frequently asked questions
8. What are the ‘Wings’?
Another distortion caused by the Jesuit re-writing of the Enneagram is the theory of wings. Under the theory proposed by Father Bob Ochs, each of the personality types is affected by one of the 2 types adjacent to it. The original theory proposes that there are 9 personality types derived from 3 cardinal types, or 3 centres of intelligence: the head, the heart and the body, also described as the cognitive, emotional and mental instinctual. At the center of these 3 groups of personality types are the core types: 3, 6 and 9, and their wings:
- 2 and 4 for type 3;
- 5 and 7 for type 6; and
- 8 and 1 for type 9.
The way to assess the personality type of a person is to determine whether their primary center of intelligence engaged in habitual response is the head, the heart or the body. Now, regardless of which of the 3 mental, emotional or instinctual types the person might be, the reality is that they will use many of the strategies used by the other 2 personality types in their cardinal area.
That a type 1 has a 2 wing, ie. their primary center of intelligence is instinctual - that is their body − yet somehow there is a heart or emotional overlay provided by the type 2 personality, yet a type 8 (also an instinctual type, and having a direct connection to type 2) does not have a wing in the emotional area, but has a wing at type 7, is patently illogical nonsense. It is not very often that this writer agrees with Patrick O’Leary, but his less than enthusiastic embrace of the wing theory is highly commendable.