This might be an unpopular opinion, but this is my honest point of view, and I hope you’ll hear me out:
I wish people would stop using wings to explain their Enneagram type and use subtypes instead.
This is one of my most significant sticking points when educating others about the Enneagram. People who introduce themselves with their wings aren’t giving much insight into who they are.
Let me explain.
Enneagram Wings
If you tell me you’re a 3w4, you’re not really telling me much about you except that your dominant type is Three, and you probably lean heavily on your Four wing. But that doesn’t explain as much as you think it does.
Wings are meant to be used as growth stretches, something for us to use as a self-development tool, not a way to characterize our type.
Think about it in terms of if you actually had wings. If you lean too heavily on one wing, you’re not going to be able to get very far. But if you use both wings equally, you can soar.
So the goal here is to use BOTH wings, not lean on one. And not as a way to describe our type when introducing ourselves.
Do we use one wing more than the other? Most likely. But that does not mean it defines the nuances of our type. For that, we need to turn to subtypes.
Enneagram Subtypes
Our subtype is a mix of our dominant instinct (either self-preservation, social, or sexual) and the passion of our type. This means you can have three people of the same primary type, but they can look completely different from each other.
Examples of the Subtypes
I’m a Self-Preservation Nine, so my Self-Preservation instinct combined with my passion of Sloth, causes me to take comfort in routines and activities that make me feel safe. These are common traits of an SP9.
In contrast, Social Nines are more outgoing and continually work on behalf of a group (the Social Instinct) to feel like they belong, forgetting about their own needs (the passion of Sloth).
Sexual Nines merge fully with significant individuals (Sexual/One-to-One Instinct) in their life and take on the person’s feelings, thoughts, and interests as their own, forgetting their own identity in the process (the passion of Sloth).
Subtypes and Their Wings
The subtypes of Nine (and of any of the types) all have the same wings. Each may lean more heavily on one wing over the other (for example, I lean more heavily on my 1 wing), but to really grow in their type/subtype they should be using both wings. In Type Nine’s case, their wings are 8 and 1.
We all embody the three instincts but are dominant in one (much like we are with our types). And the thing about instincts is they work fast and are often done so before we realize it’s happening. It’s embedded in our nervous system and is a big contributing factor to why we act in the ways we do.
Why You Should Use Subtypes Instead of Enneagram Wings to Explain Your Type
Wings alone aren’t a descriptor of someone’s personality. If you tell me you’re a 4w3, I might think “okay, maybe this person works a little harder on achieving success” but it’s not going to tell me the motivations on why you operate that way.
Now, if you tell me you’re a Self-Preservation 4, it will give me more of an understanding of who you are. It tells me that you work hard on the outside but suffer on the inside because you were likely told when you were younger that your darker feelings were unappealing and that you should look happy instead.
I understand that it’s easier for someone to learn about wings instead of trying to wade through the complexities of the subtypes (for a brief description of all 27 of the subtypes, check out this post). But if you’re serious about using the Enneagram to understand yourself in a deeper way, then learning your subtype is the way to go.
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