All this week on Sunrise, the team will reveal their personality types, and you'll get to hear from a coach of the online test.
INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — What's your number? No, it's not like that. We're talking about your personality number.
Many of us have probably taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or a similar personality test to see what type of person we are. There's another test that's been around for some time, but it's really growing in popularity. It's called The Enneagram.
The test gives a series of scenarios to which the test-taker responds. Based on those responses, the result will give you one of nine personality types.
You will also get a "wing" type, which is a secondary personality type that describes you.
The goal is about self-discovery and personal growth such as learning more about how you interact with others, how you're perceived and your core fears and desires.
A local couple took the test, and offered to share their results with us.
Ian and Rebecca Hauer have been married for five years and even though they say it's work, the results of the Enneagram helped them understand each other better.
Rebecca is a type 2 — "the Supportive Advisor" — while Ian is a type 1 — "the Moral Perfectionist".
"It was just much more dynamic, much more of a holistic picture of who I am," Ian said.
Type 2 is described as caring, warm, nurturing and helpful. Type 1 is accurate, fair and thorough.
Ian and Rebecca know the Enneagram is not a relationship "fixer," but, it's a big asset in relationship building.
Each of the traits have core fears, desires, weaknesses and longings.
There are even Enneagram coaches, like Tracy Huff, to help guide you through your personality type and how to better interact with people.
To take the free test our Sunrise team took and find out your personality type, click here. There's also a $12 test via the Enneagram Institute.
The Sunrise team's results
Chuck Lofton
Chuck Lofton is a type 2: the Supportive Advisor. Just like Carlos' wife, Olga, Chuck is helpful, nurturing and altruistic.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. When learning his results, Chuck said, "It sounds like my mother."
Plain and simple, Enneagram coach Tracy Huff called 2s "great people. They are always looking for ways to help other people." Huff said 2s excel and reading the temperature of a room, finding out what needs to be done, and doing it.
Chuck's wife, Mary, is a 9, like Julia. She's kind, a good listener, and agreeable. Huff said the 2-9 combination likely makes for a pretty peaceful marriage.
"There's probably not a lot of fighting in that marriage," Huff said. "Having a 2 for a spouse would be really good for a 9 because 9s desire to know that their presence matters."
While Chuck agreed they don't fight much, he did jokingly say they have "intense fellowship."
Chuck said he couldn't have come up with a better description of his wife than the Enneagram did.
Carlos Diaz
Carlos is a type 8: the Protective Challenger. Type 8s are outspoken, direct, opinionated, bold, decisive, tough and compassionate.
"They protect the people they love very well," local Enneagram coach Tracy Huff explained of 8s. "They just don't want to be betrayed, don't want to have anything that would overpower them or make them feel small. ... They speak very directly -- and they're not trying to confront, they just want to get to the point."
"It must [be accurate], because Julia's nodding the entire time," Carlos said when we revealed his results on-air Thursday.
Carlos' wife, Olga, is a Type 2: the Supportive Advisor. That means she's helpful, caring, warm, nurturing, altruistic, demonstrative and considerate.
"That would be a good pairing," Huff said. "You've got the one that's very out there and driving -- this force. ... Then you've got the other person coming alongside and being supportive and helping and nurturing."
Julia Moffitt
Julia is a type 9: The Peaceful Mediator. Type 9s are good listeners, agreeable, and don't like confrontation.
While this sounds like Julia, she believes there's a big part of her personality that doesn't fit into that description.
"There's a lot of that in there, but I feel like there's a lot missing, too."
As a type 9, Huff said Julia is great at making all different types of people feel comfortable and welcome.
Julia's husband, Barry, is a type 3: The Successful Achiever.
Barry is focused, productive, and highly concerned with success. Huff said type 3s are image-conscious and love to work to get things done. Because they can have a tendency to work so hard, type 9s may be a good match for them.
"With a 3, I could see there would be that drive there and...maybe a workaholic kind of tendency. A 9's going to bring that balance to that," Huff said. Julia said that assessment is spot on, as she's always encouraging her husband to sit down and relax.
Ben Hill
My wife, Holly, introduced me to the Enneagram a few months ago and already had me pegged. I'm a type 4: The Romantic Individualist. That's someone who is typically intellectual, accomplished and tasteful.
Local Enneagram Coach Tracy Huff said a Type 4 can also help people in their pain. "They have this great love of aesthetics, so they want things to look good. They have a drive for excellence, but they want to be their own person. They want to stand out, they want to be significant and they want to know that they are worthy," Huff said.
My wife, Holly, is a Type 7: The Entertaining Optimist. According to the Enneagram, they're typically creative, fun, stylish and playful. Huff described them as the "fun people" in life.
Because type 7s love fun so much, Huff said they don't like pain. It sounds so much like my wife, and she agreed.
But how do those two types get along? "I see that as a good balance because if you have a personality that doesn't like pain and avoids pain, and yet you have a personality who is comfortable with pain and sits with it, there's balance there that's brought to the table," Huff said.
That's a relief. Now, keep in mind there are "wing" types for each Enneagram type, and you can have traits from those other types. Huff said the idea isn't to "box you in," but to better understand yourself and how you interact with others by learning about all the types.