TAILORED TO BUSINESS NEEDS
Research-based and compliant with high European quality standards for psychological tools (EFPA).
Enneagram Business Profile represents a paradigm shift in the use of the tests, combining classical Enneagram theory with modern test psychology and psychometrics.
Interpretation → Measurement
From subjective interpretation to psychometric, empirical measurement.
Recognition → Precision
From “it feels right” to documented validity and reliability.
Direct motivation → Indirect motivation measurement
Motivation is identified through behaviour and experience – not through direct questioning.
One type → Holistic profile
The type is identified through high intensity in one dimension, but is always interpreted in relation to the full personality profile and all nine dimensions.
Symbolism → Empiricism
From theoretical explanatory layers to data-driven analysis and professional application.
Scientific measurement of motivation
Did you know that direct questions about motivation produce less valid Enneagram results? In parts of the Enneagram community, there is still an assumption that you get more “true” results by asking directly about inner motivation. It sounds intuitive, but it contradicts modern test psychology and the requirements set by EFPA, DNV and ISO 10667. Motivation is not directly accessible to conscious awareness. When test persons are asked why they do something – for example, what they fear, long for, or identify with – they often respond based on self-interpretation, ideals, or social desirability. This reduces both reliability and validity. That is why professional tests do not measure meaning, but patterns. Behaviour and experience are what people can realistically assess in themselves, and it is precisely these stable tendencies that modern psychometrics is based on. When motivation is measured indirectly through behaviour, the result is more accurate and reproducible. In psychometric test development, the ideal is therefore to formulate questions as neutrally as possible. The less an item (question) invites interpretation, idealisation, or self-explanation, the more stable and comparable the measurement outcome becomes. Many unauthorised Enneagram tests have high face validity, meaning that the questions are easily recognisable and feel right. But recognisability is not the same as validity. True quality requires empirical documentation, not just persuasive wording. At the same time, high face validity makes responses more vulnerable to self-confirmation, idealisation, and social desirability bias. Our DNV-accredited Enneagram Business Test is based on behaviour-based measurement of motivation and complies with international standards for psychometric quality. We do not measure less deeply – we measure more precisely. The depth does not lie in the question, but in the professional interpretation and developmental dialogue that follows when the test is used by registered users with professional HR education.
Myths & Facts
Myth 1: All types are equally distributed
Fact
In modern test psychology, there is no expectation that personality types or dimensions are evenly distributed within a population. Skewed distributions are often the result of context, culture, role demands, and selection – rather than measurement error. Enneagram Business measures how psychological strategies actually manifest in a professional and organisational context.
Myth 2: The Enneagram is about defining who you are
Fact
Enneagram Business Profile is based on the same foundational Enneagram theory as the classical tradition, but applies it within the framework of modern test psychology.
We identify stable, measurable type characteristics as intensity in psychological patterns. A high score indicates strong type precision, but type is always understood in relation to the full profile and used as a professional interpretative framework – not as a fixed identity label.
Myth 3: The correct type is the one you recognise yourself in
Fact
Recognition is not the same as validity. Many traditional Enneagram tests rely on direct questions about inner motivation and identity, which are highly vulnerable to self-interpretation and social desirability bias. Enneagram Business Profile prioritises empirical precision over subjective recognition.
Myth 4: You are one type – the rest are just explanations
Fact
In modern test psychology, personality is understood as a pattern of multiple active traits. Enneagram Business Profile identifies a primary type, but always interprets it in relation to other high- and low-scoring dimensions. A profile cannot meaningfully be reduced to a single type.
Myth 5: The lowest score in a profile graph is irrelevant
Fact
Absence is psychologically informative. The lowest-scoring dimension often indicates blind spots, limited flexibility, or strategies that are rarely used. Professional interpretation therefore integrates both high and low scores.
Taken together, this provides a more precise, nuanced and professionally grounded basis for understanding psychological patterns in a working context.
The history behind
There are only a few good and scientifically well-documented tests available on the global market. No test has yet been fully accepted within professional psychological test environments. However, as the first in the world, The Enneagram Business Profile has received a quality certification from DNV in Scandinavia. This means that the tool is research-based and meets high quality standards in accordance with European guidelines for psychological tools (EFPA). The tool also fulfils the requirements of the Danish Certification Council for Test Use. How did we succeed in achieving this? In 2021, we established a collaboration with an international research team, which in their pre-analyses validated the internal consistency at 0.77. Within personality type tests, this is regarded as confirmation of a qualitatively sound test. The 180 carefully selected questions are the result of three years’ work identifying the differences, traits and characteristics of each of the nine types. This means that our test measures what it sets out to measure, and that the internal consistency ensures that the different parts of the test are coherent and measure the same underlying concept. This provides users with confidence in the test’s reliability and relevance – which is essential for both practical application and further research. Between 2022 and 2024, our research team conducted a large empirical and global study in collaboration with a foreign university, where the test was compared against already validated tools – Diversity Icebreaker (www.diversityicebreaker.com) and the personality test Big Five. The results showed consistency with the Big Five in line with previously published studies. Content, discriminant and confirmatory validity analyses were conducted. Meaningful differences related to age and gender were also identified. Since the Enneagram Business Test is particularly aimed at the business sector, it was also relevant to demonstrate differences in results between managers and employees. Our research team continues to carry out ongoing studies to ensure that the Enneagram achieves greater recognition within an empirical psychological framework. In future studies, the focus will be on test–retest reliability as well as validation against external criteria. The DNV certification is valid until 2030. In the certification process, particularly positive feedback was given regarding user materials and the training of practitioners. The Enneagram Business Profile is based on the following books by Edit Moltke-Leth: - The Enneagram & Team Development, Knowledge Sharing, Leadership and Collaboration (bestseller in 2002) - The Enneagram & The Intelligent Organisations of the Future (2013)
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH TEAM
We are ambitious with our test
Our international research team oversees ongoing validation, research and further development of the Enneagram Business Profile.
Our test demonstrated high reliability in the pre-analyses and in subsequent empirical and comparative studies, and in 2025 we achieved accreditation and certification.
The research team is not responsible for the business application of the test, but have been asked to contribute to research and development of the Enneagram Business model in order to add knowledge relevant for practice as well as academy.
The research team is led by Bjørn Z. Ekelund and the other members have unique and relevant competences in relation to Enneagram, personality, personal development and the art of science.
They are inspired by bringing the wisdom of Enneagram into a more precise and relevant practical use and academic understanding.
