Putting it All Together for Type Six

It is thought that Princess Diana was a Six.

This week, we remain in the Head Center to explore its anchor, Type Six.

Let’s look at the various components that make up a Type Six personality.

Center: Head/Thinking (underlying emotion is fear)

Hornevian: Dutiful

Harmonic: Emotional Realness

Object Relation Group: Attachment

In the book “Out of the Box: Coaching with the Enneagram” by Mary Bast and Clarence Thomson, there’s a great description of a person with a Type Six personality from the perspective of her coworkers:

“She has this concern for ‘danger out there,’ yet she can come across like a bungee  jumper.”

 “She can act impulsively but is as likely to list all the reasons why we can’t do something. She will eventually say, ‘I guarantee this will fail!’”

This is the life of a Six: always on the lookout for danger, for what could go wrong. Sixes process the world through their heads and through a lens of fear. They trust no one—not even their own judgement—yet they desperately want someone or something to believe in. This ambivalence earns them the Riso & Hudson moniker, Loyal Skeptic, and results in a fascinating dichotomy: they tend to be either openly fearful (phobic) or I’m-not-afraid risk-takers (counter-phobic) – or a combination of both.

This is where being Attached in terms of Object Relations comes in. Head types feel that they lack guidance in the world, and how this plays out for Sixes is that they want to find individuals, groups and beliefs that they can give their allegiance to (attach to) in return for support. They will never fully trust what they give allegiance to, but they will most likely not cut ties – even when that would be a good idea. Sixes can become dogmatic out of fear and hold on to the often-bitter end. Taken too far, this leads to us-versus-them mentality and is easily exploited by cults and other fringe groups.

This then feeds into, or is fed by, the Dutiful quality of Sixes. Once committed, Sixes are the first to help out a friend or group. These are the folks you call when you need to move! They feel that they must do their “duty” to be helpful, responsible and loyal in order to maintain the relationships that give them a sense of security.

Because they’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop, Sixes cannot ever fully be at peace. They can’t fully enjoy a personal victory, and some Sixes cannot ever be satisfied or grateful. There’s a sense that the desired outcome could have been better or happened sooner, if the world weren’t so dreadful. This comes from their deeply rooted anxiety, which then causes more anxiety – a never-ending cycle.

It seems to me, then, that a way Sixes quell (or perhaps even sometimes confirm?) their anxiety is through their quality of Emotional Realness. They want others to mirror their feelings. “Don’t you see how dangerous/terrible/wrong this is?” If a Six doesn’t know where you stand, you may be hiding something, or you may not care. But if the Six can provoke you and get an emotional reaction, at least s/he will know your position – because not knowing is just too uncomfortable.

I hope this gave you some insights into how various factors interact to form the Six behavior patterns. Please share your thoughts, observations or experiences in the comments or via Twitter or Facebook.

Next week, we’ll explore the next and final Head Type, Seven.

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