If you are interested to know about Enneagram 3 personality description, this article is meant to answer all your queries and doubts. Threes are strong-willed, focused, and goal-oriented people. They are smart and talented; and as such appears impressive to others. 

Enneagram 3s are tireless performers however they will always have double thoughts about their talents and abilities. They may quickly rise up the professional ladder yet remain insecure and self-critical from within. 

People with enneagram 3 preferences will have innate fears of losing their grip over a situation. As such, they will strive to impress and please others, or compete with others for wrong reasons. 

Threes will not leave any stone unturned until they have fully lived up to their self-made expectations. These people hold grandiose feelings that need to be kept intact by any means.

In this article, we will talk about the Enneagram type 3 personalities in an elaborate way.

Enneagram 3 Personality Description

SUMMARY
Enneagram 3s are charming, impressive, and appear attractive from outside. They are realistic, ambitious and prefer to improve all aspects of their life. These individuals are the achievers who strive to attain their goals as perfectly as possible.

The Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator or RHETI is one of the most common personality tests available to use today. This test classifies human personalities into one of nine categories. These nine Enneagram personality types are interrelated and connected to each other.

The term Enneagram comes from two Greek words. “Ennea” is the Greek word for “nine”, and “Gramma” means the act of drawing, or something that is drawn. The nine Enneagram personality types can be illustrated on a map. This helps to show the interconnection between them.

Each of the nine Enneagram personalities has their own set of core beliefs. These core beliefs, in turn, control the deepest fears and motivations of the individuals.

Other people often call Enneagram 3s as “the achievers.”

People with the Enneagram 3 personality type have a strong desire to be different from others. They want to achieve success in everything they do. They want others to recognize and appreciate them for their success.

Other people think Enneagram 3s to be very confident and goal-oriented individuals. But in reality, Enneagram 3s are not sure about their own inner self-worth. For this reason, they seek approval and validation from others.

Enneagram 3 personalities have strong ambitions. They set goals and strive to do everything to achieve their goals. They tend to form a strong image of success in their minds and want to maintain that at all times. To an Enneagram 3 type individual, it is very important that others see them achieve success.

As we have said before, each Enneagram personality type has one hidden fear and one strong motivating factor. An Enneagram 3’s deepest fear is the fear of being insignificant, or the fear of being a failure. 

For this reason, sometimes people call Enneagram type 3s atychiphobia or atychiphobic. This is because atychiphobia means an intense fear of failure. But we should remember that any other person can also be atychiphobic. It is not limited to just people with the Enneagram 3 personality type.

Enneagram 3s try to cope with this fear by reassuring themselves that they are important. Whenever other people tell them that they are valuable, it makes them feel better. 

The main motivation in life for Enneagram 3’s is the attention of others. They also want admiration from others. They strive to find success in whatever they are doing, to avoid feeling worthless or incompetent.

Let us now take a brief look at how Enneagram type 3s think, feel, and act under different scenarios.

Enneagram type 3 thinking patterns

Most Enneagram 3s tend to be self-aware. This means that they are good at accepting their mistakes. They consider mistakes as opportunities to learn. They hate failing under any scenario. So, whenever they do fail, they want to make sure that it never happens again. 

For this reason, they learn from their mistakes. They do not lament on how things could have been different when they fail in a task. Instead, they make sure to do things in a different way when they try that task again.

Enneagram 3 types often have high energy levels. They are strongly motivated in achieving their goals. They tend to focus all of their mental energy on their goals and chalk out an appropriate plan of action. They also have the ability to make quick decisions under stressful situations. But at the same time, these are not hasty or “spur of the moment” decisions.

In gist, Enneagram 3s are result-oriented individuals. Their thinking pattern is focused, to-the-point, and well structured.

Enneagram type 3 feeling patterns

To other people, Enneagram type 3s appear as cold and insensitive. These individuals prefer to push their feelings to the side. They think that their feelings and emotions might come in the way of their success. For this reason, they lose touch with their emotions on purpose. Even while having conversations with others, Enneagram 3s may feel aloof and seem to zone out.

But Enneagram 3s are very concerned with what others think of them. Getting the validation of other people is crucial to an Enneagram 3. If they fail to get the necessary validation, they may become angry with themselves. In general, they tend to be short tempered and irritable, especially when things do not go according to their plan.

Enneagram type 3 action patterns

We have mentioned before that Enneagram 3s are called the achievers. Their desire to achieve success drives them at all times. For this reason, they may often have a poor work-life balance. They are strong doers and action-oriented individuals. 

They do not wait for an opportunity to arise. Instead, they believe in creating their own opportunities. They always take action according to their own plans. Oftentimes, an Enneagram 3’s motto in life is the common Latin expression “carpe diem”, which means to seize the day and create their own opportunity.

Enneagram 3 type individuals are adaptive workers. They can adapt on the fly when some external factor derails their plans. They have the ability to make quick decisions in the blink of an eye. But at the same time, these are never hasty decisions. This is because Enneagram 3s always think of contingencies. 

Whenever they plan out their course of action before setting off on a task, they think of backup plans and emergency situations. Because of qualities like these, an Enneagram 3’s coworkers give them a lot of importance in the workplace. This, in turn, acts as the necessary validation that Enneagram 3s crave. This motivates them to work harder.

Because of the fact that social image and social status are important to Enneagram 3s, they try to be flawless in every task that they do. So, it would not be wrong to say that Enneagram 3s are perfectionists. At the same time, they are also ambitious and competitive.

How Common or Rare are Enneagram 3s?

It is very difficult to get an idea of the population distribution of the Enneagram personality types. The popular website Truity conducted a survey on about 54,000 people and found that Enneagram type 3s constituted around 11% of the population. They also found that 10% of the women and 12% of the men, who participated, were type 3s.

Another website, Enneagram.bz, also conducted their survey with a larger sample size. Out of almost 200,000 people, 10.5% were Enneagram 3s. 14% of the men and 10% of the women had an Enneagram type 3 personality.

Many famous people worldwide have an Enneagram 3 type of personality. Some of these names include:

Enneagram 3s can also be of healthy, unhealthy, or average types.

Healthy Enneagram 3

A healthy type 3 individual is self-assured, self-aware, energetic, and authentic. They are ambitious and strive for success. Their goals in life motivate them to work hard. But at the same time, they are kind and helpful towards others. They believe in collaboration between coworkers. So, in their work environments, they foster a sense of cooperation.

A healthy type 3’s objective is to become the best version of them. If they achieve that, they can serve as role models for other people.

Unhealthy Enneagram 3

In an unhealthy Enneagram 3, the fear of failure becomes dominant. This fear takes control of their entire personality. Unhealthy type 3 individuals are often desperate in their actions.

They are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve success and maintain a good image of themselves in the eyes of other people. They may even sabotage other people’s works or betray them in order to get ahead. They often become jealous of other people’s success.

Average Enneagram 3

The average type’s traits fall midway between the healthy and unhealthy types.

What Delights Enneagram 3s?

People from every personality type share some common features. Because of this, we can say that there are some common things that all Enneagram 3s like. Let us take a look at some of these things that delight Enneagram 3.

  • These individuals love to receive the validation of others.
  • They also love to get the approval from other people in whatever task or job they do.
  • Enneagram 3s become very happy when someone else appreciates their work. Even a simple “thank you” from someone can make their day.
  • These individuals love to set goals. This can include both long-term and short-term goals.
  • Enneagram 3s love to have a proper plan of action in everything they do. Not only that, but they also have backup plans in case their primary plan fails.
  • Enneagram 3s also love to remain in a cooperative work environment. They want the people around them to foster a sense of cooperation and collaboration.

What do Enneagram 3s Hate?

Just as Enneagram 3s love certain particular things, they also hate certain other things that are unique to their personality style. What are these things? Let us find out.

  • They hate it when they do hard work for other people, but nobody appreciates them for it.
  • They do not like to lead an ordinary or mundane life.
  • They hate sitting idle. Enneagram 3s are always proactive. So, when they have to wait and do nothing, it irks them.
  • Enneagram type 3 people do not like to show their emotions. They think that emotions can be an obstruction to their path of achieving success.
  • One can easily infer that Enneagram 3s also do not like to be emotionally overwhelmed. If someone else talks about emotional things in front of them, they become annoyed.
  • They do not like negativity in their life. They are very optimistic individuals and love to keep a positive outlook on everything. The company of naysayers or pessimistic people can make them angry.
  • Enneagram 3s hate procrastination.
  • They become very agitated when someone speaks with them rudely. Enneagram 3s are self-aware. So, they are enough to accept their mistakes when they are wrong. But they prefer it if people point out their mistakes in a peaceful way. They do not like it if someone scolds or humiliates them.

The Learning Style of Enneagram 3

Let us now take a look at how the personality of an Enneagram type 3 affects their learning style.

  • Enneagram 3s are competitive by nature. They always want to excel in class and get better marks than their classmates.
  • They often set a high standard for themselves which they aim to achieve.
  • They strive to hone their abilities to make themselves more skilled.
  • They not only focus on being successful, but also prefer that others recognize and appreciate their hard work. In a learning environment, they always feel the need to showcase their abilities. Other people may think Enneagram 3s to be show-offs or arrogant for this reason.
  • Enneagram 3 types of people jump into action during any learning process. They believe in actions rather than words. So, they prefer hands-on training. Theoretical studies and lectures bore an Enneagram 3. They rather prefer to do experiments or laboratory work.
  • These individuals love a well-defined plan of work. They want their teachers to set clear learning objectives before every class. They also want the teachers to evaluate their work and give them feedback. If a teacher gives some homework and forgets about it, an Enneagram 3 type student is most likely to remind them. This is because the student wants feedback and appreciation on the work that he or she has done.
  • Enneagram 3s are very hard-working individuals. In any group project, they will do most of the work. But at the same time, they want their team members to appreciate them for it.

To Sum Up 

In this article, we have provided a brief description of the Enneagram type 3 personality types. Individuals with this personality type have a strong fear of failure. Their desire to get the validation and approval of others motivates them in life. 

They are success oriented and high achievers. Their unique personality style controls what an Enneagram 3 loves, what they hate, and how they behave in a learning environment.