enneagram

calendar

articles

workshops

biography

home

links

email

Point Five - The Observer
Fives are mental types who focus on intellectual understanding and accumulating knowledge. They are often scholars or technical experts because of their keen perception and analytical ability. Privacy and personal autonomy are very important to them, and other people may be experienced as intrusive. The ability to detach from other people and from emotional pressure confers personal freedom, but may also create loneliness. Some people of this type may be intellectually brilliant or knowledgeable, while feelings and relationships present an enormous challenge. For others, family and friends are very important, but they will still need lots of time alone to pursue their own interests. Fives need to balance their tendency to withdraw or withhold from people by reaching out to others, even if that means discomfort or conflict.
Strengths: Scholarly, perceptive, self-reliant.
Problems: Isolated, overly intellectual, stingy.
Speaking style: Rational and content oriented, most comfortable in their area of expertise. Not big on "small talk."
Lower emotional habit: Avarice or hoarding, which means holding on to information or other resources based on the fear of shortages, either in oneself or the environment.
Higher emotion: Non-attachment, which is letting go in order to be available for replenishment.
Psychological defenses: Fives use isolation to avoid feelings of emptiness and to maintain a self image of being "knowledgeable." (Isolation can be physical or geographical, but it also means being cut off from one's emotions).
Somatic Patterns: Fives tend to get stuck in their heads. It takes effort to bring attention to the body and the emotions. Energy is withdrawn from the periphery of the body and collects in the middle. Very sensitive to sound, touch, people etc., they hold most of their tension in the gut rather than in the musculature, although the rib cage can be quite rigid depending on the level of fear in the body. They may also "go away" behind their eyes.
Famous people: Jeremy Irons, Madeline Stowe, Daniel Day-Lewis, Anthony Hopkins, Michelle Pfeifer · Bill Gates, Jerry Brown, J.P. Getty, George Stephanopoulos · John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Matthiessen, T.S. Eliot, John Lilly, E.M. Forster, Sartre, Chopin, Georgia O'Keefe, John le Carre, B.F.Skinner Albert Einstein, the Buddha, St. Thomas Aquinas.

Tips for relating to Fives:
To create rapport: Approach them slowly and thoughtfully. Give them room to think things over.
Try to avoid: Pressuring them for immediate contact or fast decisions.
Join them in: Talking about ideas and valuing the inner life.
To handle conflict: Don't make assumptions about what's going on with them. Ask them for direct communication. Agree to disagree. Emphasize the importance of relationship. Watch out for control by withdrawal. Challenge them to be more warm and generous. Give them lots of information.
To support their growth: Support Fives in getting into their bodies and accessing their instinctual energy. Make it safe for them to share themselves, especially their feelings. Remind them to let others know that they care, and that they will return to the relationship or project after a break. Help them deal with feelings of emptiness.