Nine Kinds of Responsibility

Source: Elizabeth Wagele

When you have house-guests, do they turn off the lights after using them? Are they careful of where they leave their shoes and clothes, and/or pitch in to help with meals? In other words, are they responsible?

Responsibility means feeling it’s your duty to deal with what comes up, being accountable, and/or being able to act independently and make decisions without authorization. There are both moral and personal responsibilities.

Responsibility is having common sense, authority, leadership, and maturity; being reliable, trustworthy, dependable, and answerable. But we don’t all express our ability to be responsible in the same way.

1-Perfectionists in the Enneagram system sometimes feel overly-responsible for their own or others’ behavior. Knute says, “I always impale myself on shoulds. I NEVER avoid responsibility.” This type includes a desire to improve self and others (to be good learners and teachers) and to worry about how things are going.

2-Helpers are a lot like Ones regarding responsibility but responsibility often centers on their relationship to another individual. Two’s try hard to be there for important people in their lives. “What does the other need that I can provide?”

3-Achievers often feel responsible for getting ahead in the world and for leading others to get things done. Their responsibility includes presenting a favorable image that will enhance others’ respect for them.

4-Romantics feel responsible to themselves for honoring and expressing feelings and values and for finding beauty in life. If they slip up on their responsibilities they are likely to feel ashamed.

Source: Elizabeth Wagele

5-Observers often have high ideals but are not as likely as most other types to push their ideals on others. They feel responsible to themselves, and sometimes to others, for determining what’s logical. Robin, a Five, defines responsibility as being in the spell of the superego.

6-Questioners are aware of the dangers in life. They look for bad things that might happen and try to avoid mishaps. Being loyal to others is one way of insuring their own safety. Elizabeth says her security is built around responsibility. Realizing security was within her was a gift of freedom for her and the people in her life.

7-Adventurers often feel responsible for protecting the environment in which they live and play. Many feel responsible from a young age for staying happy themselves and for making other people happy.

8-Asserters feel responsible for enforcing rules and for standing up for truth and justice. They use their considerable strength to lead and to protect others

9-Peace Seekers feel responsible for promoting harmony and fairness. Judy, a Nine, grew up with a strict mother and considered responsibility an unknowable and undoable obligation. She gradually realized she was taking responsibility for others as a matter of honor—but not for herself. When she realized maturity meant taking responsibility for herself, there was no going back. She had become responsible to her heart.

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