PersonalityPatterns™ Inventory is the result of more than a decade of carefully planned and rigorous development by a team of clinical psychologists, personality theorists, psychometric specialists, and specialized editors. It is an elegant synthesis of Eastern theory and Western empirical research, bringing together an Enneagram 9-point personality typology with the notion of patterns or habits of attention, a forgotten key to personality assessment. Several years were devoted to the first phase, compiling a comprehensive list of more than 600 statements reflecting the traditional use of this typology in its ancient oral tradition down through the centuries, thus providing content validity for the eventual inventory. To assure construct validity, these statements were scored and adjudicated by 27 expert practitioners, three of each of the Enneagram nine types. The resulting set of 162 statements were edited, randomly mixed, set on a 4-point Likert scale of increasing agreement, and administered to a diverse group of 880 Americans (15-88 yrs old).
Principal components factor analysis yielded between eight and ten factors, via scree criterion, supporting the 9-factor solution predicted by theory. This result was stable across a main sample of 600 and an independent random confirmation sample of 280. Internal consistency (n=880) and test-retest reliability (n=127) for the nine factors were acceptable, with coefficients ranging from .66 to .90. Concurrent validity was established by significant correlations with the scales of Wagner's Enneagram Personality Inventory (EPI), which had previously shown distinct and consistent patterns on the Millon-Illinois Self-Report Inventory and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). In summary, the primary research had shown the viability of the 9-point personality system, and that PersonalityPatterns™ is a valid and reliable assessment of it.
A key feature of PersonalityPatterns™ is that items are spread across all six attentional pattern domains (Perceptual, Shielding, Action, Emotional, Communication, and Integrity Patterns), which adds to the inventory's validity and usefulness. In developing a results booklet to provide inventory-takers with basic feedback, it made sense to spread the interpretative rhetoric evenly across the base of the six domains, giving each inventory-taker a wheel of concepts that converge on his/her personality by triangulation (or six-angulation). A team of clinicians, psychometricians, and skilled editors working with the basic materials developed the text for the interpretive inventory report: the original inventory statements grouped according to factor loadings by factor and attentional pattern. From these statement groups, interpretations were built that reflect the general response clusterings associated with low or high scores on the factors. After initial development, the interpretive text was put to use immediately by administering the inventory as widely as possible to friends, family, colleagues, co-workers, students, and clients, and then requesting feedback on the information the report provided. In this way, the report booklet went through several years of natural aging and refinement.
In 1997, a new series of studies was designed to put the seasoned interpretive booklet to the test, and to further refine the instrument by addressing key questions left unanswered by the initial research. Are the inventory items unclear or misleading? Can the inventory be effectively administered to diverse populations? Is it really accurate and useful? How does it compare with other popular personality assessment systems from the user's perspective?
A total of 8357 requests were mailed to a diverse national population for voluntary participation in a "personality test study," and 3089 of them (36.9%) returned a completed PersonalityPatterns™ inventory. These inventories were computer-scored and participants were sent their report booklets along with a questionnaire for them to answer regarding the clarity, accuracy, and usefulness of the inventory and their report results. About one-fifth of the participants (681) were randomly selected to receive TWO report booklets, with the second being a "decoy," a booklet containing randomly chosen readings intended for someone else. They were instructed to read both booklets and decide which one sounded most like them. This is the strongest test of the perceived accuracy of a personality inventory, of convergent validity, and few personality inventories have ever passed this test.
PersonalityPatterns™ did very well on this. Of 165 people receiving two booklets, 128 (77.6%) of them correctly identified their own, personal report booklet. This is far more than can be explained by chance or lucky guessing. It's likely that the number would be even higher if participants were guided by a coach/clinician in their use of the report booklet. The lack of a trained guide for participants also showed in their ratings of the material. All participants (1 or 2-booklets) generally found their report to be clear, accurate, useful, and comprehensive, but gave much lower ratings to "new insights," and "personal meaning," precisely the areas where a coach or guide might assist them.
Participants were asked to compare PersonalityPatterns™ accuracy and usefulness with other personality inventories they previously had taken. Not everyone has been exposed to different personality inventories, so the sample sizes vary widely here. For those who responded to this question, the PersonalityPatterns™ was rated more accurate and useful than Neo PI-R or Five Factor Inventory (FFI), the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator, and the Dianetics Inventory. Participants rated PersonalityPatterns™ about the same as the widely used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and many suggested that PersonalityPatterns™ is a good adjunct inventory to be used in combination with the Myers-Briggs.
Participants in the above study were also asked to flag the items on the inventory that were especially difficult to answer because of the way they were worded. These flagged items were closely examined, resulting in 29 items receiving some degree of editing. This led to the final research project, which brought the PersonalityPatterns™ Inventory to its current form.
Seventy-four undergraduate psychology students (San Francisco State University) completed the PersonalityPatterns™ inventory in one of two formats. Form A was the "new" 162 item inventory with the 29 edited items, and Form B was the "old" 162 item inventory with the original, unedited items. Both forms had the other version of the 29 items appended as items 163 - 191. Analysis of old versus new versions of the items and the factor loadings and factor scores generated with old versus new items, led to the final inventory as it is today, with 23 items edited, a change in scoring algorithm, and the results booklet edited accordingly. The new instrument gives clearer and more accurate results and will be used until further research leads us to the next version.
Contributors and Advisors to the development of the PersonalityPatterns™ Inventory
Belinda Price Brent, Ph.D.
Hal Zina Bennett, Ph.D.
William Braud, Ph.D
James Fadiman, Ph.D.
Robert Frager, Ph.D.
Helen Palmer
Jerry Solfvin, Ph.D.