Understanding medical students’ empathy based on Enneagram personality types

Abstract

Purpose High self-awareness can promote communication and empathy. The Enneagram is a well-known personality tool to enhance self-awareness. We evaluated differences in empathy among medical students using the Enneagram typology. Methods This cross-sectional study included first and second grade students at the Inje University College of Medicine. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy was used to measure empathy and the Korean Enneagram Personality Type Indicator was used for examining personality characteristics. Empathy scores were analyzed according to the Triads, Hornevian group, Harmonic group, and each Enneagram type. Results The Instinctive triad, the Withdrawns, and the Positive outlook group were the most common, and the Feeling triad, the Assertives, and the Emotional realness group were the least common. Students in the Feeling triad and the Dutifuls had higher compassionate care (CC) scores as compared to their counterparts. Type 2 and 6 students showed the two highest empathy and CC scores. The empathy score of type 3 students was the lowest. Type 7 had the lowest CC score but the highest perspective taking score. Conclusion These differences in empathy according to Enneagram personality types can be applied to medical education to maintain and improve medical students’ empathy.

Frequency of personality types based on enneagram in a Turkish sample: A web-based cross-sectional study

“…While number one "the perfectionist" personality type believes in the correctness of moral values, the number two "the helper" believes in his/her importance, number three "the achiever" strives for perfectness, number four "the romantic" gives importance to own freedom, number five "the observer" trusts in the power of knowledge, number six "the loyalist" emphasizes the trust provided by the people, number seven "the adventurer" gives importance to materiality, number eight "the challenger" counts for power, and number nine is called "the peacemaker" [3,14]. However, the personality of a person is a combination of all nine types [18].…”

“…One study on medical students compared the Jefferson Scale of Empathy scores in different Enneagram personality groups [18]. It was revealed that type 2 and 6 students showed the two highest empathy scores, while the empathy score of type 3 students was the lowest.…”

Enneagram typologies and healthy personality to psychosocial stress: A network approach

“…In the research of Roh et al ( Roh et al, 2019 ), the different personality styles of the Enneagram (typological triads) are reported as the three basic centers of the human psyche: feeling (types 2, 3, and 4), thinking (types 5, 6 and 7), and instinct (types 1, 8, and 9). Harmonic groups are characterized by the way the person faces and react to disappointment, frustration, or when he/she does not obtain what he/she desires, conforming by positive (types 2, 7, and 9), competitive (types 1, 3, and 5) and reactive (types 6, 4, and 8) styles.…”

“…Harmonic groups are characterized by the way the person faces and react to disappointment, frustration, or when he/she does not obtain what he/she desires, conforming by positive (types 2, 7, and 9), competitive (types 1, 3, and 5) and reactive (types 6, 4, and 8) styles. They have also been classified according to interpersonal tendencies oriented to the pursuit of needs and desires as referred by psychologist Karen Horney (Hornevian groups), according to the most prevalent typology of the individual, which are the combative style (types 3, 7, and 8), reserved (types 4, 5, and 9), and obedient (types 1, 2, and 6; Roh et al, 2019 ).…”

The enneagram model for nursing competencies development-An exploratory qualitative study

“…[10] The literature on this model indirectly refers to the capacities underlying emotional intelligence mentioned by Goleman: [19] development of selfawareness, [10,24,25] self-management, [26] relationship management and conflict resolution. [10,27] In the Western context, although the relevance of the Enneagram model to competency development has been raised across many disciplines, including management, [10,24,25,28] counselling and psychology, [29] psychiatry and behavioral sciences, [30] education, [10,31] social work, [10] psychotherapy, [10] and medicine, [32,33] few studies have been conducted in nursing. [34,35] Indeed, the majority of these have been carried out particularly with a student population in South Korea.…”