Enneagram Wing Intensity Theory | INFJ Forum

Enneagram Wing Intensity Theory

Tulip

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Aug 22, 2009
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For those who have problem figuring out their wings, subwings, sub-subwings, sub-sub-subwings, etc., here are good news for you. If you are not immersing yourself in self-deception, you may have a close to balanced wings. It is rare that someone would have a completely balanced wings. But in most cases, you should lean towards one wing over the other.

Forget about the subwings, sub-subwings, sub-sub-subwings, etc,. which add unnecessary complexities to the picture, you only need to state the wing strength for your Enneagram type if you want a precise definition of your identity.

For a Type X, if you have balanced wings, you would have a wing intensity of 50% wing Y and 50% wing Z.

If you are a XwY with pure wing Y, that means you are 100% wing Y 0% wing Z.

You need to have a wing intensity of at least 51% wing Y to be called XwY.

Here are the notations:

X(100%) : Balanced wings - 50% wing Y and 50% wing Z.
XwY(100%) : Pure wing Y with absolutely no influence from wing Z - 100% wing Y.
XwY(80%) : X with a wing Y intensity of 80% and wing Z intensity of 20%.

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Same goes with instinctual stacking. You could have any combination of strength for each instinct. So it is possible that you could have two instincts or even three with the same strength.

For instincts S1, S2, S3, a person with 34% S1, 33% S2, 33% S3 is close to having a balanced instinctual stacking.

Here are the notations:

S1(50%)/S2(30%) : Dominant instinct S1 with S3 last
S1(40%)/S2(40%) : No dominant instinct with both S1 and S2 high and S3 last

Any questions welcome.
 
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Would you still say these wing strengths are fixed, or in your experience can wing intensity vary over one's life?

Do you think there are people with strong balanced wings and weak balanced wings, like double wingers and pure types?
 
Would you still say these wing strengths are fixed, or in your experience can wing intensity vary over one's life?

You could view the wing strengths as the state of equibrilium. There would be slight movement throughout a person's life, but it would not be dramatic enough to change the person from one type to another, or from one wing to another.

Do you think there are people with strong balanced wings and weak balanced wings, like double wingers and pure types?

In theory, these people should exist. It would be great if anyone who think they have no wing or balanced wings could present their case here. In that case, the notations would need to be reviewed to make them more sophisticated.

A person's type can be thought as a point resting on an arc of the Enneagram circle, somewhere between two types - their core type and their wing. It is just a matter of finding a better notation to describe where that point lies. There is really no mystery there.
 
THANK YOU!

People want to justify their typings by stating, “Well I’m an 8w9. Nothing like an 8w7.” No, you have a dominant type and then you have wings and they add a further dimension!

Subwings are possible, but i think it should be implied that if you’re 8w9, then you’re dominant wing is 9 (even if you only believe it’s 51%) and that should imply your subwing is 7.

There are the subwings like 3w4(sw4w5); however, I think these are just attempts to justify a type because a lack of fundamental knowledge or mistypings.
 
3w4(sw4w5) means something like, you are a 3 with a 4 wing. On top of that, you have a subwing of less strength than your wing, that is either 4w5 or 2w3. It is essentially saying whether your 4 wing is a a heavy 4 wing (sw4w5) or a light 4 wing (sw2w3). Then you can also have a sub-subwing with strength less than your subwing, which again tells you whether you lean even more to the 4 side or the 2 side. Then you can have sub-sub-subwing...

To translate Type 3 wings and subwings to the percentage notations:

3w4(balanced subwings) : 75% wing 4 = 3w4(75%)
3w4(sw4w5) : > 75% wing 4 = 3w4(80%), 3w4(90%), etc.
3w4(sw2w3) : > 50% but < 75% wing 4 = 3w4(60%), 3w4(70%), etc.

3w2(balanced subwings) : 75% wing 2 = 3w2(75%)
3w2(sw2w1) : > 75% wing 2 = 3w2(80%), 3w2(90%), etc.
3w2(sw4w3) : > 50% but < 75% wing 2 = 3w2(60%), 3w2(70%), etc.

If you think about it, there is really no point splitting hairs over someone's subwing, sub-subwing, and even sub-sub-subwing if what they are arguing is just the percentage number really, especially in the case if the percentage is close to the dividing point of the subwing.