So you're with your friends, trying to decide where to go for dinner.
One says they want Chinese food, the other suggests Indian, and then they both offer to go to the other's chosen restaurant and it's been ten minutes and nobody's making a decision.
You finally jump in and say, "OK, let's just get Chinese," and then one of them responds with, "Ugh, you're such a Type 8!" They're referring to one of the 9 personality types in what's known as the Enneagram system — specifically, the type that describes a challenger or protector.
If they were trying to say you're controlling, that probably wasn't very nice.
But it was also probably wrong, because despite its popularity, the Enneagram is one of those classification systems that doesn't have solid science to support it and isn't actually a good measure of personality.
You can learn a lot about psychology from how popular it is, though.
The current form of the Enneagram, which started to become more well-known about 50 years ago, puts everyone in one of 9 categories.
For example, you could be a Type 1, called either the Reformer or the Perfectionist depending on whom you ask.
Supposedly, Type 1s are committed to idealistic principles and tend toward perfectionism.
Or you might be a Type 5, the Investigator or Observer — someone who's perceptive and intellectual.
