Misconceptions About Type 1
Type 1 is likely one of the more uncommon types within the enneagram system. We often joke of the overtypings of 5s and 4s and proceed to forget that type 1 is also strongly overtyped. The fact is that few if any enneagram authors were of the type 1 personality type, therefore much of what is written about the type is lacking this first person experience associated with the type. This becomes very obvious in descriptions of 1 which almost entirely ignore 1s connection to the body triad and, at times, portray the type as if it were of the head triad. When learning the enneagram, it becomes especially important to understand this difficulty and begin to reconceptualize our understanding of type 1 in particular.
1) Type one is "insert head type description here": Many descriptions portray 1 almost as though it were a head type rather than a gut type, which leads to a lot of 6s and probably even 5s mistyping as such. While 1s can be cautious, worrisome, cerebral and even theoretical/thoughtful, the core of the gut center revolves around instinct and body orientation. Anger and frustration for the 1 is often felt intensely and in the body sense. One of the best self descriptions I’ve heard from a 1 about this experience was the comparison of the self to a tuning fork, with “wrong” being identified as a dissonance between the self and reality. While 1s sense of ideality as well as their sense of right/correct or wrong/incorrect can be intensely logical, have solid reasoning, and be thought through in great detail, the 1s sense of ideality does not stem from the mind, but from the body and that either intuitive or sensational sense of ideality and non-ideality. This type is most often incredibly decisive and trusting of it's sense of directionality unlike the head types who will bolster their sense of judgement through impulse, intense research, external affirmation, or other means because the core of type 1 is not a distrust of internal guidance. The type literally only has possibility for positive outlook wings as well as a strong line to 7, a positive outlook type. This manifests as this incredible sense of self trust in their own ideas and ability to assert judgement and provides a driving force for action and movement since, despite cynisism or pessimism, there is often assumption that ideality is something that can be reached for or even obtained. This is the strongest distinguishing factor between 1 and other types consistently mistyped as 1.
It should be clarified further that “body sense” does not imply that all 1s need to be “sensing” types in the mbti sense or are remotely connected to their body in the physical or traditional sense. Ideality can be abstracted in the intuitive sense, body sensations can be entirely filtered through an abstract lens in the sense that a 1 may not be able to describe it as it exists physically, etc. The distinction must be made that the gut triad in general comes with this arrogant “I just know” sort of mentality that distinguishes it from the heart and head triads.
2) Type one represses anger and is often inclined to come across as composed: It is not uncommon for 1s style of anger to be misinterpreted as repressed, especially considering how uncommon this type actually is. Textually, it can be difficult to find a word that is distinctly fitting for their style of anger. While 1 often prioritizes objective and clear thought, this types vice is still wrath. Perhaps this anger and rage may be internally justified as something that the 1 does not consider rage (ie. nitpicking, organizing, criticism, an explanation etc) or the 1 may even truly believe they are as cool headed and emotionally detached as many suspect themselves to be, however the 1's wrath is externally oriented and palpable. Wrath exclusively directed at the self, but not caught by others or a type that only manifests as being internally frustrated or critical of others alongside little to no external expression is a 9 thing. Repressing anger to maintain a clearheaded, objective stance is also more of a 9, 6, or even 3 trait rather than a trait that is primarily 1. 1 type anger is controlled, directional, and centered (rather than diffused and internally brewed as in the 9 or ranged, comfortably expressed, and impact focused as in the 8). This even applies to 1w9, who's sense of wrath may be oriented towards reducing discomfort or takes on the justification as being peace/balance seeking but is not as quiet or remotely hidden as some often expect it to be.
3) Type 1 is rigid and Rule Abiding: They are, but to their own sense of structure, not necessarily external structures. 1 has a strong vision of how the world should be and what is lacking. The archetype of the perfect student who enforces the rules or the person dedicated to a strong moral system or "the goody two shoes" is 90% of the time a 3 or 6 at their core because both of these stances are strongly tied to pre-established systems and appeal to the attachment orientation. 1 at it's core is frustration and dissatisfaction. 1 isn't necessarily breaking rules and can have moral stances that connect to culture and common standards, but there is a strong connection to the body and impulse sense of anger and frustration rather than the more traditional focus on established systems and rules. 1 is far more often the generator of rules and standards rather than the follower of them.
4) The Core Fear of 1 is Being a Bad Person: While this is not necessarily incorrect, the way this is framed does not provide the necessary context that, once again, this is not really expectation based and that “bad” is not necessarily relating to morality. You can have traditionally “evil” 1s who embrace the concept of being absolutely awful or, more commonly, are unaware of the effects of their behavior on others or hypocrisy because, once again, all of this self directed and critical behavior is a felt sense. 1 moves in the direction of it’s compass, that compass does not have to be remotely moral in the traditional sense.