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Beatrice Chestnut

The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge

Ones and Eights look similar in some respects. Both are high-energy and hardworking types, and both like to establish control and order. Both types tend to get angry, but they experience and express anger in distinct ways. Believing that showing anger is wrong, Ones tend to hold back their anger, but because it is hard for the One to completely shut it off, it tends to leak out as resentment, irritation, annoyance, or passive-aggressive behavior. Eights, on the other hand, feel and express anger more readily, and don’t believe it is wrong to be angry. Ones usually get angry when people break the rules or engage in bad behavior, while Eights become angry for a wider range of reasons.

Both Ones and Eights engage in “black and white,” or “all or nothing,” ways of thinking. Both Ones and Eights like to be in control, but may assert control in different ways, with Ones relying on rules and structure and standards, and Eights exercising power in more direct ways. Ones and Eights are both concerned about justice and fairness and can work hard in support of a cause they believe in. And both styles can overwork and neglect their own needs.

There are also some key differences between Ones and Eights. Eights think in terms of the big picture, like high-level work, and dislike having to deal with details. Ones, on the other hand, excel at and may enjoy detail work. When engaged in a task, Ones focus a lot of attention on achieving perfection, taking pains to make something as good as it can possibly be, while Eights can be satisfied with “good enough.” Eights tend to go with their impulses, can be excessive, and dislike being inhibited, while Ones tend to over-control their impulses and delay pleasurable activities, as they are typically more focused on correct behavior than indulging themselves. Eights are “under-social” in that they don’t mind—or can like—going against convention, while Ones are “over-social” and almost always observe social conventions.

Internally, Ones are extremely self-critical, while Eights do not criticize themselves as much. On the contrary, Eights often move into action quickly, feeling much freer than Ones to exercise their power and their will, without overanalyzing things or entertaining critical thoughts about their intentions or behaviors. Ones will usually apologize if they believe they’ve made a mistake (and they value apologies), while Eights are much less likely to feel apologetic for the things they do. Ones typically observe and obey authority figures, while Eights don’t like to be told what to do and may rebel against authority if they want or need to. When communicating with others, Ones tend to be polite and restrained, using words like “should” and “ought” and “must,” while Eights can be direct, abrupt, intimidating, and even profane.

The Enneagram Institute

Misidentifications

Both Ones and Eights are in the Instinctive Triad, both have strong wills, both are action-oriented, and both have strong notions about how to do things. However, Ones try to convince others to do the right thing (as they see it) from the standpoint of a moral imperative–because it is the right thing to do. They try to logically convince the other of the soundness of their views, but become irritated and less logical when others resists their reasoning. Eights, on the other hand, rely on their own self-confidence, and attempt to sway others by their gutsy convictions and sheer personal charisma. ("I don't know if it's the right way, but it's my way.") Ones try toconvert those who resist them: Eights try to power through them.

The greatest misunderstanding between these two types involves their concern with justice, although the nature of their sense of justice can be quite different. Ones hold justice as an extremely important value–many judges, attorneys, advocates, and criminal prosecutors actually are Ones. Ones think a great deal about issues of providing suitable standards for human beings and about the specifics of how to administer a fair and equitable system. Ones at all Levels of Development refer to justice and think that they seek justice (no matter how skewed their interpretation of it may become). In any case, justice is a matter of principles–part of their idealism. They strive after justice and want to rectify injustices wherever they find them because, among other reasons, to do otherwise would be to fail to live up to their high moral standards and make them feel guilty.

In Eights, justice is more of a visceral response, a reaction to witnessing injustices occurring. Eights, generally speaking, do not walk around thinking about these matters, but if they saw a helpless person being harmed or bullied by others, without thinking about it, Eights would rush in to "level the playing field." For Eights, justice has little to do with abstract principles. Eights see themselves as protectors of others, and when they are healthy, they actually are. Eights are more likely to seek justice for "their people"–their family, friends, co-workers, ethnic group, and so forth. It is usually expressed in a concern that those in their care (or under their power and authority) be treated fairly. The cowboy marshal protecting the town against criminals and the union chief negotiating a just wage for the rank and file are examples of this more restricted concern for justice. With Eights, the sense of justice usually involves addressing an imbalance of power. This is quite different from the One who seeks to make sure that people are appropriately rewarded for good actions and punished for bad ones.

Of course, in their unhealthy manifestations, both types can be extremelyunjust. Ones will still believe that they are being fair–the punishments they are meting out are for the good of the person being punished, or at the very least, for the good of society. Ones feel they need to rationalize their punitive activities. Eights do not. For unhealthy Eights, administering justice is simply meting out vengeance. ("You hurt me or my people, and I'll destroy you." "He ripped me off. Now he has to pay.") Needless to say, others may question the "justice" in either of these types' unhealthy behavior.

The confusion between Eights and Ones probably also stems from the fact that some Ones may misidentify themselves as Eights since they would like to have the authority and influence of Eights. They may also recognize that they have aggressive impulses and misidentify themselves as an "aggressive type," although they are really compliant to their ideals; the Eight is the true aggressive type par excellence. On the other hand, Eights almost never misidentify themselves as Ones, viewing Ones as lily-livered and bloodless–moral only because they are too weak to be strong. Although Eights themselves are unlikely to think they are Ones, other people sometimes misidentify Eights as Ones because they see them as reformers. But clearly, many natural leaders, including Eights, lead reforms when they are needed. Contrasting Ones such as Pope John Paul II, Ralph Nader, and Hilary Clinton with Eights such as Lee Iococca, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Barbara Walters gives a vivid sense of their differences.