For Nines this means that they can have a wing Eight (also known as Enneagram 9w8) or a wing One (Enneagram 9w1).
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.
Nines with an Eight wing – that’s one complex type-wing combination if there is one! On the one hand: Nines who try to avoid conflict at all costs. On the other hand: Eights who enjoy conflict like a cool glass of soda. How does this work together?
Well, it actually gives Nines a powerful set of supporting aspects to their personality. They are generally more energetic, confident and practical.
“The Eight wing gives Nines more access to their anger, although they are still fundamentally Nines, so they are very quick to restore the peace after they’ve shown their aggression.”
Something that clearly shows these people are still fundamentally Nines is that their anger isn’t used to assert their power, like it is for Eights, but to secure their inner peace. Like all Nines, they value harmony and conciliation after a conflict – they are just more willing to engage in one to begin with than, say, Nines with a One wing.
Since both types are so contradictory, the behaviour of Nines with an Eight wing can reflect that contradiction. They can be very energetic in one aspect of their lives while being neglectful and lazy in other parts. They can, on unhealthy levels, become depressed and resistant to any help (the Eight’s fear of being controlled plays into the stubbornness of the Nine here), only to then lash out in unexpected bursts of violence.
When they’re healthy, though, these contradictions make for wonderfully complex personalities: unselfconscious, but also assertive; gracious but strong; willing to subordinate while surprisingly independent; easy-going and gentle, but able to slam down hard when the situation calls for it.
If you find yourself in the core worldview of the Nine personality type but have always wondered about the contradictions in your behaviour – switching between gentleness and forcefulness – maybe this complex combination of Nine and Eight is the explanation.
The effect a One wing has on the Nine personality is – depending on how strong it is – lifting them out of their calm, relaxed state of gentle compliance into a more disciplined, orderly and productive state. Here, the One’s wish for self-control mixes with the Nine’s wish to maintain their inner peace, so you get very principled, focused and often more confident Nines.
Something many Nines struggle with is finding their own voice, their sense of purpose. A pronounced One wing tremendously helps them out here, since it gives Nines a much stronger sense of right and wrong and a more idealistic view of the world. You put the patient openness of the Nine together with the objectivity of the One, and what you often get is wonderfully non-judgemental counselors who are able to maintain an admirable integrity.
“A One wing gives Nines a much stronger sense of right and wrong and a more idealistic view of the world.”
Yet, it shouldn’t be left unsaid that both types are also part of the same group (the body group), and there’s a common thread of anger running through them that shapes this combination in a certain way. On more unhealthy levels, the conflict-avoidance of Nines can mix with the smoldering resentment of Ones to produce a particularly biting, sarcastic and indirect form of anger. The tendency towards perfectionism of Ones can take over one part of the Nines life, while they become neglectful of other parts – and in the uglier cases, they still feel morally superior towards others.
Then again, when they are healthy, the rational, organized way of thinking of Ones makes the quiet and friendly Nines more effective and willing to share their ideas and themselves with the world. It balances the Nines superb listening skills with the Ones willingness to help or offer advice. These people make all sorts of powerful counselors and mediators.
If you feel that your core experience of identifying with the Nine personality is complemented with more assertive views on right and wrong as well as the energy to put your thoughts into practice, it could well be that you have a dominant One wing.
I feel like the 8 portion of a 9w8 personality type is the fuel to the intellectual fire. Sometimes everyone could use a little boost and motivation to move them forward. This can probably be seen a lot in positive stressful situations. Like delivering an important presentation at work that is going to propel you forward in your career. Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable is a good way to think about this in terms of how the wing helps support what would be more reserved side of someone bringing them and their performance to whole new and potentially positive heights.
This has to be one of the most intriguing personality wings for me. I feel like this would fit one of those personalities that is stoic, rational, yet assertive. 9w8s are probably excellent debaters, I can see the benefit of not using assertiveness for anger but for inner peace. Almost like someone who takes a stance on a topic but is very educated and makes an argument seem more like an educated discussion. I feel like a lot of people can benefit from this wing seeing as there is so much logic that will go into whatever statements they make.