Enneagram types occur in three centers of intelligence: head (5-6-7), heart (2-3-4), and gut (8-9-1). One of these three types in your tritype is dominant and represents the ego’s defense strategy.

If the dominant type fails to defend, the ego will use the other two types of tritype, in descending order, repeatedly.

Your Tritype gives important clues as to what are the needs to live a more meaningful life. Your Tritype shows the unique ways in how you manage your life using different strategies.
Bringing Things About

These Tritype interactions consist of two parts: the high side and the low side. Each of them has a distinguishable purpose. The high side of the Tritype interactions gives focus and directions to one’s ego. The low side creates a blind spot in which weakens one’s ability to efficient self-assess by keeping them in a self-defeating way.

These are some examples of how to manifest through your Tritype:

5-4-8 or The Observer Tritype has Type 5 (in the mental center) as dominant, which then generates Type 4 (in the heart center) and Type 8 (in the gut center) in cascading order. Even though Type 4 is a possible wing for Type 5, it might not be included in Type 5’s Tritype.

9-2-7 or The Universalist Tritype has Type 9 as dominant. After using Type 9 strategies, the person may move to Type 3 and Type 6 (their lines of connection) and to Type 1 and Type 8 (their possible wings). This shows that Tritype is usually only being engaged when the defenses of both wings and all lines of connection have been used up. However, if the connections are not effective, it may move to Type 2, and then Type 7.

9-3-5 or The Thinker Tritype has also Type 9 as dominant. However, after utilizing wings and lines of connection, it will move to Type 3, and then move on to Type 5. This Tritype is completely different from 9-2-7 Tritype.