Tritype
Your Enneagram tritype, and how to find yours.
Your tritype is your leading type in each of the 3 Enneagram centers: one from the Head center (5, 6, 7), one from the Heart center (2, 3, 4), and one from the Body center (8, 9, 1). It starts with your core type. The free EnneagramGenius assessment finds yours from the same answers that find your core type.
02The three centers
How a tritype is built.
The 9 types sit in 3 centers. Each center is a different first response to the world, with its own worry underneath it. You use all 3. Your tritype names the type you reach for in each one.
- 01
- 02
- 03
How it’s written. Your core type comes first. The other 2 follow in clockwise order around the Enneagram symbol, counting on from your core. A Type 7 whose Body and Heart types are 9 and 2 is written 7-9-2, and a Type 9 with 2 and 6 is written 9-2-6.
That order follows the circle, so it says nothing about whether your second or third type is the stronger one. There are 27 possible combinations, and each reads differently depending on which of its 3 types is your core.
03How we find it
How the assessment finds your tritype.
There’s no separate tritype quiz. Every core item in the assessment asks you to pick which of 4 sentences about motivation is most true of you, and each sentence is written for a specific type, so every answer adds to that type’s score. When you finish, we take the highest-scoring type in each center. Your core type leads, and the other 2 are placed around the circle from there.
Your core type comes with a confidence band of high, medium, or low. Your tritype comes back as a single pick with no confidence value of its own, so it’s one of the parts of your result most worth checking against your own experience. The methodology page covers how the full assessment is scored.
It’s 54 to 58 questions, plus a short tiebreaker when two types are close, in about 15 minutes. Your tritype arrives with your core type, wing, and instinct stack, and all of it is free.
04Reading it
How to read your tritype.
Read your core type as home base: the motivation you return to when things get hard. Read the other 2 as the types you reach for when you’re working from the other centers. When you’re thinking a problem through, your Head type shapes how. When you’re weighing how you’ll be seen, your Heart type does. When you’re deciding whether to push back, your Body type does.
Take a 4-5-9. The Four wants the moment to mean something real. The Five wants more time and more information before committing. The Nine wants nobody upset. All 3 can be true in the same afternoon, which is why the same person can feel intense, withdrawn, and easygoing inside one conversation.
Something to try today. Pick a decision you’re still turning over. Ask what each of your 3 types wants from it, one at a time. The one you didn’t hear at first is the voice to listen for this week.
A tritype adds detail to your core type and leaves your core type in charge. If a number in yours doesn’t fit, read the other types in that same center and keep the one that matches what actually drives you.
05Questions
Tritype questions people ask first.
Is the tritype test free?
Yes. There's no separate tritype test to buy. Your tritype comes with the free EnneagramGenius assessment (54 to 58 questions, plus a short tiebreaker when two types are close, in about 15 minutes), along with your core type, wing, instinct stack, and a confidence band. No account is needed to start.
How many tritypes are there?
There are 27 combinations of one Head type, one Heart type, and one Body type (3 × 3 × 3). Each combination can be led by any of its 3 types, and it reads differently depending on which one is your core.
What is the difference between a wing and a tritype?
Your wing is one of the 2 types next to your core on the circle, and it colors how your core type shows up. Your tritype picks your leading type in each of the 3 centers. They answer different questions, and the same number can appear in both: a Type 4 with a 5 wing can also have 5 as the Head type in their tritype.
Why is my tritype written in that order?
Your core type comes first. The other 2 follow in clockwise order around the Enneagram symbol, starting from your core, so a Type 7 whose Body and Heart types are 9 and 2 is written 7-9-2. That order follows the circle, so it says nothing about whether your second or third type is the stronger one.
Can my tritype change?
Your result can shift between retakes, most often in a center where 2 types scored close together. If yours changes, read both types in that center and keep the one that matches what actually drives you.
06Start here
Find your tritype.
The assessment is free, and you don’t need an account to start. You get your core type, tritype, wing, and instinct stack from one sitting.