Enneagram Type 6: The Doubter

Loyal Person, Devil's Advocate, Skeptic, Guardian or Rebel

Overview
You want to be safe and secure, to fit in and belong. More importantly, you want to have certainty and security, putting your faith in a trusted authority, belief system or tradition. You see yourself as faithful, friendly, conservative and/or cautious. You would like others to see you as loyal, dedicated and reliable. Your idealized image is that you are supportive and do your duty.

A bundle of contradictions, you can be wary and cautious one minute and/or rebellious and courageous the next. You possess an endearing childlike reactivity and often take the position of the devil’s advocate. Depending on the situation, you can be friendly and outgoing or reserved and skeptical. A ‘good soldier’, you prefer the role of buddy, loyal family member or trusted employee. You can be a reluctant authority because you fear that taking on a leadership position might make you a target for opposition. You are attracted to people who are strong, protective and/or have prestige. You seek trusted, reliable authorities and allies.

Often identifying with the underdog and distrustful of people’s hidden agendas, you are slow to trust new acquaintances. Fearing that you will be duped or taken advantage of, you are keenly aware of inconsistencies. To determine if someone is trustworthy, you watch for and question any discrepancy you observe. Once someone passes the testing process, you become deeply committed and a most loyal friend. Devoted to your friends and family, you show allegiance over individuality.

You are curious, skeptical and doubting by nature. Because you are afraid of being unprepared or caught off guard, you often rehearse in your mind what you might say or do. Imaginative and visual, you can often see what might go wrong. You may even enjoy scaring yourself by thinking of worst-case scenarios so that you will never be paralyzed by the fear of not knowing what to say or do. Although you are afraid of being afraid, you are capable of being profoundly dutiful and heroic. Once you let go of doubts, your fear turns into excitement and you can surprise yourself with unexpected acts of courage.

Need
You need predictability, a protective, trustworthy authority and the security of feeling that you belong. You long for guidance to manage the feelings of fear and doubt. You are a “proof junkie” who needs to test people, ideas and beliefs over and over again to see if they are worthy of your loyalty. You need reassurance and encouraging, positive feedback from friends and loved ones.

Avoid
You avoid deviance, uncertainty and anything that is different from any group or idea to which you ascribe. You are highly motivated to avoid disappointing friends or authority figures. Fear and doubt can undermine your sense of safety. You are afraid of fear, submission and cowardice, so you vacillate between loyalty and rebelliousness by puffing up and backing down. You fear anything unproven or radical. You also are afraid of deviating from the norm or being different from your peers. Your greatest fear, however, is to be alone and unprotected.

Virtue
Your greatest strengths are your abilities to test for the truth and to recognize and challenge a bad authority. Loyal and dedicated, you understand the value of making sacrifices for the group and are willing to enforce society's rules to ensure safety and security for all. You believe that if everyone followed the rules and cooperated with one another, the world would be a safer place. A hero at heart, you are capable of great acts of loyalty and courage.

Vice
Your vice is fear. This manifests as excessive doubt and playing the devil’s advocate. Your drive for security can cause you to envision a dangerous and divisive world in which you feel persecuted and then may persecute those who deviate from the rules or the norm. When you are afraid, you doubt your own authority and can become provocative and undermining. Seeking security, you try to control others by ensnaring them in your fears and doubts. A lack of faith in your own authority can cause you to overly submit to or challenge others, the rules or authority figures.

Attention
Your attention goes to feelings of fear and doubt and scanning for danger, hidden motives or agendas. You have a tendency to focus on the worst-case scenario. Your fears and doubts can keep you from taking action and/or trusting yourself and others. You may at times be overly phobic and at other times overly counter-phobic.

Spiritual Journey
Your spiritual path is to reclaim your sense of faith and courage and see unity instead of differences. In your search for security, remember that the only real security lies in having faith and in trusting yourself.

Mantra
As you learn to relax and trust yourself, fear will often turn to excitement and courage. Remember, people are far more alike than they are different. Embrace what is new and unfamiliar as an opportunity to remember what you already know and trust. Instead of idealizing those who rescue or protect others, overcome your tendency to hesitate or doubt and take action.

Wing
If you are the Enneagram Type 6 with the 5 Wing, you desire to appear remote. You see yourself as faithful, knowing, intelligent, refined, real and brave.

If you are the Enneagram Type 6 with the 7 Wing, you desire to appear conformist. You see yourself as loyal, casual, related, interested, energetic, warm and wary.

Famous 6s:
Phobic: Jason Alexander, Woody Allen, Alan Arkin, Kim Basinger, Candice Bergen, Albert Brooks, George Bush, Lynda Carter, Stockard Channing, Rodney Dangerfield, Ellen DeGeneres, Eminem, Sally Field, Teri Garr, Ed Harris, Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Richard Lewis, Penny Marshall, Marilyn Monroe, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Richard Nixon, Lena Olin, Anthony Perkins, Sydney Pollack, Paul Reiser, Pat Robertson, Rene Russo, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Carly Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Stewart, Meg Tilly, Brian Wilson.

Counterphobic: Ellen Barkin, Warren Beatty, Judy Davis, Phil Donahue, Carrie Fisher, Mel Gibson, Andrew Grove, Gene Hackman, Adolf Hitler, Dustin Hoffman, J. Edgar Hoover, Tommy Lee Jones, Wynonna Judd, J. Krishnamurti, Spike Lee, David Letterman, Gordon Liddy, Charles Manson, Steve McQueen, Michael Moore, Paul Newman, Chuck Norris, Rosie Perez, Richard Pryor, Robert Redford, Janet Reno, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Steven Seagal, Ben Stiller, Patrick Swayze, Justin Timberlake, Linda Tripp, Ted Turner, Sean Young.

All content Katherine Chernick Fauvre, David W. Fauvre, Enneagram Explorations, © 1995-2007