Wings

The wings are the types on either side of the primary Enneagram personality type (e.g., the wings for personality type 9 are types 8 and 1). The wings provide one of many ways for explaining how two individuals of the same type appear differently.

A person is often identified with having one dominant wing. This dominant wing is usually indicated by placing a "w" and wing number after the primary type (e.g., 9w8 for a type 9 with a dominant 8 wing). The dominant wing adds an influence to the primary type (e.g., although a 9w8 is primarily a type 9, this individual will also exhibit type 8 characteristics at times). Not everyone identifies with a dominant wing. Some individuals identify with both wings equally and some individuals identify with neither wing.

By convention, the wings can only be the two adjacent types. As such, they are not necessarily the second most influential type in an individual's personality.