Accurately identifying your Enneagram type really does matter, and here’s why. Mistyped people pay attention, although unintentionally, to the wrong things (or misinterpret why they do something) and subsequently pursue a development path that isn’t going to support their growth and transformation. Mistyped people also misunderstand or misinterpret their own impact on others, making it challenging to truly understand and improve human interactions using the insights of the Enneagram.

There are many reasons that contribute to the challenge, but also the beauty, of accurate typing. One of these factors involves overlays on our type. The two overlays that occur most frequently are country (culture) overlays and family overlays. Not every country has a clear Enneagram type, and Enneagram teachers may disagree about the type of a certain country. My assessments come from two sources: my personally having visited the countries multiple times, and from discussions with Enneagram professionals who live and work in those countries.

Country: Switzerland

For country overlays, Switzerland is a good example. Just about everything in Switzerland runs perfectly and on time, just like their watches. Their streets are neat and clean, even impeccably kept. Going through security at a Swiss airport, the people in charge of how our carry-on luggage goes through the machine often get very upset—they don’t just correct you— if you don’t do it right. They’ll say it angrily in Swiss-German, whether or not you speak the language, but it is very clear you have done something terribly wrong. Most Swiss have a One overlay that makes them more precise, structured, and time-oriented.

England is sometimes listed as an Enneagram One country because it tends to be structured, traditional, organized, hierarchical, and rule-adhering.

A person raised in a type One country or by parents who adhere to the customs of that country, even if they no longer reside there, may have a type One overlay on their own type that needs to be explored and understood so their actual type can be identified.

Family overlays

Not every family has a strong family overlay, but those that do have had one person in the family system, usually a person in a position of perceived authority, who has had a pervasive influence on all the children in that family, not just one child. That person could be a mother, father, grandparent, uncle, aunt or even the eldest sibling. If the family overlay is type One, the children tend to be more perfectionistic, more critical of self and others, or more rule-oriented than they might be normally.

About Ginger

Ginger Lapid-Bogda PhD, author of nine Enneagram books including The Art of Typing, is a speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach. She provides certification programs and training tools for business professionals around the world who want to bring the Enneagram into organizations with high-impact business applications. TheEnneagramInBusiness.com | ginger@theenneagraminbusiness.com