TYPE SIX
Loyalist
Caring for Sixes
Sixes’ "habit of ambivalence can make them like a Ping-Pong ball that keeps being hit from one side to the other, flip-flopping between polar opposites. They can be a bundle of contradictions: confident and unsure, fearful and courageous, trusting and distrusting, aggressive and passive, thinkers and doers, collaborative and independent, tender and tough, generous and petty, serious and funny” (Healthy Feelings, Thriving Faith, p. 174 ).
Key Traits
Dutiful
Problem-solving
Authority-minded
Hypervigilant
Indecisive
Contrarian
Personality Dynamics
These three factors may contribute to someone becoming a Six:
- Family formation role: Guardian or Rebel
- Root sin: Fear of what might go wrong
- Defense mechanism: Projecting worry onto others
Emotions
The Six personality is expressed and related to largely through emotions like these:
Felt need: Have security
Head type: Hiding emotions behind thinking
Core emotion: Anxiety about what can go wrong
Stress emotion: Shame for not achieving more
Underlying sadness: Not feeling safe
Emotional alarm: Looking to safety nets in case of falling
How Sixes Become Like Jesus
“Jesus’ ability as a human being to sleep peacefully in a life-threatening storm is [a] hidden miracle . . . [He] wanted his disciples to have the faith in God that he had so they could learn to be calm and courageous in the midst of storms (Mark 4:40)” (Healthy Feelings, Thriving Faith, p. 182).
Key Scripture
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7 NKJV).
Christlike Virtue to Cultivate
Courage
Key Soul Care Practice
Scripture meditation with quiet reflection
Subsidiary Types
Wing Type(s): Five and/or Seven
Stress Type: Three
Growth Type: Nine
* Learn more and dive deeper into your wings, growth, and stress types with our resource, "Your Enneagram Map: Guides for Each Type to grow Emotionally & Spiritually."
