Enneagram research

My assistant/son put together this list of bullets about the Enneagram research in response to Jane's question.......

ENNEAGRAM

·         The American Psychological Association does not offer Enneagram courses, but there are courses available on the enneagram that are approved by the Association (Helen Palmer of enneagram.com, Jerry Wagner of enneagramspectrum.com, etc.).

·         Many Enneagram books reference The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, of the American Psychiatric Association, but there is no official endorsement. There is nothing on the American Psychiatric Association website that mentions the Enneagram.

·         According to a paper by Lock Haven University, there has been limited empirical evidence that supports reliability and validity based on the works of various studies from 1986 to 2000. [1]

·         Genentech, Boeing, Motorola and the Stanford MBA program have hired Enneagram consultants.

·         Recently published research (2005) based on a type indicator questionnaire developed by Don Riso and Russ Hudson [2] claims to have demonstrated that the nine Enneagram types are "real and objective".

·         Katherine Chernick Fauvre also claims to have statistically validated research that indicates that the three Instinctual Subtypes are real and objective.

·         While some believe that current research does not support the Enneagram's validity (especially regarding the concepts of Wings and the Stress and Security Points), others believe that because of its complex and 'spiritual' nature the Enneagram typology cannot be accurately evaluated by conventional empirical methods.

·         Because of differences among teachers in their understanding of the personality characteristics of the nine types and more theoretical aspects of Enneagram dynamics some skeptics argue that more research needs to be done to test the Enneagram as an empirically valid typology.