Transcription
If you or someone you know is driven by a sense of purpose, has a deep passion for justice, is really self-critical, and struggles with a good amount of self-righteous anger, well then they might be a Type 1 Reformer. Also, if you've tested or been told by others that you're a three, a five, or six, but you're not quite sure, then this video may actually help confirm or change the Enneagram type that you identify with most, because those three types often mistype as Type 1s and vice versa.
So, with that said, here's a quick look at all the topics we'll cover in this overview of the Enneagram personality Type 1. We'll start off by defining their major personality traits, then we'll go back in time a bit and cover their childhood experience. Then we'll get into the variations based on their wings. Next, we'll describe their movements of integration and disintegration based on how healthy they are. Then we'll get into their instinctual variants and triadic groups, and lastly, we'll end with some practical tips to help avoid the pitfalls of their personality and maintain a healthy sense of self. I'll even pepper in some silly topics at the very end, like spirit animals, spirit country, and some others, just to lighten up a bit and take a break from all the serious stuff we'll cover throughout most of the episode.
All right, that's where we're going. Ready? Let's get into it.
Type 1s are called the Reformer because they are driven by a deep desire to improve the world around them. A lot of Enneagram teachers refer to the Type 1 as the Perfectionist, but I actually hate that label because so many other types can be perfectionists in some area of their life, like Sixes are perfectionists when it comes to their daily work, and Threes can be perfectionists when it comes to their public image, and Fours are even highly perfectionistic when it comes to their artistic creations. But the reason Ones are labeled Perfectionists is because at their core, they believe there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. They have a borderline neurotic desire for integrity caused by an overactive superego, and the superego is just that part of the brain that like, comments on your personality and makes moral judgments about your behavior. Problem is, their superego doesn't just point inwards, it also points outward to everyone around them, and Type 1s are usually incapable of withholding critical comments. If they see something, they say something, and then they usually do something about it.
Reformers are hands-on people that want to control their environment to avoid pain and punishment. It's important to understand though, that most Reformers don't actually want to make people feel bad with their judgments, and in fact, it's usually the exact opposite. Ones just can't help but see the best possible version of everything, and so they naturally spot potential ways to fix people or situations in order to manifest their grand vision for a brighter future and a better, healthier you. Healthy Ones will make deeply personal sacrifices for the good of others because they feel like it's their entire life's purpose, and boy oh boy, do Ones crave having a purpose in life. Their core identity is wrapped up in feeling like they've been called by a higher power to do something good in the world, and "feeling" is actually the key word there. This may surprise you because Ones try to look all objective and rational and buttoned up, but they are, in fact, highly emotional people. I'll talk about this more in the section on triads, but Ones deal with a ton of anger, which they repress because it feels morally wrong. But repressing their emotions just makes them look rigid and stoic and detached.
If you really want to see the Type 1's true emotions, just criticize something they did. Could be anything. Their intense self-criticism makes them super sensitive to your criticism. It's easy for them to be all objective and rational when they're telling someone else how they messed up, but when you turn the tables, get ready for some pent-up rage, because you are tapping into their greatest fear, which is that their beliefs, which should be their North Star guiding them to like, an honorable life, are actually causing them more harm than good. They're terrified of being the bad guy, and that's because at their best, Reformers want to be wise, benevolent people that change the world through their passion for justice and personal growth.
All right, that's the Type 1 personality in a nutshell. Now let's talk about how their childhood experience continues to shape their identity to this day.
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Disclaimer: You should know that when I discuss Enneagram childhood experiences, I am always taking into account both nature and nurture. We are all born with a specific temperament, psychologically speaking, that is undeniable, but the way our primary caregivers raise us has a great deal of influence on how that temperament gets expressed as adults. Okay, there's my disclaimer.
Now, in their earliest years, Type 1 children can look a lot like Type 7 Enthusiasts because they're highly energetic, playful, and outgoing. However, Ones quickly realize that life is not all fun and games. Typically, Ones notice that something is off with their relationship to the protective figure in the home, which is traditionally the father, but not always. Ones experience their father as harsh, unfair, or even corrupt. Ones begin to notice that their father's rules just seem unnecessarily strict. That's why Ones have incredibly high standards as adults, because as children, they reacted to unfair rules by going above and beyond the rules in a subtle attempt to prove them wrong by being undeniably good, and that's where the little rebellious reformer spirit starts to grow.
As a Type 1 myself, I 100% identify with this experience. Uh, I was punished every day for every tiny little thing I did wrong, like walking up the stairs too loudly or not lining up my shoes perfectly by the back door. A lot of Ones, myself included, reacted to this by doing everything extra perfect in life as a way of saying, "How could you punish such a good kid?" We get straight A's, we excel in sports, volunteer for community service, and so on and so forth. And this is actually a big reason why Reformers can get mistyped as Type 3 Achievers and Type 6 Loyalists because they have this need to protect their image like a Type 3, and this weird relationship to authority like a Type 6. But remember, it all comes back to the childhood experience of anger towards the father figure and their desire for fairness. As Ones grow up, they continue to have issues with their authority figures because of this fear of punishment mixed with the desire to do things the right way.
Okay, that's the childhood experience for Type 1 Reformers. Now let's talk about how Ones can look very different from each other depending on their wing.
Every Enneagram type has what's known as a wing, and it's simply an overlap of traits with the personality type directly to the left or to the right of their primary type. So, Type 1s can either have a Nine wing or a Two wing.
Ones with a Nine wing are called the Idealist, and that's because both Nines and Ones prefer their ideal world over the actual real world environment that they live in. Ones are very attached to their beliefs about how the world should be, while Nines are more attached to an idealized or romanticized version of the people around them. The result is that this subtype is more impersonal, cerebral, and disconnected from others than the One with a Two wing. Idealists are filled with inner turmoil because Nines want to avoid conflict and create harmony in their environment, while Ones definitely don't mind stirring up conflict to make necessary changes. This paradox pushes Ones outside of mainstream society, and they become more focused on critiquing culture than being a part of it. This introversion mixed with idealism can make One-wing Nines mistype as Type 5 Investigators, but when they're healthy, Idealists are like a sweet, approachable professor that's just as playful as they are insightful.
Now, Ones with a Two wing are called the Advocate, and they are far more action-oriented about the changes they seek to make in the world than their counterpart, the One with a Nine wing. Both Ones and Twos are concerned about being good people, so this type has an even more active superego. The Two wing makes Ones more sociable and interested in cultivating loving, committed relationships. However, the Two wing can also make Ones a bit more intense in their interactions with people because they still want to be right, but now they're extroverted rather than introverted. But the Two wing does bring a sense of warmth and a desire to serve their community to all that intensity. The Advocate's major problem is with their need for control, because Ones want to control themselves through a rigid sense of morality, and Twos want to control others by meeting their needs. This can make them rather obsessive people, and those closest to them can feel a never-ending sense of manipulation through their peer pressure, guilt, and moral shaming. Overall, though, Ones with a Two wing just need to keep an eye out for their aggression towards other people, be it active or passive aggression, and make sure that that noble desire to improve the lives of others doesn't deteriorate into constant self-righteous criticism.
Okay, those are the wings of the Type 1 Reformer. Time to talk about their movements of integration and disintegration.
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Okay, let's talk about the movements of integration and disintegration. This is a central teaching of the Enneagram, and it's the idea that we embody the traits of other personality types depending on how healthy or unhealthy we are.
So, when Ones are unhealthy, they disintegrate to the worst characteristics of the Type 4 Individualist. They essentially start contradicting all their rigid morality, they get moody, irrational, and pretty self-indulgent. Ones can start to slip into a fantasy life where they can do whatever, whenever they want, without repercussions. If Ones actually start to live into these fantasies, then they become plagued with intense moral shame and guilt. At their lowest, disintegrated Ones take the rage they normally point at other people and instead, they turn it inward on themselves. Ones can become very depressed if their attempt at creating a good life has actually led to a rather painful and lonely existence. This experience stirs up their core fear that everything they believed was good and right was actually wrong and harmful. As bleak as that sounds, it can be a real opportunity for some necessary change for the Type 1's arrogant and immature worldview. Speaking from experience, there.
Now, when Ones are healthy, their movement of integration is to the Type 7 Enthusiast. This is a pretty drastic shift for the rigid Type Ones because they become spontaneous, carefree, and just an all-around good time. Ones spend so much time and energy controlling themselves so they can do the right thing, so when they transcend this basic operating system of the ego, all that energy is now available to just bask in the beauty of life. Integrated Ones still have a deep connection to their values, but they become way more mature and flexible in their ability to navigate the gray areas of life. In integration, they finally become warm and accepting enough for others to finally seek out the wisdom they've spent a lifetime cultivating.
Okay, those are the movements of integration and disintegration for the Type 1 Reformer. Time to go a little bit deeper and talk about how the Enneagram instincts change the way Reformers live out their core personality traits.
The Enneagram instincts describe the most basic ways we function in our daily lives. The pattern normally goes that we operate out of one primary instinct, then our secondary instinct really just serves the first, and the last instinct is usually repressed due to some formative experience we had growing up. So, the three instincts are the Self-Preservation instinct, the Social instinct, and the Sexual instinct. I'm going to start things off with the Self-Preservation instinct because, selfishly, that's the one I lead with.
Self-Preservation Ones are focused on hard work that brings material security, like a nice home, a reliable paycheck, and physical health. They tend to suffer from anxiety a lot more than other Type Ones, and this can make them look like Type 6 Loyalists. However, Ones are afraid that their security will be threatened by making a bad decision, rather than the Sixes' fear that they have no one to protect them from external threats. Self-Preservation Ones are also by far the most stereotypically clean and tidy, and I can speak from experience there. They obsess over personal hygiene and wellness practices, like taking lots of vitamins, supplements, or joining exercise programs. However, when over-stressed, the Self-Preservation instinct can actually self-sabotage, and Ones will start binging on late-night fast food, ice cream, alcohol, or other serious drugs, depending on their level of health. This creates a push-pull lifestyle that's often driven by a system of rewards and punishments. "You ate that pint of ice cream? Now go punish yourself on the treadmill." The idea of pleasure for the sake of pleasure makes Self-Preservation Ones very uncomfortable. They much prefer periods of poverty or adversity because it gives their anxiety something real to focus on. When they get comfortable or achieve some level of success or luxury, they can be filled with a sense of impending doom or "foreboding joy," as Brené Brown calls it, and that's because they expect life to be inherently difficult. Remember, they're moral creatures at heart, so there's always the right thing to do, and self-indulgence rarely feels like the moral right thing to do. Lastly, Self-Preservation Ones can often get caught up in catastrophic thinking, which just means they feel like one mistake could lead to a massive and permanent setback, like if they quit that job they hate, they could end up having to live out of their car and never recover financially. This is one behavior that stems from the disintegration to the unhealthy side of Type 4 Individualists. Ultimately, though, Self-Preservation Ones often create stable homes that they use to launch out into the world to help those in need of hospitality, generosity, and warmth.
Okay, let's talk about the Social instinct for Ones. Social Ones are highly motivated to promote their beliefs amongst their friends, family, and the broader community. They believe more than any other instinctual variant that their beliefs are objectively good and right and true. They like to speak up for people that they feel are being mistreated or for causes they believe will benefit others. All of the issues that Social Ones fight for are rooted in their strict sense of morality and attachment to rules and procedures. Social Ones are the true crusaders of the bunch. They like to expose and attack injustice. Now, all Ones are strongly opinionated, but Social Ones will more readily argue their perspective and can be seen as downright combative. They may seem like they can never be wrong, but they actually do value others with strong convictions, and that's why they can often be found partnering with Type 8 Challengers. However, when it comes to intimate relationships, Social Ones do expect that those closest to them will agree and promote all of their core values. In their unhealthier states, they can use their strict sense of moralities to keep others away and protect themselves from evil. Sometimes they wind up in extreme political or religious groups that condemn others in mainstream society and can be filled with outrage to the point that they just never stop ranting about the imperfections of humanity. Oddly enough, Social Ones are the most sensitive to critique. They really want to be seen as good boys and good girls by their community. Their greatest fear is of being caught doing something privately that they said publicly they were against, essentially just being a hypocrite. Ultimately, though, Social Ones do have a great gift for building and mobilizing groups of people to do great things in society, as well as just being able to create long-lasting friendships with quality people.
Okay, last but not least is the Sexual instinct. Sexual Ones are all about having the perfect soulmate. They have totally unrealistic expectations about what their romantic partner should be, as well as what their best friends should be. They're also relational minimalists, so they only need the perfect one or two people to carry them through life. This is why their standards for relationships are so much higher than other Type Ones. They dream of a partner that will help build the perfect committed relationship where both parties are equally hell-bent on personal growth. Ironically, Sexual Ones will often find a mate that they believe they can fix or mold into that perfect person, and so in the lower levels of health, which is almost always Ones when they're younger, they tend to date or marry Type 4 Individualists because that's where they go in on health, and they recognize all of their weaknesses in the Four, and so they try and fix the Four as a way to avoid fixing themselves. Sexual Ones will constantly project their high moral standards and work ethic onto those around them, and that's because they fear that the flaws of their loved ones will destroy the perfect harmony they seek to create within their relational ecosystem. Sexual Ones can also be extremely jealous and possessive as they merge their identity with the people they've chosen. Ironically, they can be both serial daters, constantly breaking off relationships in the earliest ages, or perpetually single because no one is ever good enough. Sexual Ones use their keen eye for flaws to control their partners with constant criticism, and at lower levels of health, Sexual Ones become frightened by relational freedom, so they obsess over their partner's activities and constantly check in on them. This is exacerbated if they're One with a Two wing. Much like the Self-Preservation instinct can swing between periods of intense dieting and binge eating garbage food, so does the Sexual Ones swing between lavish sexual activity and then strict suppression of their sexual desires. Ultimately, though, Sexual Ones are highly capable of building the most committed, enduring relationships once they find a sense of security in their own sexual identity.
Okay, those are the Enneagram instincts for Type 1 Reformers. Next up are the triads.
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Although folks usually only talk about the triad centers, there are actually three triads within the Enneagram. These triads all group personality types based on shared behaviors that can really help you understand why you're so similar in one area and so different in another. The three Enneagram triads are the triad centers, which most people have heard of, the harmonic triad, and the hornivian triad.
When it comes to the triad centers, Ones are in the gut center, along with Type 8 Challengers and Type 9 Peacemakers. All gut types struggle to acknowledge or accept their instinctual reactions, and instead, they try their best to resist or control reality. This tendency to fight reality and control their environment makes it very hard for gut types to be still and simply enjoy the present moment as it is. Instead, they often live in the nostalgia of the past or the anxiety of the future. All of this tension and resistance causes a great deal of anger for Type Ones, which they suppress because Ones see anger as morally wrong. If Ones can't find a way to cope with and accept their anger, they become blinded by extremely judgmental thoughts that are breeding in this bitter pool of resentment towards others.
Okay, moving on to the harmonic triad. The harmonic triad is all about the way we cope with pain, loss, or trauma. Ones are in the competency group, along with Type 3 Achievers and Type 5 Investigators. The competency group doesn't feel comfortable with emotional pain, so they make it a thinking issue. Ones cope with trauma by rationalizing what happened and then raising their moral standards even higher than they were so that they can prevent future pain, because everything in life feels like this moral karma of cause and effect. Ones do not easily accept sudden trauma or chaos, and instead, they seek a reason for their pain, like cosmic karma or divine wrath, rather than just accepting that life is unpredictable and most things are simply out of our control or beyond our comprehension. Ones at their best transcend this cause and effect mentality and embrace the natural paradox of life as both beautiful and tragic.
All right, last up is the hornivian triad, which describes the general patterns we have in social situations. Ones are in the compliant group, along with Type 2 Helpers and Type 6 Loyalists. The compliant group believes that there's a proper way to behave in every social situation based on who's in charge. Ones have this natural sense of propriety and believe in being respectful and self-controlled in all situations. However, Ones comply to what they believe the rules and standards should be, rather than what they actually are. So they may actually go above and beyond expectations in a certain area that they approve of, and then totally disobey the rules in another area if they seem unfair or counterproductive to the greater good.
Okay, those are the triads for the Type 1 Reformer. If you haven't noticed by now, the Enneagram is incredibly critical, and it touches on the most sensitive areas of our lives, and that's because its foundational belief is that the ego, or what most people call your personality, is just the "you" you've become to survive in this world. But there's a layer below your ego called your essence, or your true self. If those terms are too new-agey or woo-woo for you, just think about it like becoming the best version of your personality. Either way, the only process to get that true self out of you is to become aware of the top layer of your ego so that you can make healthy choices to either identify with it or transcend it.
So, with that said, let's talk about a few ways Type 1 Reformers can choose to work on transcending their ego. Perhaps the biggest thing Ones need to learn to do is how to recognize the voice of their superego. The superego is your conscience, and it's very helpful for figuring out what the right thing to do is in many situations, but it can also be hard to turn off, especially for Ones. Type Ones are at their best when they release their need to control or fix things, but that superego is not wired to release control, and it's certainly not wired to not have an opinion about what should be done.
Ones can benefit from a meditative practice that allows them to release judgment and accept what is. We all call it mindfulness these days. Since Ones are in the gut triad, something like yoga can be extremely beneficial because it releases built-up tension in the body through conscious breathing and stretching. Next up, taking long walks while repeating a mantra of some kind can also help Ones get into their body while shutting off that dualistic part of your brain that wants to judge every action and anticipate every possible outcome. And while I love journaling, I've actually found that free-form writing, without a prompt, of gratitude of some kind, it can actually keep Ones in the same mental loops that they need to escape.
Another practice that's profoundly healing for Ones is the practice of forgiveness. I mean, that pretty much goes for everybody, but Ones really need to forgive themselves for all of their flaws and imperfections that the superego is constantly pointing out so that they can actually begin to heal rather than just creating artificial structures or adding another discipline to help fix the problem. If Ones are able to forgive themselves for not living up to their impossibly high standards, then they can finally stop holding others to those same standards and allow people to just be who they are, where they are, today. Releasing this obsession with high standards is also tied to the One's inability to affirm others. Ones are super stingy with compliments, and so they can grow by making a concerted effort to compliment others and use that power of perception to give really specific, powerful encouragement. It's vitally important for Ones to balance out the ratio of critiques to compliments because subconsciously, they're going to always lean in favor of critiques.
Ones can also grow by learning to use their anger as a signpost rather than reacting to it impulsively or suppressing it. If Ones can identify that they're feeling angry and pause long enough to trace their anger back to the source, then they can speak and act from a clear-headed, wholehearted place. Ones really don't like to say things like, "I felt embarrassed when you did that," and they much prefer to say things like, "I can't believe you did that! You're so immature." Ones need to acknowledge their feelings rather than rationalizing them and blaming others.
All right folks, that's all I got for you. I know these core type overviews are a lot to get through, so kudos to you for making it all the way to the end. And as a reward, we're gonna pull up for a minute and have some fun with the Type 1 personality by talking about the spirit animal, spirit country, and some famous Type 1s you may know.
When it comes to a country with a culture that reflects the core traits of the Type 1 Reformer, think clean streets, clear rules, and a love of timeliness, hence the birthplace of those perfect watches. If you guessed Switzerland, then bravo, you're one for one. Next up is the Type 1 spirit animal. So think of something that attacks any threat to protect the greater good. And if you guessed either the hornet or the attack dog, then you are two for two.
Last topic is famous Type 1s, which is really an open field for discussion, but the Enneagram Institute lists Michelle Obama, Plato, Confucius, Gandhi, Martin Luther, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, Meryl Streep. Oh, and in the Marvel universe, my Enneagram collaborators tell me that the Black Panther is probably a solid Type 1 Reformer. RIP.
All right, that's a wrap on this personality type overview for Type 1 Reformers. I really hope you enjoyed it. I hope it helps you understand Type 1s a bit better, and if you are a Type 1, I hope it left you with some helpful perspective on who you are and how you can continually grow into your best self. And before you go, if you did enjoy this episode for even a moment, it would mean a lot for me for you to hit that like button, share it with your friends, or even subscribe to the channel. As always, I'm your host, Colton Simmons, and I'll see you next time on You've Gotta Type.
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