Strategy 5
Capable Expert
- Desire
- Understanding and the ability to handle the world
- Fear
- Helplessness, incompetence, and overwhelm
Strategy 6
Security-Minded Traditionalist
- Desire
- Security, support, and safety
- Fear
- Loss of support and guidance
Why People Confuse Them
Both strategies are thoughtful, slow to trust, and tend to be reserved in new surroundings. Sixes think they're Fives far more often than the other way around, especially the educated and more introverted ones. According to the simplified descriptions, after all, every intellectual is a Five.
What the Difference Is
The Five trusts their own mind above all. They think non-linearly, like to look for places where established theories break down, and are willing to hold unconventional views. They keep their distance from people to protect their energy and privacy. They keep their emotions under control and can assess a situation objectively.
The Six doesn't trust their own mind as much, so they look for something to lean on: proven procedures, authorities, sources, a team. They think more systematically and work out in advance what could go wrong. They have an ambivalent relationship with authority: they either follow it or rebel against it. Towards people they trust, they tend to be generous and loyal.
Under pressure, the Five disappears into privacy. The Six doubts more, goes over the options, and looks for someone to consult.
Subtypes: The Sixes most similar to the Five are the more fearful (phobic) Sixes; the counterphobic one-to-one Six, by contrast, is striking and openly assertive.
Three Questions That Settle It
Answer honestly, based on how things usually are, not how you'd like them to be.
- What do you base your conclusions on?
5More likely a Five if you trust your own analysis above all and take other people's views only as food for thought.
6More likely a Six if you need the backing of proven sources or the opinion of people you trust.
- Why do you keep your distance from people?
5More likely a Five if you're protecting your time and energy from their demands.
6More likely a Six if you first need to find out whether they can be trusted.
- What runs through your head before an important decision?
5More likely a Five if you want to understand the matter in depth and never have enough information.
6More likely a Six if you mainly think about what could go wrong and how to prepare for it.
Not sure? The test will tell you in 10 minutes. What's my strategy? →
How to Spot a Five →How to Spot a Six →How They Work Together in a Relationship →