People from different cultures and traditions reside in this world. They portray various characteristics in their behaviors while handling life’s challenges from one phase to another. The same thing is applicable for enneagram eight personality type individuals. There are several healthy and unhealthy behavior patterns of Enneagram 8, which play crucial roles in building their personality. Do you have any idea about your enneagram type? If not, take the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Indicator, the renowned personality test for determining the same.

Enneagram 8s are Challengers. When these individuals are at their best, they show their confidence and the desire to become powerful and attain a position of authority. Eights resist feeling weak and avoid anyone who tries to impose restrictions.

On the other hand, when eights are unhealthy, they can become quite intimidating for others. People can develop an addiction to attaining power and will get rid of hurdles with force.

Healthy and Unhealthy Behavior Patterns of Enneagram 8

The healthy and unhealthy behavior patterns of enneagram 8 point toward contrasting features that lie inside their personality. They appear during the favorable and unfavorable situations of life. These alterations occur from different perspectives, which people develop while tackling various challenges.

The enneagram model showcases healthy and unhealthy levels of nine enneagram personality types that keep functioning in their lives.

It suggests that an individual’s core Enneagram personality type will portray normal levels of functioning. When an enneagram eight is healthy, a person with this enneagram type will proceed toward growth and development. The behavioral pattern would be in line with the primary one. It is a sign that the individual integrates themselves with their core Enneagram type.

When an Enneagram 8 personality type individual moves forward into the path of growth and development, they begin to portray features that one usually sees among those with Enneagram 2 personality type. In this particular state, Eights start praising people for the talents they possess and the contribution they make to society. They show their warmth and encourage people to improve further and create a higher impact on others’ lives.

During the phase of stress or disintegration, Type Eights might display some unhealthy patterns in the behaviors of Enneagram Type Five. They will begin to withdraw themselves from others and society at large. These individuals will not express their thoughts but prefer to keep secrets, become cynical, and often criticize others for petty issues.

The right time has come for us to discuss the characteristics of healthy, unhealthy, and average Enneagram 8s in detail –

Healthy Enneagram 8

When Enneagram 8s are healthy, they show sympathy toward oppressed individuals and offer ideas for helping them transform into mentally strong people. They have the strength of character and confidence to lead. It enables them to become the backbone of communities. These people act as the driving force for letting situations work in their favor. Eights use their abundant energy and a good level of commitment to improve society. These aspects even help improve themselves and allow everyone to flourish into new streams of life.

These enneagram 8s easily correlate with Myers Briggs personality types of ESTP, ESTJ, and ENTJ. Therefore, these Myers and Briggs personality types prove that Enneagram 8 comprises extroverted, sensing, intuition, thinking, judging, and perceiving traits in their personality.

Even when things go wrong, healthy eights do not forget to show their generosity, kindness, and care and extend a helping hand to people. These individuals remain grateful to others for all the good things they have done or said to them. People with this enneagram type are proactive.

Signs of Healthy Enneagram 8

A healthy enneagram eight might possess the following features in their personality –

  • Healthy enneagram eights are highly tolerant and show mercy toward people around them.
  • These individuals are natural leaders. They concentrate on using their leadership qualities and their influence to serve people. It enables them to make lives better for all those who are undergoing difficulties in their life.
  • These people can easily show restraint toward things they do not like to do.
  • A healthy enneagram eight masters skills to reassure themselves. They surrender to an individual who is more dominating and powerful than them.
  • They are assertive and prefer indulging themselves in a straightforward approach to life. One can never expect these people to twist facts and conceal information.
  • The positive levels of healthy enneagram eight personality types enable them to express their opinions and needs. They do so with utmost clarity.
  • Healthy Eights will portray themselves as resourceful. They are highly passionate about carrying out responsibilities.
  • They will command respect from others. These Eights take charge of situations and lead with pride and authority.
  • Healthy Enneagram 8s will always take the initiative to pursue their goals in life. It is applicable even in the case of romantic relationships.
  • One can always expect them to offer care and protection for those who matter and positively influence their lives.

Unhealthy Enneagram 8s

When Enneagram 8s are unhealthy, they will start showing behavioral patterns that are prevalent among Enneagram 5s. They will withdraw themselves from others and have no connections with their emotions. These individuals will develop the habit of maintaining secrecy.

Moreover, they will even remain watchful and protect themselves against betrayal. Unhealthy Enneagram Eight personality type people would not bother about themselves and tend to be uncompromising.

Unhealthy Enneagram 8s would be dominating in nature. These people will not think twice before intimidating others. They might become hungry to attain power and scare off others around them. People with these personality types show extreme aggression and irritation. They act with fury if things do not turn out as they want. These individuals will not bother about paying attention to others’ emotions.

People with this enneagram type might even develop false beliefs regarding the kind of power they possess. These individuals can even start believing that they will stay out of reach of others. Hence, they always remain untouched. Due to their creation of this false narrative of being invincible, they start over-extending themselves. It will result in a cycle of extreme stress, burnout, fatigue, and anger.

They suffer from the basic fear of facing the process of questioning from others regarding their beliefs and decisions. Unhealthy Eights will always wish to stay aloof so that there is no chance for others to ask for clarification. These people never feel the need to be answerable to those who do not form an integral part of their life. It makes them arrogant and intensely dominating.

Signs of Unhealthy Enneagram 8

Following are some of the signs that can help others recognize Unhealthy Enneagram 8s –

  • Unhealthy Enneagram 8s are the ones who will always defy people. They will do so whenever others try to impose restrictions on them.
  • They will like to stay in control of their situations and the people around them.
  • These individuals will dictate terms to others and dominate them. Hence, no one will have the freedom to make their own decisions.
  • They will try to protect themselves from all sorts of emotional drama. Unhealthy Eights will show their resistance against the same.
  • Are you looking for someone who can keep secrets? Look no further than an enneagram eight personality type individuals for doing so with precision.
  • They will often behave aggressively. It is on top of showing their resentment and frustration.
  • These people will avoid being susceptible to vulnerability at all costs.
  • A person with an Unhealthy Enneagram Eight would initially reject others around them. It will enable them to avoid facing rejection from their end.
  • When anyone tries to attack the emotional state of these individuals, they will implement various physical and psychological means to protect themselves against those odds.
  • An individual with the unhealthy enneagram eight personality type can face all sorts of danger. They will deal with them by demolishing all those not serving them a good purpose.
  • They always consider themselves supreme with all the powers to call the shots.
  • The behavior patterns of unhealthy eights are such that they can even resort to physical violence. Therefore, it is always advisable for others to avoid contacting unhealthy enneagram eights when things go against their wish.

Average Enneagram 8s

Average Enneagram 8 personality types are those who show their competitive approach and tend to consider friendships or professional relations as nothing but a battlefield. They are always eager to take up the next challenge and win. On the one hand, these people are stubborn and assertive. On the other hand, they tend to be confident in themselves and highly competent.

When their spirits are down, average eights critically evaluate all their actions and work towards improving themselves. They refrain from showing their softer side and all sorts of vulnerabilities.

It is because they can become a hurdle in the path of close connections and making intimate relationships. According to these individuals, it is a sign of weakness they cannot afford to show while leading their life. Thus, people see them as highly ambitious as well as quite intimidating.

Signs of Average Enneagram 8

Let us now briefly check out the signs of Average Enneagram 8s. They are as follows –

  • Average Enneagram Eights are self-sufficient individuals. They prefer having financial freedom.
  • They are enterprising and always ready to take bold steps to pursue their goals and ambitions. These people can go to any extent to turn their dreams into reality.
  • People with average enneagram eight personality types do not shy away from taking risks. This approach can even make them undermine their feelings and emotions.
  • These enneagrams rule their environment. They want people to follow in their footsteps and acknowledge the efforts they take to lead their lives.
  • Average Enneagram Eights boast of their abilities. They always ensure no one can raise their voice against their narratives.
  • These individuals do not measure others on equal terms. Hence, they refrain from giving due respect to them.
  • All those who belong to the average enneagram eight personality types have a lot of pride within themselves. They are also egoistic and never give an inch away to others.
  • Average Eights are good at using their aggression. They threaten others to ensure they abide by their orders.
  • When people do not listen to their instructions, these average enneagram eight personality types will get into ugly confrontations. They will never back down. Instead, these individuals will go to any extent to gain a victory from their conflicts and disagreements with others.

Final Words

Healthy Eights invest their energy and a good level of commitment to bring forth improvement in society. Moreover, it allows them to flourish across different areas of life and lets them take up stern challenges. They show their love and generosity toward their close friends and family members.

Unhealthy Enneagram Eights are intimidating in their approach and easily scare others off when they meet them for the first time. They tend to develop an addiction to the accumulation of power. These people will go to any extent to ensure their path remains free from obstacles.

Finally, Average Enneagram Eights display the competitive nature of their personality. They treat friendships and professional relations as an opportunity to overcome stiff challenges. They need to maintain their strong image in front of others. Hence, these people never expose their vulnerabilities as they can be severe obstacles in their path to success.