6w5 | INFJ Forum

6w5

Gaze

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Sep 5, 2009
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Any 6w5s here?

The most recent Enneagram test i received gave me this result.


Edit: I was supposed to be first 4w6 then later 5w6.

Wing
If you are the Enneagram Type 6 with the 5 Wing, you desire to appear remote. You see yourself as faithful, knowing, intelligent, refined, real and brave.
http://www.enneagram.net/type6.html

Type Six in Brief



The committed, security-oriented type. Sixes are reliable, hard-working, responsible, and trustworthy. Excellent "troubleshooters," they foresee problems and foster cooperation, but can also become defensive, evasive, and anxious—running on stress while complaining about it. They can be cautious and indecisive, but also reactive, defiant and rebellious. They typically have problems with self-doubt and suspicion. At their Best: internally stable and self-reliant, courageously championing themselves and others.
  • Basic Fear: Of being without support and guidance
  • Basic Desire: To have security and support
  • Enneagram Six with a Five-Wing: "The Defender"
  • Enneagram Six with a Seven-Wing: "The Buddy"
Key Motivations: Want to have security, to feel supported by others, to have certitude and reassurance, to test the attitudes of others toward them, to fight against anxiety and insecurity.
The Meaning of the Arrows (in brief)

When moving in their Direction of Disintegration (stress), dutiful Sixes suddenly become competitive and arrogant at Three. However, when moving in their Direction of Integration (growth), fearful, pessimistic Sixes become more relaxed and optimistic, like healthy Nine. For more information, click here.

Examples: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345410610/theenneagraminst"]Robert F. Kennedy[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345350685/theenneagraminst"]Malcolm X[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451197119/theenneagraminst"]Princess Diana[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/068483958X/theenneagraminst"]George H. W. Bush[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0713480734/theenneagraminst"]Tom Hanks[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/071198039X/theenneagraminst"]Bruce Springsteen[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671252941/theenneagraminst"]Candice Bergen[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/038081322X/theenneagraminst"]Gilda Radner[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0963614673/theenneagraminst"]Meg Ryan[/ame], Helen Hunt, [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1560252251/theenneagraminst"]Mel Gibson[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312914490/theenneagraminst"]Patrick Swayze[/ame], Julia Roberts, [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0449243583/theenneagraminst"]Phil Donahue[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061094927/theenneagraminst"]Jay Leno[/ame], John Goodman, [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786410825/theenneagraminst"]Diane Keaton[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/078670666X/theenneagraminst"]Woody Allen[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0531150321/theenneagraminst"]David Letterman[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1586480456/theenneagraminst"]Andy Rooney[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312906099/theenneagraminst"]Jessica Lange[/ame], Tom Clancy, [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393321282/theenneagraminst"]J. Edgar Hoover[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671707418/theenneagraminst"]Richard Nixon[/ame], and "George Costanza" ([ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JLEX/theenneagraminst/"]Seinfeld[/ame]).
Type Six Overview

We have named personality type Six The Loyalist because, of all the personality types, Sixes are the most loyal to their friends and to their beliefs. They will “go down with the ship” and hang on to relationships of all kinds far longer than most other types. Sixes are also loyal to ideas, systems, and beliefs—even to the belief that all ideas or authorities should be questioned or defied. Indeed, not all Sixes go along with the “status quo”: their beliefs may be rebellious and anti-authoritarian, even revolutionary. In any case, they will typically fight for their beliefs more fiercely than they will fight for themselves, and they will defend their community or family more tenaciously than they will defend themselves.

The reason Sixes are so loyal to others is that they do not want to be abandoned and left without support—their Basic Fear. Thus, the central issue for type Six is a failure of self-confidence. Sixes come to believe that they do not possess the internal resources to handle life’s challenges and vagaries alone, and so increasingly rely on structures, allies, beliefs, and supports outside themselves for guidance to survive. If suitable structures do not exist, they will help create and maintain them.

Sixes are the primary type in the Thinking Center, meaning that they have the most trouble contacting their own inner guidance. As a result, they do not have confidence in their own minds and judgments.
This does not mean that they do not think. On the contrary, they think—and worry—a lot! They also tend to fear making important decisions, although at the same time, they resist having anyone else make decisions for them. They want to avoid being controlled, but are also afraid of taking responsibility in a way that might put them “in the line of fire.” (The old Japanese adage that says, “The blade of grass that grows too high gets chopped off” relates to this idea.)

Sixes are always aware of their anxieties and are always looking for ways to construct “social security” bulwarks against them. If Sixes feel that they have sufficient back up, they can move forward with some degree of confidence. But if that crumbles, they become anxious and self-doubting, reawakening their Basic Fear. (“I’m on my own! What am I going to do now?”) A good question for Sixes might therefore be: “When will I know that I have enough security?” Or, to get right to the heart of it, “What is security?” Without Essential inner guidance and the deep sense of support that it brings, Sixes are constantly struggling to find firm ground.

Sixes attempt to build a network of trust over a background of unsteadiness and fear. They are often filled with a nameless anxiety and then try to find or create reasons why. Wanting to feel that there is something solid and clear-cut in their lives, they can become attached to explanations or positions that seem to explain their situation. Because “belief” (trust, faith, convictions, positions) is difficult for Sixes to achieve, and because it is so important to their sense of stability, once they establish a trustworthy belief, they do not easily question it, nor do they want others to do so. The same is true for individuals in a Six’s life: once Sixes feel they can trust someone, they go to great lengths to maintain connections with the person who acts as a sounding board, a mentor, or a regulator for the Six’s emotional reactions and behavior. They therefore do everything in their power to keep their affiliations going. (“If I don’t trust myself, then I have to find something in this world I can trust.”)
Although intelligent and accomplished, Connie still has to wrestle with the self-doubt of her type:
“As my anxiety has come under control, so has my need to ‘check out’ everything with my friends. I used to have to get the nod of approval from several hundred (just joking!) ‘authorities.’ About nearly every decision would involve a council of my friends. I usually would do this one on one: ‘What do you think, Mary?’ ‘If I do this, then that might happen.’ Please make up my mind for me!’…Recently, I’ve narrowed my authorities to just one or two trusted friends, and on occasion, I’ve actually made up my own mind!“
Until they can get in touch with their own inner guidance, Sixes are like a ping-pong ball that is constantly shuttling back and forth between whatever influence is hitting the hardest in any given moment. Because of this reactivity, no matter what we say about Sixes, the opposite is often also as true. They are both strong and weak, fearful and courageous, trusting and distrusting, defenders and provokers, sweet and sour, aggressive and passive, bullies and weaklings, on the defensive and on the offensive, thinkers and doers, group people and soloists, believers and doubters, cooperative and obstructionistic, tender and mean, generous and petty—and on and on. It is the contradictory picture that is the characteristic “fingerprint” of Sixes, the fact that they are a bundle of opposites.

The biggest problem for Sixes is that they try to build safety in the environment without resolving their own emotional insecurities. When they learn to face their anxieties, however, Sixes understand that although the world is always changing and is, by nature uncertain, they can be serene and courageous in any circumstance. And they can attain the greatest gift of all, a sense of peace with themselves despite the uncertainties of life.
(from The Wisdom of the Enneagram, p. 235-236)
 
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Present! :) Though I'm not so familiar with enneagram or what it says about me. I just know I'm a 6w5, haha.
 
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I'm 6w5.
 
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present
 
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[MENTION=2430]j e s s i e[/MENTION] [MENTION=3361]Elowen[/MENTION] [MENTION=3589]donkeybals[/MENTION] [MENTION=7]tovlo[/MENTION]

So, how do you see your type? How do you see your type reflected in how you respond to situations?

What do you see as the pros and cons of the 6w5?
 
Res how do you feel about the result? Do you think it describes you more accurately than 4 w 5?

I have heard that it is very common for Type 6 and Type 9 to mistype themselves at least initially. Some guidance I had on the subject before I ever did a test suggested that it is helpful to read the dysfunctional levels of the type because it is there that you may see yourself more clearly revealed. I know I found that true for me because I am very aware of my failings and weaknesses but probably much less clear-eyed about other things.
 
I took an Enneagram test today and got a 6w5 result as well. I used to be 5w4 but maybe that wasn't quite accurate.
 
Res how do you feel about the result? Do you think it describes you more accurately than 4 w 5?

I have heard that it is very common for Type 6 and Type 9 to mistype themselves at least initially. Some guidance I had on the subject before I ever did a test suggested that it is helpful to read the dysfunctional levels of the type because it is there that you may see yourself more clearly revealed. I know I found that true for me because I am very aware of my failings and weaknesses but probably much less clear-eyed about other things.

@melbo

In many ways, it's quite accurate especially at this point. But when i typed as 4w5 initially, that seemed to fit as well but i was going through a rough time and wasn't that knowledgeable about personality typing, and the difference between healthy and unhealthy types. And when i typed 5w4 *or was it 5w6?* they seemed to fit. But I also took a few other tests today and 4 is mostly likely but 6 gets the second highest result.

I took an Enneagram test today and got a 6w5 result as well. I used to be 5w6 but maybe that wasn't quite accurate.

Yeah, I'm becoming more and more confused *see above*. But based on the 6w5 description, it fits unless i'm answering the questions based on misunderstandings or wrong impressions or feelings.

@sandra_b - Which description do you feel fits the best at this point, the 5w4 or the 6w5?
 
Most INxx test as either 4 or 5, yet 6w5 is much more common especially for INJs.
Neither 4 or 5 really fit for the INFJ type. Obviously this is very general.
 
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I've tested as 6w5 before, but it was right after I had lost my job and was feeling very anxious about what I was going to do.

However, I usually test as enneagram 5, with 4 and 6 wings being approximately equal. I don't know if I can state that I'm a 5w4w6; I'm not very knowledgeable concerning enneagrams, but that would be my opinion.

I've included the following on the enneagram 5 type as I feel it is relevant to this discussion due to the 5 wing.

Enneagram Type 5:
Observer, Investigator, Thinker, Sage or Voyeur

Overview


You want to be intelligent, informed, knowledgeable and perceptive. More importantly, you want to be self-sufficient and not have the entanglements of obligation. You see yourself as intellectual, dispassionate and investigative. You would like others to see you as rational, logical and scholarly. Your idealized image is that you are thoughtful and wise.


Private and solitary by nature, you like to be invisible until you are ready to reveal yourself. You tend to stay on the sidelines preferring to meet the world with your mind. You prefer to play the role of detached observer or investigator. In general, you see the world as intrusive, overwhelming and chaotic
 
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Most INxx test as either 4 or 5, yet 6w5 is much more common especially for INJs.
Neither 4 or 5 really fit for the INFJ type. Obviously this is very general.

I don't really see the two being related at all actually. To me it seems as if the functions are the lenses you look and take information in through and the enneagram is your motivations for the decisions you make. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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[MENTION=1669]Res[/MENTION],

I think that 6w5 is more like me depending on what I have going on. When I read through that OP I could see a lot of myself in it. However I can see a LOT of the type 5 in me too. It just depends. I flip flop with how I am a lot.
 
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I don't really see the two being related at all actually. To me it seems as if the functions are the lenses you look and take information in through and the enneagram is your motivations for the decisions you make. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
You're right, but there's some correlation for a few types.

Type 4 is all about being true to yourself, being authentic, accepting all your emotions, etc. etc. It's very Fi.
Type 5 could be possible for INFJs with high Ti. They're very withdrawn, very detached from their emotions and greatly value knowledge. Not many fives like to listen to depressed people and help them with their problems. ;)
 
I'm 6w5 I think. I really relate to
They are both strong and weak, fearful and courageous, trusting and distrusting, defenders and provokers, sweet and sour, aggressive and passive, bullies and weaklings, on the defensive and on the offensive, thinkers and doers, group people and soloists, believers and doubters, cooperative and obstructionistic, tender and mean, generous and petty—and on and on

And the thing is, the switch between these opposites are so extreme. I'm looking forward to minimizing this. Even right now, I have a group of people I feel so at home with, but I find myself withdrawing from them at great lengths of time because of my trust/distrust, group/solo, defensive/offensive push-pull craziness. I guess I seek independence and cohesiveness at the same time. How to do it...meh
 
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Me, me!
 
You're right, but there's some correlation for a few types.

Type 4 is all about being true to yourself, being authentic, accepting all your emotions, etc. etc. It's very Fi.
Type 5 could be possible for INFJs with high Ti. They're very withdrawn, very detached from their emotions and greatly value knowledge. Not many fives like to listen to depressed people and help them with their problems. ;)

Interesting. My own result is 4w5. It is Sort of balance between thinking and feelind isn't it?
 
You're right, but there's some correlation for a few types.

Type 4 is all about being true to yourself, being authentic, accepting all your emotions, etc. etc. It's very Fi.
Type 5 could be possible for INFJs with high Ti. They're very withdrawn, very detached from their emotions and greatly value knowledge. Not many fives like to listen to depressed people and help them with their problems. ;)
Wait, isn't 6 the definition of Fi?
 
Wow, I made this test again and I ened up as 6w5 and it is just perfect description.