I find that I have an unhealthy preoccupation with social status and the way I appear to others. You could attribute this to having 3 in my enneagram types, or just to me generally being a shallow asshole. In either case, it causes me to place a high value on appearance rather than substance. It has some good parts, in the sense that three's are usually high achievers, but I find that this can often blind me to the best solution.
For example, for years I bought S-class Mercedes. I told myself that they are good in a crash (true) and since I am not a great driver, that I was protecting my family. I drive enough that I have killed two deer and one Bronco with the cars, and I can attest to the fact that they are safe. I also think that they make me look good, which is something that an ENTj can always use help with. However, the cars do not get great gas mileage, and I was spending over $140/week for gasoline. I eventually realized I could buy a new Honda Accord V6 out of the gas savings alone, and then drive free after 4-5 years. When I set aside the desire to look good, I held on to more money.
Another example involves an LIE who, like yourself, is an e3. This guy happens to be a University professor, and he married a woman who is LII and was once his student. (This happens more than you might think.) Unfortunately, she didn't have a PhD, so he wrote her PhD thesis for her, so he wouldn't marry someone who didn't have the requisite credentials (in his mind). In fact, when he found out I was divorced, he told me I should look for someone smart above all other characteristics, because 'at some point, the stories run out".
What he is missing is that in a dual relationship, there isn't a need to entertain each other with stories. Living life together is sufficient. The LIE-LII relationship is called Extinguishment, where each of the halves extinguish the other person's initiatives. This makes planning a life together hell, basically, because whatever you want, the other person is going to not want. This even makes going to the store for milk hell, basically. To him, she is a status symbol more than a partner in life. The two of them can stay married because he works in one state and she works in another, and they see each other briefly on the weekends. Their house is beautiful, and they have two cats, no kids. Cats are a decision you can agree on over a weekend. Kids are not.
There is some information on the forum about correlations between enneagram types and socionics types in post #99 here:
http://www.the16types.info/vbulletin...-part-II/page3
As you can see, LIE's tend to be either eights or threes. If you test as a three, there are obviously some potential problems to be aware of. I'm primarily an eight, which has its own problems.