Abstract
Objective: Personality disorders (PDs) are characterized by specific sets of dysfunctional personality beliefs which can result in distinctive behavioral patterns associated with the PD. Dysfunctional personality beliefs are maladaptive thought patterns related to people’s sense of self, interpersonal relationships, and worldview. The Enneagram Personality Theory (EPT) categorizes personality into nine interconnected types, each with distinct patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Enneagram subtypes represent a different focus or emphasis within the main type’s core motivations and behaviors. The association of EPT with various personality approaches has been studied. However, we aim to assess the relationship between EPT and personality beliefs, which has not been previously studied.
Method: A sociodemographic form, Personality Belief Questionnaire-Short Form (PBQ-SF), and Enneagram Types and Subtypes Inventory (ETASI) were applied to 203 participants.
Results: A canonical correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the multivariate association between nine Enneagram types and subtypes and ten personality belief variables. The analysis unveiled four significant functions for the association between Enneagram types and personality beliefs. Function 1 was contributed by Types 3, 8, and 5 and was negatively related to borderline and dependent beliefs, and positively related to schizoid beliefs. Function 2 featured obsessive-compulsive beliefs and was related to Types 1 and 6. Function 3 was related to histrionic, narcissistic, and antisocial beliefs and Types 2,3,7, and 8. Function 4 presented schizoid, borderline, and narcissistic beliefs, with Type 4 as the predominant predictor. Among the subtypes, only the self-preservation subtype was correlated with schizoid beliefs.
Conclusions: The results revealed that EPT comprises multidimensional layers that vary according to specific personality beliefs and types. Personality beliefs were found to be aligned with the core characteristics of the respective types.

Key words: Enneagram, Personality beliefs, Personality disorders, Personality type