What is the Enneagram 7w6 personality type? What are its key traits, strengths, weaknesses and fears? We’ll answer these questions in this article.
This is one of the 18 Enneagram Wing Types, which don’t exhibit traits of just one profile, but blend two adjacent ones. The 7w6 is a blend of the Enneagram 7 and the Enneagram 6. They are both part of the Head triad, which makes for a cerebral personality.
We’ll start by talking about how this profile is composed of 7 and 6, then talk about its core traits. We’ll round off with a field manual for the Enneagram 7w6: a summary of its core strengths, weaknesses, fears and desires.
What is the Enneagram 7w6 Type?
First, let’s clarify what the Enneagram 7w6 is. It means an Enneagram 7 with a 6 Wing. It helps if you understand the 9 Enneagram Profiles in some depth.
If you have a 7w6 personality, it means you’re predominantly an Enneagram 7, but exhibit some traits from the adjacent profile, number 6. It’s also possible to be a pure 7, or a 7w8.
If you want an approximation of what a 7w6 looks like, take the core 7 and 6 traits and blend them together, with 7 dominating. If you know somebody who is primarily a 7 but has significant traits of 6, they might well be a 7w6.
The folks at personalitydata.org found that 6.7% of Enneagram 7s exhibit a 6 wing. 89.2% are pure 7s, while the other wing type, 7w8, makes up the remaining 4.1%.
Remember, the 7w6 is predominantly a 7 but shows significant 6 traits.
7s are outgoing, larger than life and optimistic (The Enthusiast), while 6s are great at observing, analysing situations and coming up with complex solutions (The Loyalist).
7w6s are predominantly a 7, so are extroverted, live for pleasure and love coming up with plans and ideas, but the 6 wing means they exhibit some of the core Loyalist traits. So they’re also group-oriented and great organisers. They tend to be more loyal, responsible and serious than a typical 7.
In a nutshell, the 7w6 is highly energetic and vivacious, yet also grounded, analytical and a lover of groups. It’s a complex character!
For your information, I refer to personality types as “it” because they’re abstract profiles derived from real-world data, detached from any one person. Though the Enneagram possess huge explanatory power, nobody is a cookie-cutter 7w6.
I love this quote I read on personalitydata.org because it beautifully describes my experience (as a strong Type 5) with a Type 7w6 family member: “Close companions of 7w6s experience a whirlwind of exciting adventures before they drop out exhausted, wondering where their 7w6 friend finds the energy to keep going.”Yep, I feel you.
The Core Traits
The Enneagram 7w6 Type is called the Entertainer because it is at once highly sociable and energetic yet also analytical and a careful planner.Its basic desire is to live life to the fullest while planning, strategising and solving problems.
Like a typical 7, it fears being bored or lonely. This contrasts with the strong 6 drive to carefully think things through and go slow. That said, its slower rhythm can soften 7’s tendency for hyperactivity and perpetual seeking.
As with all Enneagram Profiles, there are downsides to the 7w6. For one thing, the Type 7 can be polyannish, always on-the-go and ultra-energetic.
Combine this with 6’s need to take action and be a changemaker using knowledge and facts, and you can get a nasty combination. The 7w6 can wind up obsessing over problems and overwork. The 7 is poor at completing projects, which may jeopardise 6’s work ethic and focus.
The 7w6 really doesn’t want to be betrayed by others. It needs to feel reassured and safe in its relationships, and is unusually loyal. As a result, it can be overly suspicious and yet overly loyal too. It’s prone to being needy and clingy once a relationship is established, because it fears that others have ulterior motives.
Whether we have a 7w6 personality or not, we can learn from its successes and struggles. It’s a universal fact that if our prime directive is to be ultra sociable and active while analysing the facts and solving problems intellectually, we can end up torn between work and play, suspicion and loyalty, and inner focus and outer focus.
The best professions for the Entertainer are those that favour extroversion and problem-solving, like police officers, nurses and property agents.
The Enneagram 7w6 Field Manual
The core fear of the 7w6 is to feel bored, lost or insecure, so it can become hyperactive and needy.
Its core drives are to drink in everything life has to offer while receiving support from others and feeling loved and appreciated.
The strengths of the 7w6 are its energy, loyalty, work ethic and problem-solving skills.
Its weaknesses are its neediness, franticness and suspicion of others.
The 7w6 is at its best when it has the opportunity to contribute unique solutions in a high-energy environment.
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The post The Enneagram 7w6 Type first appeared on Deep Psychology.
The post The Enneagram 7w6 Type appeared first on Deep Psychology.
