obtained. The enneagram typology appears to have diagnostic, prognostic, and heuristic value for the study of personality structure and dynamics.