Not sure what Enneagram type you are? Take our quick free test to discover your Enneagram type and learn more about what it means.
Page contents:
Type Eights are powerful and confident. Type Nines are calm, peaceful, and easy-going. In the Enneagram, Type Eights are adjacent to Type Nines. Therefore, some Type Eights share a few of the characteristics of Type Nines. These are known as Type Eights with a Nine-wing, or Type 8w9.
Protective Type Eights often develop a tough exterior that hides a tender heart. Their quick anger often masks their grief over lost innocence, and their decisive actions are often motivated by a desire to defend the vulnerable. Type Nines value a feeling of deep connection with those around them. They make space for the various perspectives and values of the people they care about in order to avoid separation, and they are quick to make peace when conflict arises.
Type Eights with a Nine wing, written as 8w9s exude a feeling if quiet strength. They might be described as pillars of strength and rocks of stability. Speaking with quiet gravitas, their calm confidence easily reassures people who come to them for protection or advice. When they are feeling threatened or suspicious, their silence has the power to communicate smouldering rage or a menacing broodiness.
Type Eights with a Nine wing may appear more passive than other Eights, but they are just as invested in maintaining control. They prefer to direct their affairs from behind the scenes and are more prone to passive aggressive behavior. This wing type is not as quick to intimidating displays of rage as other Type Eights. On the rare occasions when they do lose their temper, the explosions are more abrupt, spectacular, and brief.
An Enneagram 8w9 may appear more passive than other Eights, but they are just as invested in maintaining control.
Type Eights with a Nine wing have easier access to their more tender and vulnerable feelings than those with an Eight wing. Generous and self-sacrificing, they often have a large circle of friends that they consider as close as family members and readily include anyone who comes to them for protection.
Here are some of the key traits to an Enneagram 8w9 personality.
Did you know: When unhealthy and stressed, an Enneagram 8w9 is prone to feeling like their independence is being threatened and so will withdraw.
Enneagram types have fears and desires - things to avoid and things to seek.
Core Fear: Type 8w9s fear alienating the people they care for the most.
Core desire: Type 8w9s may harbor deep secret affection in silence while longing to open their hearts.
Every Enneagram type, even types with wings such as 8w9, has strengths and weaknesses. These are personality traits that help and others that hinder.
| Type 8w9 Strengths | Type 8w9 Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| A warm heart | Passive-aggressive control |
| Family-oriented | Stubbornness |
| Calm confidence | Difficulty expressing emotions |
| Generosity | Difficulty accepting constructive feedback |
To avoid conflict while maintaining control, Enneagram 8w9 Types sometimes resort to passive-aggressive techniques to exert their will. They can be effective users of intimidation, and sometimes slip into using this force more than necessary, when they would rather be open and welcoming.
Some Type 8s do not exhibit wing traits significantly enough to say they have a wing. When this happens we say they are a 'core' Type 8. Not all Type 8s have a wing, indeed 8w9 is very rare.
Figure 1: Type 8 vs Type 8w7 vs Type 8w9
What this chart shows
This chart shows that 94.6% of Type 8s do not have a wing type, in other words they are 'core' Type 8s. We see that 5.1% of Type 8s are 8w7 and only 0.3% are 8w9. This shows that there is little overlap between Type 8 and Type 9.
Notes:All personality types are naturally drawn to certain careers over others. Here we have compiled a list of three sectors that Type 8w7s have a proclivity for and three that are likely to clash with a Type 8w9 personality type.
Activists
Diplomats
Programme Managers
Office Clerk
Salesperson
Journalist
Understandably, this career list is not prescriptive. There will be many Enneagram Type 8w9 careers that are successful and in the 'not recommended' sectors.
These famous individuals have the personality Type 8w9. Are you also 8w9? Do you recognize any personality similarities you can relate to?
Martin Luther King jr.
American civil rights activist
Golda Meir
Fourth prime minister of Israel
Toni Morrison
American novelist, won the nobel prize for literature
John Wayne
American actor, famous for his roles in westerns
Sean Connery
Scottish actor, famous for his portrayal of James Bond
Norman Mailer
American novelist and film-maker
Oskar Schindler
German industrialist and rescuer during holocaust
Our research is always ongoing so please let us know if you think we've missed a noteworthy Type 8w9 worth highlighting.
University of Chichester, Advanced Applied Psychology
Chloe Yarwood, MSc in Advanced Applied Psychology from University of Chichester. Specialist in personality type theory and developing valid personality questionnaires.
Type 8w7