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Enneagram stances help us discover which center of intelligence (doing, thinking, feeling) we have the least access to. Understanding your “repressed stance” (the least accessible) will help you grow by leaps and bounds!
The enneagram is often broken into groups of three. The most popular group is the Center of Intelligence (most commonly referred to as Triads).
However, there are many of these groupings and all are worth understanding. One such grouping is referred to as Enneagram Stances.
When dealing with the Stances it is important to understand that the Stances explain how the Hornevian Groups work together with the Centers of Intelligence.
The Stances show us what we dominantly use to take in the info of the world (based on Center of Intelligence) and what we are repressed in (what we unproductively use or have the least access to) when it comes to processing that info. (based on the Hornevian Groups)
The Stances help show us how we dominantly take in the info of the world, how we process that info, and where we are lacking in our processing.
I know that is a lot of enneagram groups and terms to keep straight. So we’ll briefly cover them in this post.
The Hornevian Groups
The Hornevian are broken down in to the Compliant Group, the Withdrawn Group, and the Assertive Group.
The Hornevian Groups show us how we interact with the world in order to get what we need.
The Compliant Group
The Compliant Group (sometimes referred to as the Dutiful Group) consists of enneagram types 1,2, and 6.
Each of these types are compliant/dutiful in their own ways but they all move toward people in hopes of earning what they desire (autonomy for 1s, attention for 2s, or security for 6s)
The Withdrawn Group
The Withdrawn Group consists of enneagram types 4, 5, and 9.
Each of these types are withdrawn in their own ways but they all move away from people in hopes of earning what they desire (attention for 4s, security for 5s, or autonomy for 9s)
The Assertive Group
The Assertive Group consists of enneagram types 3, 7, and 8.
Each of these types are assertive in their own ways but they all move against people in hopes of earning what they desire (attention for 3s, security for 7s, or autonomy for 8s)
The Centers of Intelligence
The Centers of Intelligence are broken down into the Gut/Doing Center, the Heart/Feeling Center, and the Head/Thinking Center.
The Centers of Intelligence show us how we take in the info of the world.
The Gut/Doing Center
8s, 9s, and 1s all take in life through their instincts (with their gut) and generally respond based on what their instinct is telling them to do.
The Heart/Feeling Center
2s, 3s, and 4s all take in life through their feelings (with their heart) and generally respond based on what their feelings are telling them to do.
The Head/Thinking Center
5s, 6s, and 7s all take in life through their thinking (with their head) and generally respond based on what their minds are telling them to do.
Crash course over!
The Three Enneagram Stances
Similar to how Subtypes have a stacking order, the Stances have an order to them as well.
This is what determines the order of our centers of intelligence (doing, feeling, thinking).
We have access to all three centers of intelligence but we definitely have a preferred center!
The order of our centers of intelligence are:
Dominant, Support, Repressed.
Dominant is which center we prefer to use. It’s our go to center of intelligence and the one that we are most familiar with when it comes to taking in the info of the world. This is what we covered in the Centers of Intelligence section.
Support is the center that helps back up our dominant center and helps us process that world.
Repressed (more nicely called “unproductive” or “least accessible) is the center that we came to misunderstand during childhood and so we began to use it less. We still use this center but we do not use it to its full potential.
Our dominant center gets the spotlight when we talk about the Centers of Intelligence but when we talk about Enneagram Stances, we are usually talking about the Repressed Stance (or repressed center).
When talking about Stances, we usually group them by their repressed stance (Doing Repressed, Feeling Repressed, Thinking Repressed).
And if that image for the Stances looks like a copy of the image for the Hornevian Groups, that’s because it is! The two groups match like that!
Now for the handy break down of things so you don’t have to piece it all together yourself.
Doing Repressed
Types 4, 5, 9 are all doing repressed. Doing repressed can also be interpreted as action repressed or instinct repressed.
Remember that “doing repressed” does not mean that these types do not take action (they do!) It simply means that these types do not make full use of that center. They do not use their action productively.
4s still take action but they tend to only take action when they feel like it. If the mood isn’t right they might not take action or they might not continue wit a mundane task or project.
5s still take action but they tend to get stuck in researching and analyzing. They often prepare for longer than is needed before taking action.
9s still take action but they tend to only take action when it won’t rock the boat. Their action is often for others and not for themselves… or they take action on whatever is right in front of them; leading to priority issues.
*A note on 9s: Did you catch that 9s are doing repressed but they are in the doing center of intelligence? This means that 9s are actually doing dominant AND repressed. Since they are in the gut/doing triad, 9s take in info from the world with their gut (the doing) but then they do not productively use their doing to make sense of that info or when deciding what to do about it.
Advice for Doing Repressed Types
Find a buddy! Find someone who is dominant in your repressed center as that can naturally help you learn to balance your centers.
I like to think of this stance buddy as your training wheels. Do you need them to learn how to use your repressed center on your own? Yes. Do you have to learn on your own? Nope!
For Doing Repressed types, I’d recommend finding a doing dominant type (a 1 or 8… 9 might be a good option as they are indeed doing dominant but they too are repressed in doing so they might be too similar to you).
Start talking with that doing dominant type. Let them be your sounding board for your plans and let them make suggestions to your plan/timeline – it is their suggestions that are the productive doing that you need!
Feeling Repressed
Types 3, 7, 8 are all feeling repressed.
Remember that “feeling repressed” does not mean that these types do not feel (they do!) It simply means that these types do not make full use of that center. They do not use their feeling productively.
3s still feel but they get stuck in feeling what others would value and ignore or avoid how they actually feel (or ignore/avoid the less valued feelings.)
7s still feel but they get stuck in the good feelings and ignore or avoid the negative feelings (the hard ones).
8s still feel but they get stuck in their passions mistaking their passion for full feelings and ignore or avoid the more vulnerable feelings.
*A note on 3s: Did you catch that 3s are feeling repressed but they are in the feeling center of intelligence? This means that 3s are actually feeling dominant AND repressed. Since they are in the heart/feeling triad, 3s take in info from the world with their feeling but then they do not productively use their feeling to make sense of that info or when deciding what to do about it.
Advice for Feeling Repressed Types
Find a buddy! Find someone who is dominant in your repressed center as that can naturally help you learn to balance your centers.
I like to think of this stance buddy as your training wheels. Do you need them to learn how to use your repressed center on your own? Yes. Do you have to learn on your own? Nope!
For Feeling Repressed types, I’d recommend finding a feeling dominant type (a 2 or 4… 3 might be a good option as they are indeed feeling dominant but they too are repressed in feeling so they might be too similar to you.)
Start talking with that feeling dominant type. Let them be your sounding board for your feelings and let them probe and ask questions – it is their probing and questions that are the productive feeling that you need!
Thinking Repressed
Types 1, 2, 6 are all thinking repressed.
Remember that “thinking repressed” does not mean that these types do not think (they do!) It simply means that these types do not make full use of that center. They do not use their thinking productively.
1s still think but they get stuck in the black and white (such as right and wrong) and miss thinking about the potential gray.
2s still think but they get stuck in all the “could” thinking (such as “what can I do for them”) and miss thinking about if they “should do something or if it’s even theirs to do.
6s still think but they get stuck in worse case thinking (such as what could go wrong) and miss thinking about what could go well or what has gone well in the past.
*A note on 6s: Did you catch that 6s are thinking repressed but they are in the thinking center of intelligence? This means that 6s are actually thinking dominant AND repressed. Since they are in the head/thinking triad, 6s take in info from the world with their thinking but then they do not productively use their thinking to make sense of that info or when deciding what to do about it.
Advice for Thinking Repressed Types
Find a buddy! Find someone who is dominant in your repressed center as that can naturally help you learn to balance your centers.
I like to think of this stance buddy as your training wheels. Do you need them to learn how to use your repressed center on your own? Yes. Do you have to learn on your own? Nope!
For Thinking Repressed types, I’d recommend finding a thinking dominant type (a 5 or 7… 6 might be a good option as they are indeed thinking dominant but they too are repressed in thinking so they might be too similar to you.)
Start talking with that thinking dominant type. Let them be your sounding board for your thoughts and let them push back and ask questions – it is their push back and questions that are the productive thinking that you need!
