Santa Claus is coming to town! If you were to hide behind the door and surprise this jolly old man into staying for a chat, what would you expect? Who is the man behind the myth?
Is he the mall Santa Claus? A rascal in it for the politics, publicity and a fast buck?
Is he the office Santa? Extraverted, the center of every party and into everyone’s business?
From explaining to the barista that your coffee order is wrong to asserting yourself at your job, asking for what you need can be challenging. The act of asking looks simple enough, but many have internalized fears about the consequences: What if they say no? Am I just being selfish? What will everyone think?
Loving, nurturing and selfless: three words that describe the Enneagram 2 personality type. If you have a Two in your life, you’ll know that these personalities are natural providers. In fact, Enneagram Twos are at their best when they feel helpful, especially if their efforts are acknowledged.
At the same time, it can be tricky to understand how to show affection to an Enneagram 2. Twos often struggle to be vocal about their own emotional needs so you may be in the dark about what they want or need from you to be happy.
Our Enneagram Relationship content was co-developed with marital therapist-turned relationship coach Christa Hardin (MA)*.
Enneagram heart types are motivated by a desire to be loved and appreciated. They are often very compassionate and caring people who want to make a difference in the world. There are three Enneagram heart types: Two, Three and Four.
When my sister first told me that she had also tested as an ENFP, my immediate thought was that she was dead wrong.
Clearly, I am the one and only true ENFP! (Sounds just like an ENFP thing to say, yeah?)
I went through all of the deep ENFP knowledge I’ve learned in my years studying personality theory. I took each letter one by one, dug into the cognitive functions, and even compared both of us against characters of the TV show Friends to make my case.
This blog post is part of our Fundamentals of the Enneagram series, which takes a deeper dive into all the Enneagram elements - wings, arrows, subtypes, centers of intelligence, growth pathways and more. For an overview of the series, start with our introductory post here, then read Subtypes and Instincts of the Enneagram: What are They, and How Do They Affect Human Behavior?
While the Type 2 Giver and the Type 3 Achiever have habits of attention that point in radically different directions, they can still be easy to confuse. Some Type 2s are surprisingly competitive, while some Type 3s are strikingly helpful, so if you’ve ever felt unsure about where your attention goes, it’s understandable. Motivation is a complex, multi-layered aspect of character, and honest self-reflection is a process.
The Enneagram Two, the “Giver,” is a warm and affectionate partner. Twos are true romantics and they often put the wants and needs of their partner above their own. Their positive and helpful energy is infectious and, for this reason, they are extremely desirable companions in friendships and romantic relationships.
Our relationships are often a reflection of ourselves; of something within us that we can’t see clearly. Our friends and relationships often offer us something we can’t yet provide for ourselves. While that could be a recipe for codependency, it mostly is an opportunity to see a strength practiced in action and find a way to adopt it for ourselves, instead of relying on someone else to provide it for us.
The Enneagram Type 2 Giver and Type 9 Peacemaker have a lot in common, and it's easy to see how there could be confusion between the two. If you’ve ever felt conflicted trying to decide which one you are, you aren’t the first person to feel you could be both. Let’s explore some of the similarities and key differences between these two personality styles.
THE FINE PRINT:
Myers-Briggs® and MBTI® are registered trademarks of the MBTI Trust, Inc., which has no affiliation with this site. Truity offers a free personality test based on Myers and Briggs' types, but does not offer the official MBTI® assessment. For more information on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator® assessment, please go here.
The Five Love Languages® is a registered trademark of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, which has no affiliation with this site. You can find more information about the five love languages here.
