This is a list of descriptions for all the Enneagram Tritypes of type Five: it explores the flavours that each tritype configuration can bring to this type. Therefore they are by no means complete depictions of type Five and must be viewed as
additions and orientations of the main characteristics of the leading type (which will remain fundamental).
If you are a type Five and have decided on your tritype as well, feel free to leave a comment on how you experience it and how well the specific description fits you. There is always room for improvement.
5-2-1: these Fives enjoy using their knowledge and expertise in the benefit of others and are typically attracted to humanitarian causes. They are more altruistic and generous than other Fives and also more social, involved and controlling. They want to help other people and usually do it by teaching them how to help themselves – they can make good teachers. However they have some trouble with acknowledging their own problems and needs and tend to protect their inner world by focusing on others.
typical subtypes: social, 5w6
similar tritypes: 5-1-2, 2-5-1
flavours: altruistic, social, devoted and controlling
5-2-9: this is a more generous, social and good-natured Five, who genuinely enjoys helping others out and being in a relationship with them. Although they do require their alone time, Fives of this tritype tend to be more personable and they make wonderful advisors and counselors as long as they can keep behind the scenes. They are rather attracted to human sciences (psychology, sociology) and have a natural flair for moderating conflicts and solving people’s problems.
typical subtypes: social, 5w4
similar tritypes: 5-9-2, 2-5-9
flavours: friendly, understanding, cooperative and humanistic
5-2-8: these Fives take pleasure in helping and directing other people, but in the process can end up imposing their own views in a more or less direct manner. They need to stay in control of their relationships and although they make generous, devoted and fearless friends and partners, others might perceive them as possessive, demanding and domineering. These types tend to intrude on others while at the same time remaining secretive and self-protective themselves, hiding their own needs and problems.
typical subtypes: sexual, 5w4, 5w6 (counterphobic wing)
similar tritypes: 5-8-2, 2-5-8
flavours: self-confident, generous, dominating and possessive
5-3-1: one of the most cold-blooded and self-controlled of the Fives, this tritype is remarkably efficient, hard-working and competent, although a little bit anal as well. They demand recognition for their contributions and are fairly concerned with their image and intellectual value. Somewhat self-righteous and impatient with others, they are however pragmatic and tactful enough not to compromise their goals by being too inflexible. These Fives are very clever, self-confident, perfectionist, arrogant and glacial.
typical subtypes: social, self-preserving, 5w6
similar tritypes: 5-1-3, 3-5-1
flavours: cold, composed, efficient and self-important
5-3-9: these Fives might strike others as rather pleasant and cooperative persons, but they are usually more ambitious and purposeful than they let on. They are goal-oriented individualists who dream of achieving an impressive and long-lasting success in their field – they secretly desire becoming famous and leaving their mark on the world. These Fives are also more dependent on outer validation than others – they care more about their image and the way others perceive and react to them, therefore they might seem a little more conventional and mainstream in their behavior.
typical subtypes: social, self-preserving, balanced wings
similar tritypes: 5-9-3, 9-5-3
flavours: cunning, congenial, goal-oriented and flexible
5-3-8: more ambitious, competitive and assertive than others, these Fives stand out through their leadership abilities. They are rather good at managing people and know how to employ their powers and competencies in order to obtain an effective result. Pragmatic, goal-oriented and driven, but also a tad arrogant and egotistical, they know how to influence a situation to their advantage. And yet, although they are proficient in authority positions, others can find them quite unsympathetic and self-interested, with very little interest in people who cannot be of clear use to them.
typical subtypes: social, sexual, balanced wings
similar tritypes: 5-8-3, 3-5-8, 8-5-3
flavours: self-confident, pragmatic, hard-working and narcissistic
5-4-1: these Fives are perhaps the most typical of this type’s usual description – they’re withdrawn, imaginative, ingenious, detail-oriented and sensitive. Very intelligent and creative but also somewhat capricious, fussy and impractical, they have explicit standards of intellectual ability and artistic taste and tend to reject and ridicule anything and anyone that doesn’t rise up to them. Typical isolationists who feel misunderstood by society, they hide in their ivory tower of ideas and ideals, abstractly reconstructing reality according to their own terms.
typical subtypes: self-preserving, sexual, 5w4
similar tritypes: 4-5-1, 1-5-4
flavours: individualistic, elegant, inventive and nit-picking
5-4-9: shy, somewhat fragile and a bit romantic, such Fives tend to put on a congenial façade to hide their rich inner worlds from the society. They outwardly appear friendly but reserved, usually mysterious to other people who sense there is more depth and intensity hidden behind their amiable mask. These Fives have rich imaginations and love to immerse themselves in thoughts and fantasies. They are introspective, dreamy, creative and socially withdrawn, but also disorganized and painfully avoidant.
typical subtypes: self-preserving, sexual, 5w4
similar tritypes: 5-9-4, 9-5-4, 4-5-9
flavours: insightful, imaginative, enigmatic and unstructured
5-4-8: more reactive and temperamental, such Fives find it harder to control their emotions than other tritypes. They are basically sensitive, reclusive and ingenious, occasionally indulging in (romantic) day-dreams and fantasies, but once in a while their fierce, visceral side reveals itself explosively and gets to surprise people who don’t know them well. These Fives are usually selfish and whimsical, considering themselves entitled to special treatment which they will sometimes claim aggressively. They are prone to mood swings and rage outbursts.
typical subtypes: sexual, self-preserving, 5w4
similar tritypes: 5-8-4, 4-5-8
flavours: innovative, temperamental, egocentric and intense
5-1-2: these Fives could make great teachers – they are precise, ethical, thorough, disciplined, but also altruistic and willing to help other people. They are usually moral and righteous individuals, who have high ideals and are willing to stand by a cause they believe in. Their interest in people and commitment to knowledge and improvement can turn them into crusaders for theories and systems that can make the world a better place, sometimes at the cost of their own physical and emotional needs.
typical subtypes: social, 5w6
similar tritypes: 5-2-1, 1-5-2
flavours: idealistic, conscientious, principled and ethical
5-1-3: exacting, methodical, organized and fairly self-righteous, these Fives have a compulsive need for logic and order in their environment. They are hard-working and more practical and pragmatic than other Fives, focusing on the efficiency and improvement of the systems that interest them. They also enjoy and expect receiving the deserved recognition for their efforts, considering their time and involvement very precious. This tritype is one of the most cool-headed, rigid and self-controlled.
typical subtypes: self-preserving, social, 5w6
similar tritypes: 5-3-1, 3-5-1, 1-5-3
flavours: exigent, methodical, formal and efficient
5-1-4: these Fives stand out by being rather fussy - they’re pretentious and perfectionist and can be highly demanding of their environment. Idealistic and principled, these Fives can be very criticizing and rejecting of people and situations that do not meet their standards – many would call them fastidious. To a certain extent, they believe themselves to be superior and different from others - misunderstood but brilliant. Indeed their intellect, insightfulness and logical thinking, as well as their physical and emotional fragility contribute to an overly cerebral image.
typical subtypes: self-preserving, 5w4, 5w6
similar tritypes: 1-5-4, 5-4-1
flavours: principled, precise, finicky and sensitive
5-9-2: rather easy-going, modest and amiable, these Fives are usually pleasant to have around because of their friendly nature and deeper understanding of the human needs and frailties. They are less judgemental and critical than other Fives and prefer to focus on the better side of things and people and work on exploring and improving these. They also have a somewhat holistic approach to life’s problems and questions – they tend to prefer the general to the particular and aren’t always very scientifically thorough.
typical subtypes: self-preserving, social, 5w4
similar tritypes: 5-2-9, 9-5-2
flavours: agreeable, relaxed, friendly and spiritual
5-9-3: these Fives are naturally diplomatic, peaceful and somewhat charismatic. They care about harmony and balance and are a bit anxious of people’s rejection and disapproval. Very sentient and tactful, they know how to reach their objectives without causing much fuss around them – they go with the flow and adapt to people and situations in a facile manner. They’re the type of people that others don’t see coming, skillfully speculating opportunities to their advantage while keeping a low profile.
typical subtypes: self-preserving, social, 5w6
similar tritypes: 5-3-9, 9-5-3
flavours: tactful, well-mannered, collected and adaptable
5-9-4: reclusive, modest, discreet and quite dreamy and unassertive, such Fives possess a vast imagination in which they spend most of their time among their theories, fantasies and vivid memories. They have a somewhat bohemian charm to them – they are relaxed, casual, creative and a bit reckless. Usually pleasant and undisturbed on the outside, they hide complex inner worlds in which reality interweaves with fantasy, real with imaginary, the objective with the subjective. These Fives are gentle, sensitive and avoidant and tend to express their anger in a passive-aggressive manner.
typical subtypes: self-preserving, sexual, 5w4
similar tritypes: 5-4-9, 9-5-4, 4-5-9
flavours: laid-back, unconventional, imaginative and random
5-8-2: these Fives are more focused on and involved with their environments. They’re typically quite imposing and intrusive on others’ lives although they don’t like it when the reverse happens. They are dedicated, courageous, confident and passionate people, sometimes overprotective of their loved ones and having a tendency to dominate and more or less subtly manipulate others into believing as they do. Aiming for a position of power and authority, these Fives have a deep urge to closely control their worlds.
typical subtypes: social, sexual, 5w6 (counterphobic wing)
similar tritypes: 5-2-8, 8-5-2
flavours: self-confident, controlling, passionate and brave
5-8-3: a more ambitious, materialistic and dominant Five, who has a talent for leadership and a desire for achievement. More competitive and assertive than others, these Fives manage to get out of their shells more often to experience life in a more direct manner and obtain a position of power and success. Although still reserved and secretive, they exude a certain amount of self-confidence and strength which prevents their true vulnerabilities from being guessed by others (a huge fear of this tritype).
typical subtypes: social, self-preserving, 5w6 (counterphobic wing)
similar tritypes: 5-3-8, 8-5-3
flavours: poised, ambitious, domineering and territorial
5-8-4: original, rebellious, temperamental and highly individualistic and independent, these Fives are can be extremely self-focused and mostly unconcerned with other people’s feelings and wants. They are often inspired and have great vision which they strive to turn into reality – they have a practical side which helps them. Although brilliant and resourceful, others may find it hard to deal with their self-important, narcissistic behavior and their oversensitivity to frustration – their violent reactions can be scary.
typical subtypes: sexual, 5w4, 5w6 (counterphobic wing)
similar tritypes: 5-4-8, 8-5-4
flavours: resourceful, defiant, visionary and reactive
Also read the Tritype descriptions for:
Type One | Type Two | Type Three | Type Four | Type Six | Type Seven | Type Eight | Type Nine
(soon)
