A Neurobiological Model of the Enneagram
An emphasis on different styles of emotion regulation
In 2009 Jack Killen published “Toward the Neurobiology of the Enneagram” in The Enneagram Journal1. In this paper Killen presented a model of the Enneagram that he was developing in collaboration with Dan Siegel, David Daniels, Denise Daniels, and Laura Baker.
Killen et al.’s model conceptualized the Enneagram types in terms of mammalian emotional systems. In particular, the group drew on the research of Jak Panksepp. Panksepp described human emotions in terms of evolutionary pressures to survive and reproduce and argued that all mammals share a range of core emotions that have developed in response to these pressures.2
Killen notes that Panksepp identifies fear, rage, and panic as being “alarm bell” emotional systems.3 Panksepp argued that for all mammals these emotions are experienced as triggers for engaging in survival behaviors. Killen explained, “The core proposition of this paper is that the structure of each of the nine Enneagram types is built around a particular pattern of emotion regulation relating to FEAR, RAGE, or PANIC.4 These patterns emerge in early life as cognitive-emotional structures that reside in the neural networks responsible for emotion activation and regulation.”5
Killen does not refer to the traditional Enneagram centers typology in this article. Instead, he discusses Panksepp’s “alarm bell emotional systems” in terms of three triads with FEAR being associated with the Head triad (points Five, Six, and Seven); RAGE being associated with the Body triad (points Eight, Nine, and One); and PANIC being associated with the Heart triad (points Two, Three, and Four).
Killen wrote: “… the hypothesis developed here is that the FEAR system of the head triad, the RAGE system for the body triad, or the PANIC system for the heart triad become primed for reactivity in early life. This occurs because that system was particularly salient during the experience of early life, and became particularly resonant in neural networks of emotion regulation. As a result, attention becomes ‘automatically’ directed toward those facets of experience that resonate with previous emotionally-charged experience.”6
While Killen notes that the Enneagram symbol may represent a, “… sort of schematic ‘wiring diagram’ of the functional congitive-emotional structure in the domains of the major negative emotions in humans”7, his article did not include a depiction of his model mapped onto the Enneagram symbol. The diagram below is my own mapping of Killen’s 2009 model onto the Enneagram symbol.
Killen’s Centers Model
Killen’s centers model has two components: an aversive core emotion and an emotion regulation style. Killen follows Naranjo and Palmer in modeling the Enneagram centers in terms of three core points, with each core point being associated with a different aversive emotion and each core point having two variations.
In Killen’s model the three types within each triad vary according to which emotion regulation style is used to regulate the core aversive emotion. Killen explains, “Emotion regulation is the broad term that describes the processes by which the brain channels the emotion at hand…. the emotion can either be sustained and expressed, contained and concealed, or reframed into an alternative emotion through a shift of attention, posture, or position.”8
In this model types Nine, Two, and Seven regulate their core aversive emotion by reframing to a different, presumably less distressing emotion; types One, Three, and Five regulate their core aversive emotion by containing and concealing the emotion; and types Four, Six, and Eight regulate by sustaining and expressing the core aversive emotion.
The diagram below is my own mapping of Killen’s emotion regulation style component onto the traditional Enneagram symbol.
Patterns of Movement in Killen’s Centers Model
Killen’s model does not include a patterns of movement construct. However, I think adding this component to the model could potentially provide important information for understanding the Enneagram types in terms of nine distinct patterns of emotion regulation.
For example, in Killen’s model types Nine, Two, and Seven all share the emotion regulation style of “shifting and reframing”. But when mapped onto the traditional symbol, we would understand type Nine as also using a conceal and contain strategy in security conditions and a sustain and express strategy in stressful conditions. In contrast, type Two would not have access to the conceal and contain strategy. Instead, both the security and the stress points for type Two rely on the sustain and manifest style of emotion regulation.
This aspect of Killen’s model could be further explored through interviews with representatives of each type and might prove to be extremely useful in terms of both theory development and clinical applications of the Enneagram.
Killen, J. (2009). “Toward the neurobiology of the Enneagram”. The Enneagram Journal, Volume II, issue 1, pp 40 - 61.
Panksepp, J. (2011). “The basic emotional circuits of mammalian brains: Do animals have affective lives?” Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, Volume 35, issue 9, pp. 1791 - 1804.
Killen, J., ibid, p 51.
Killen followed Panksepp in using all caps for these emotion terms to denote that the words are referring to neurobiological systems rather than discrete emotions.
Killen, J., ibid, pp 52 - 53.
Killen, J., ibid, p 56.
Killen, J., ibid p 53.
Killen, J., ibid, p 49.