How our Enneagram test works
Every step from your answers to your result, with the numbers the scoring uses. If you want to know why the test said what it said, it is all on this page.
Stage 1: 45 statements
The test has five statements per type, 45 in all, written for this site. You rate each from 1 (not me) to 5 (very me). The statements ask about motives, such as what you guard against and what you reach for, because the nine types overlap heavily in behaviour and separate on motive.
The order is fixed, so every visitor sees the same sequence and results stay comparable, and no two statements in a row measure the same type. Each type’s score is the average of its five answers, rescaled to 0 to 100. A skipped statement counts as the middle of the scale.
Stage 2: a head-to-head tie-break
Most mistyping happens between two types that both fit. So when the types behind the leader finish within 12 points of it, up to 3 of them go to a second round. For every pair, you get 2 questions, each showing one core motivation from each type, and you pick the one that is truer of you. Each pick adds 4 points to that type, and which side appears first alternates so position does not favour either type.
A clear result skips stage 2 entirely, which is why some people finish in 45 questions and others in up to 51.
Your type, wing and confidence level
Your type is the highest score after stage 2. Your wing is whichever of its two neighbours on the circle scores higher. Confidence comes from the gap between your first and second type: 15 points or more is high, 7 to 14 is medium, under 7 is low. A low-confidence result means read both type profiles and use the mistype check on each.
What happens to your answers
Your answers stay in your browser while you take the test and are deleted when you finish. The result is encoded in the result link (nine numbers, 18 characters), so no server or database stores it. Read the privacy policy for the analytics you can opt into.
What this test cannot tell you
The Enneagram is a model for reflecting on motives, and the research behind it is thin. A 2021 systematic review in the Journal of Clinical Psychology found mixed evidence for its reliability and validity and called for better studies. This test has not been through a published validation study either. Use your result as a starting point, read the profile, and trust your own judgement where it disagrees. More on who built the test and why is on the about page.