By Samantha Critchell
The Associated Press

When it comes to parenting, there rarely is only one right way to do things.

But, says author Janet Levine, there might be a better way of doing things depending on a parent's individual personality: An "organizer" often works best when there is a goal to be accomplished while an "entertainer" thrives on working a lesson into a story.

Levine studies the Enneagram, an established model of personality based on a diagram with nine points, each one representing a personality type.

The model, featured in Levine's book Know Your Parenting Personality (Wiley; $15.95) is based on patterns of thoughts, feelings, motivations and perceptions.

At first Levine, who teaches at Milton Academy in Massachusetts, applied the model to education but she says it also makes sense for parenting. "All of us have a good side and a bad side," she says. "By finding out about your personality and motivations, you become aware of how to best take advantage of strengths and change behavior to downplay weakness."

Consider your strengths - empathy and passion if you're a "dreamer," loyalty and logic if you're a "questioner" - as gifts that can be used to enhance interaction with your children, advises Levine, herself a mother of two sons.

She says the Enneagram isn't intended to pigeonhole anyone; it's actually supposed to expand a parent's pool of resources to deal with each child individually. "Each kid will bring out a different part of that personality within you," she says.

Levine describes herself as "an organizer with a wing of helper." When she's stressed, she takes on "peacekeeper" tendencies, and when she's feeling safe and secure, she's a "questioner."

The personality that these traits create often puts her at loggerheads with one of her sons, who is much more of an optimistic "entertainer."

Looking back, she would have been better off making cleaning his room a game that would appeal to his fun-loving personality instead of a goal-oriented task that she, as an "organizer," appreciated.

When most people take her nine-question, multiple-choice quiz (available in her book and on her Web site), they are surprised by the triad they fall into - at least if they were honest with their answers, Levine says.

As with many self-administered tests, people sometimes give answers on what they think is "right" or based on the personality type they hope they'll be, she says.

Enneagram's model of nine personalities

According to the Enneagram model featured in Janet Levine's book Know Your Parenting Personality, each parent falls into one of nine basic categories. Since each of us is more complicated than a single label, each personality type then is connected to two others to indicate that traits of these personalities likely are present.

The personality types are:

Moralizer. Conscientious, preoccupied with correcting error, inflexible, judgmental. Linked to the dreamer and the entertainer.

Helper. Devoted, empathetic, needs approval, can be manipulative. Linked to the dreamer and the protector.

Organizer. High achiever, efficient, competitive, obsessed with image. Linked to the questioner and the peacekeeper.

Dreamer. Creative, emotionally charged, melancholic, attracted to the unavailable. Linked to the helper and the moralizer.

Observer. Privacy is paramount, rational, detached. Linked to the protector and the entertainer.

Questioner. Prone to doubt, scans for danger, loyal, questioning, excellent troubleshooter. Linked to the organizer and the peacekeeper.

Entertainer. Mercurial, hard to pin down, childlike charm, backs away from commitment. Linked to the observer and the moralizer.

Protector. Take-charge, protective of turf and family, combative, likes control. Linked to the observer and the helper.

Peacekeeper. Calm, seeks consensus, takes on others' position at expense of own agenda, obstinate and stubborn. Linked to the questioner and the organizer.

Enneagram Web site