For Sevens this means that they can have a wing Six (also known as Enneagram 7w6) or a wing Eight (Enneagram 7w8).
Below you find descriptions for each wing. We will explore how either wing can positively influence your main personality type as well as the specific challenges this combination brings with it. If you are new to wings and want to learn more about how they work, you can read our introduction to wings here.
So on the one hand you have the Seven: Spontaneous, looking for new and exciting experiences from their environment and quite capable of taking care of their own needs. On the other hand you have the Six: Focused and dependent on people to provide them with security, steady and consistent, and quietly good-natured.
So what happens if you add the latter as a wing to the former? You probably get the most sociable and outgoing combination of all types.
“The Seven, already on the search for adventure and stimulation from material things, now puts people and relationships on the top of their list of things that provide them with joy.”
These people tremendously enjoy encountering and interacting with people, often the more the better.
There’s a bunch of other great things these Sevens inherit from their Six wing, things like discipline, organizational skills and generosity. They often become incredibly productive, since their already existent high levels of energy get combined with the steadiness and foresight of their wing.
But of course, you never just get the good stuff. Sevens with this wing also get the tendency of Sixes to struggle more with anxiety and insecurity. Going further, they can more easily become pessimistic about the future, and the more unhealthy it gets, the more they struggle between the frantic exuberance of immature Sevens and the fearful inferiority-complexes of immature Sixes. Their inclination towards other people turns into expecting those people to solve their problems for them.
Heading up the levels of maturity though, healthy Sevens with this wing get to use their natural optimism on building bonds with other people, and as intrinsically charming, funny and exciting as their personalities often are, that isn’t hard for them. They become a powerful combination of things that are usual polar opposites: adult and childlike at the same time, spontaneous yet reliable, captivating and cheeky.
If you feel your basic type corresponds with the Seven, but your focus is much more on other people than just material experiences, you most likely are benefitting from a Six wing.
The combination of the outgoing Seven type with the strong-willed Eight type produces a personality that can only be described as pretty aggressive – in all the good and bad aspects of the phrase. Taking the assertiveness, strength of ego and will to dominate from the Eight wing, these Sevens are very determined (and capable) to get what they want – and as we know, Sevens have broad tastes.
Sevens with an Eight wing are not as concerned with relationships as their counterparts with a Six wing, more focused on their own experiences and not necessarily on who’s along for the ride.
“Sevens, smart as they are, get to borrow the daring and willpower of Eights to overcome the hurdles that lie in their path to joy and excitement.”
You get some pretty powerful and often very materially successful people from this combination, though they still remain their fundamentally playful Seven self.
Of course, their wing also adds some additional challenges to their personality. The Eight influence brings with it a greater chance to go overboard on their many projects, dipping into workaholism, power games, open confrontations and overstimulation that can easily end in substance abuse. If your go-to thought is „I’m worth it“, which describes the mindset of many people of this type, it can be pretty hard to know when to stop. So when these types become really unhealthy, they often also become really destructive. Living on the edge is all fine and dandy as long as you don’t trip over it.
But if you are mature and healthy inside this combination, you get people who are probably the most able to enjoy everything life has to offer – and have the best toolset available to make sure they experience them, too. Persistent yet spontaneous to come up with new solutions on the fly, tenacious and flexible: It’s a good recipe to make sure you get everything you want.
So if you notice a lot more assertiveness and willpower than is usually associated with Sevens, that’s a pretty strong indicator for an Eight wing being present. Go get it!
Aggressive seems like a great way to describe a 7w8 personality wing. I wonder if many athletes fall into this category of personality type? Seeing someone who is outgoing and describing them as being really enthusiastic and driven really seems like someone who would excel at group sports. These seem like those people that tend to have that “larger than life” personality type. Egos are probably massive and I can’t see these people having too many REALLY close relationships. Maybe having a TON of acquaintances or even fleeting fun whirlwind relationships seems more like this personality. Failure is probably something that is hard to digest.
Ahhh the 7s, these are the lives of the party for sure! 7w6 sounds like someone who is super high energy but often seems to “hide” behind that boisterous facade. This can probably get tricky being an extreme extrovert with insecurities of their own. I wonder if these personality types ever suffer from imposter syndrome? I would imagine that their friendly image and eagerness to be a part of the crowd applies some pressure in their own minds to be likeable? There are so many questions I have on this personality type that intrigues me as an introvert myself.
I can see this personality type being someone who would work in the sales industry of any kind. I’ve always envied people who can be extremely outgoing and sort of “light up a room” so to speak. It takes a really social and extroverted person to be able to captivate conversations and relate to multiple people and really be one of those likeable types. It’s incredible to see Robin Williams had this personality type. He definitely fit the bill of funny, witty and outgoing – he even made an entire career that turned into such a legacy for him. These are the entertainers for sure.