About motivation
- Carsten Arnfjord Thomsen
- Jan 5
- 2 min read
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 more “true” results are obtained 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 consciousness.
When testpersons are asked why they do something, for example, what they fear, desire, or identify with, they often respond based on self-interpretation, ideals, or social desirability. This reduces both reliability and validity.
Therefore, professional tests measure patterns, not meaning.
Behaviour and experience are what people can realistically assess in themselves, and it is precisely these stable tendencies that modern psychometrics is built upon. 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 result becomes.
Many unauthorised Enneagram tests have high ‘face validity’, meaning the questions are easily recognisable and feel right. But recognisability is not the same as validity.
Genuine quality requires empirical evidence, not just persuasive wording. At the same time, high ‘face validity’ makes responses more vulnerable to self-confirmation, idealisation, and social desirability.
Our DNV-accredited Enneagram Business Profile 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 itself, but in the professional interpretation and developmental dialogue that follow when the test is used by registered practitioners with professional HR training.
Enneagram Business Profile makes it possible to work strategically with HR and provides a unique foundation for understanding individuals, teams, and the organisation.
