Is the enneagram personality system an effective approach in explaining drug addiction?

Abstract

Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between enneagram personality traits and the risk of drug addiction. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 160 participants (94 addicts and 66 non-addicts) answered the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator (RHETI) questionnaire. Patients were selected through a multistage cluster sampling method and non-addicts were selected among the family caregivers of the patients. At the baseline, the characteristics of the two groups were analyzed using the chi-square test and independent t-test. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to conduct the main analysis. Results: After adjustment for all demographics, the results showed a significant positive relationship between all personality types, except for type 3, and drug addiction (P < 0.05). The most important types explaining drug addiction included types 5, 4, and 1, in sequence. An increase in the scores of these personality types would increase the likelihood of risk by 22.5 to 41.5 times. Conclusions: Based on the fact that the enneagram system emphasizes the balance among the nine personality patterns as the underlying indicator of health, imbalances in each of the patterns could pave the way for drug addiction. While it seems that the enneagram system is an efficient model for explaining drug addiction, future studies can be useful.