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Enneagram 6 Wing 7: Mixing Loyalist With Enthusiast

For as long as modern man has existed, so has the need to understand why people respond in various ways to the same circumstances.

This is where Enneagram typing comes in. It’s impossible that every individual in the world can be categorized as 1 of only 9 personality types. Delving deeper into Enneagram typing reveals that, as a nine-sided circular diagram, the Enneagram personality model shows numerous and varied links between personalities.

These links are integration (growth) arrows and disintegration (stress) arrows. They identify the worst characteristics of a personality during times of stress, and the best in times of growth.

The nine-sided enneagram also connects the adjacent Enneagram types to the dominant type. These are the wings. But each Enneagram type leans more heavily on one wing than on the other, this is the dominant wing.

What Does 6w7 Mean?

In Enneagram types, the shortened form when referring to Enneagram Six wing Seven is Enneagram 6w7. The ‘w’ replace  ‘wing’, and the numbers, 6 and 7, replace the letters, Six and Seven.

Enneagram 6 Wings - 6w5 6w7

Key Characteristics

6w7 Enneagram types will:

  • Likely spend more time interacting with people than a straight Six or a 6w5 Enneagram
  • Probably be more confident and less fearful than a straight Six or a 6w5 Enneagram

Enneagram 6 wing 7s will also assume most of the attributes common to Sixes. However, in addition, facets of Sevens will appear.

Personality Traits

Listed below are some of the key characteristics of 6w7 Enneagram types. The primary personality traits are taken from Enneagram type and 6 the secondary personality traits from Enneagram type 7.

Primary Personality Traits

  • Loyal, reliable, engaging, and dependable—warmhearted Sixes back the outsider or victim
  • Anxious and lack confidence and trust—need reassurance
  • May overreact in the face of fear and sometimes indecisive, but excellent in a crisis
  • Concerned over potential future difficulties
  • Internalize and get lost in happy fantasies
  • Need clear outlines and dislike changes
  • Easily get a sense of people’s emotions
  • Phobics withdraw in fear, while counter-phobics aggressively confront fear

Secondary Personality Traits

  • Perpetually seeking new experiences, fun, and adventure, and are impulsive when they encounter either
  • Rationalize and idealize the distresses and grief of the world with enthusiastic charitableness
  • Avoid confrontation, while being averse to criticism and boundaries
  • Irresponsible until they find something they like, and they become excellent planners with big and creative ideas
  • Take the easy way out, and as multitaskers, quickly find solutions and get to the point
  • Charming and cajoling optimists who can inspire others
  • Sometimes leave tasks half done as wading through minutiae bores them
  • Excessively seek pleasure and comforts, both material and emotional

Motivations

Unlike many other personality models, Enneagram typing explores the emotions that drive or motivate people. In 6w7 Enneagram types, this includes exploring the fears and desires of both Sixes and Sevens.

Fears

6w7 Enneagram types typically have the worries that affect Sixes, such as:

  • Lack of security
  • Lack of certainty
  • Lack of support

To manage their distresses, they seek sustained reassurance from others.

6w7 Enneagram types are less affected by the concerns of Sevens, namely:

  • Boredom
  • Distress
  • Loss of freedom

To cope with their fears, they exude a perpetually confident and energetic front.

Desires

6w7 Enneagram types usually share the hopes of Sixes, including:

  • Security
  • Trustworthy friends and associates

6w7 Enneagram types may have a minimal amount of the needs of Sevens, such as:

  • New and gratifying experiences
  • Stimulation
  • Independence

Strengths

Enneagram 6 wing 7s have many strengths. Here are just a few:

  • Care about the less fortunate
  • Are loyal and committed to friends and family
  • Can be more carefree than other Sixes
  • Are possibly more confident than other Sixes

Weaknesses

Some weaknesses that Enneagram 6 wing 7s have to work on are:

  • Anxiousness
  • Self doubt and mistrusting others
  • Lack of confidence
  • Being more irresponsible than other Sixes
  • Being less empathetic than other Sixes
  • Being less committed than other Sixes
  • Being materialistic

Direction of Growth and Stress

Direction of Stress and Growth for Enneagram Type 6 and Type 7

In Enneagram personality typing, the  direction of integration and disintegration play a large part in determining 6w7 Enneagram’s most positive and most negative traits. The personalities of Enneagram 6 wing 7 won’t be identical to Sixes or 6w5 Enneagram.

Growth Arrow to Nine and Five

While Sixes’ growth arrow (Nine) will take precedence, it’s likely that some of the Sevens’ growth (Five) traits will also emerge.

In growth, 6w7 Enneagram types will show the positive aspects of a:

Nine (Six integration):

  • Passive
  • Reliable
  • Referee and conciliator
  • Benevolent
  • Non-confrontational

Five (Seven integration):

  • Intellectual
  • Inventive
  • Dependable
  • Self-motivated
  • Accepting of people and circumstances

Stress Arrow to Three and One

While Sixes’ stress arrow (Three) will take precedence, it’s likely that some of the Sevens’ stress (One) traits will also emerge.

In stress, 6w7 Enneagram types will exhibit the negative qualities of a:

Three (Six disintegration):

  • May deceive to get ahead
  • May become superficial
  • May cut corners

One (Seven disintegration):

  • Intolerant of others’ errors
  • Critical
  • Impatient
  • Inflexible

Healthy vs. Unhealthy Enneagram 6w7s

If anyone existed with an entirely unwavering personality, they’d be an anomaly—or a sociopath. Throughout life, people continue to grow within their personality type. Although it’s true that people don’t change, per se, personae do fluctuate positively when good things happen and negatively when things go wrong. Unique characteristics emerge during healthy or positive events and, likewise, during unhealthy or negative times.

A Healthy 6w7 Enneagram Type

  • Displays remarkable fortitude, is encouraging, and leads with intellect
  • Guides and counsels friends and family
  • Is confident and social, as well as kind, optimistic, and spontaneous
  • Can plan, design, and excel in almost any project, while demonstrating extreme self-control

An Average 6w7 Enneagram Type

  • Is loyal
  • Is friendly
  • Is self-doubting
  • Is charming
  • Avoids confrontations
  • Is energetic

An Unhealthy 6w7 Enneagram Type

  • Suffers incapacitating self-doubt and fear, often becoming over-emotional
  • Withdraws into themselves, internally questions, and over-analyzes
  • Gets lost in indulgence and excess
  • Seeks additional and continuous exciting distractions

Growth Recommendations

  • Trust yourself and others. If you learn to trust others, you may find you are less inclined to doubt yourself. This is especially true when you’re feeling anxious, as this is when your self-doubt can become crippling.
  • Allow yourself to enjoy the here and now. If you keep looking for the next adventure, you may not notice all the joys that are right in front of you. No amount of excitement can eliminate the anguish of the world.
  • Turn your loyalty inward. While your loyalty is admirable, it will not gain you security in the long run. Be loyal to yourself for once and let go of that self-doubt. People will still love you for who you are.
  • Try to complete that task. You know which one. You’ve been complaining that it’s boring you. And it probably is, but you’ll be surprised at how fulfilling it is to have a completed project before you.

Famous People who are Type 6w7

Noteworthy 6w7 Enneagram people include:

  • Tom Hanks—American actor
  • Diana, Princess of Wales—member of the British royal family
  • Ellen DeGeneres—American entertainer
  • Meg Ryan—American actress

Enneagram 6w7 vs 6w5

There are many similarities between 6w7 types and 6w5s. However there are also some differences, we’ll explore both below.

Key Similarities

Both 6w7 Enneagram and  6w5 Enneagram will likely be:

  • Curious
    • 6w7—about what excitement lies on the horizon
    • 6w5—about what identifies that distant hill as the horizon
  • Future thinkers
    • 6w7—in planning for large ideas
    • 6w5—in examining potential problems and planning solutions
  • Engaged
    • 6w7—with life’s excitements
    • 6w5—with people
  • Good with people
    • 6w7—charming
    • 6w5—loyal and reliable

Key Differences

The differences noted between a 6w7 Enneagram and a 6w5 Enneagram will arise from the varied personalities of Fives and Sevens.

  • 6w5 Enneagrams may procrastinate over a project, but 6w7 Enneagrams are excellent at summarizing information quickly
  • 6w5 Enneagrams are excellent troubleshooters, yet 6w7s don’t like to get bogged down with too many details
  • 6w5 Enneagrams enjoy structured rules that do not change, while Enneagrams 6w7s dislike limits and boundaries
  • While 6w5 Enneagrams lean toward expecting the worst, Enneagrams 6w7 are eternal optimists

Conclusion

The interesting, and vastly different, co-mingled personality of Enneagram 6 wing 7 shows how the imprinting of one Enneagram type may expose an entirely new personality. Of course, it depends on how much bearing the wing personality has over the dominant type.

Still, wings are not the only factors to influence the overall characteristics of an Enneagram type. To establish a larger picture, the lines of integration (growth) and disintegration (stress) also need to be included in the assessment.

In a 6w7 Enneagram, the growth lines are Nine and Five, while the stress lines are Three and One. Assumedly, both the integration and disintegration types of the wing, being Seven, would have less of an influence over Enneagram 6 wing 7, as the dominant Enneagram type Six would hold sway.

To discover your Enneagram type, complete the Enneagram Personality Test.