Explaining the 1w2 Personality (A 9 point guide)

In this brief guide, we will look at the basic concepts of the 1w2 personality, details of the enneagram and the type theory of personality that comes from it, as well as some features and development prospects in this personality type.

What does 1w2 mean?

1w2 is a representation of the joining of two types in the Type theory of personality according to an Enneagram. 

The “w” in 1w2 stands for Wing, which essentially refers to the diagrammatic representation of the crossover between the two personality types.

The diagram of enneagram tends to have lines running through it which creates triangles with their corners matching each type, and the relationship triangle between two adjacent types on the circle (enneagram) is known as a personality Wing.

A wing suggests that there is crossover tendency between two personality traits, and implies that despite clear descriptions of the traits found in each personality type, none of them are purely just that, and there is always scope for alterations and changes, as there are too many people in the world to be reduced to just 9 basic types of personalities.

In addition, and perhaps more importantly, a wing represents potential areas for growth, traits you may be able to acquire due to similarity in drives that cause these traits to make your own self more adaptive and healthy.

For instance, someone with a rigid personality might create a wing with the personality next to it that may be mellow and easygoing, and in doing so balance themselves out.

The wing has to be the personality type that is adjacent in the enneagram due to the classification of Centers on the Enneagram.

Centers of Enneagram

There are 3 main centers on an Enneagram: Instinctive (Consisting of type 1,8,9), Feeling (Personality type 2,3,4), and Thinking (Personality types 5,6,7).

The Enneagram is arranged in a 3 x 3 which essentially makes up the nine personality types divided across three Centers. 

The relevance of Centers in Enneagram is that each Center depicts the common assets and liabilities of the personality types that are encompassed in that particular center.

For instance, personality type Four has its own unique strengths and weaknesses that mostly involve feelings, which is why it is in the Feeling Center. 

Additionally, these centers are ruled by one primary emotion, which drives a lot of the unconscious processes in these personality types, causing them to react to the same base emotion in different ways.

The instinctive center is ruled by the emotion of Anger or Rage, Feeling is ruled by the emotion Shame, and Thinking Center is ruled by the emotion of Fear.

If we then take the example of Type 9, keeping the anger in mind, you might notice that their apathy or sense of irresponsibility might be coming out of anger or rage at the world or themselves.

They might also be adaptive and go with the flow in an effort to suppress the anger they may feel inside or the anger that may have been directed towards them at some point.

Similarly, type 5, the Thinker, may be helpful and competent because they are ruled by the fear of not being good at what they do or even being wanted at all. 

The fear of thinkers often tends to be along these lines.

If you’re facing this, it may be a good idea to seek the help of a therapist or other mental health professional. You can find a therapist at BetterHelp who can help you learn how to cope and address it.

1w2

1w2 is also known in a colloquial sense as an Activist, as it is made up of traits from the Reformer, which is Type 1, and the Caregiver, which is Type 2.

Imagine a person that is consumed by the concept of justice and equality and believed staunchly in rebelling against the establishment and taking the power for the masses, if the establishment won’t work for them.

Now imagine that this person, instead of being rebellious and rigid about their desire for equality, goes about fulfilling this desire in a methodical, caring way, perhaps by seeking justice for those who have been wronged in a court of law or maybe even just going out on their own time and tending to the needy.

You see, this person is still driven by an overpowering need to reform and bring to life the ideal world they envision, but the way they go about it becomes more engaging and real-world like, this is the manner in which the wing aspect of this type theory of personality manifests.

Type 1 gets an opportunity to become more realistic and less rigid when they move towards either 2 or 9. 

Their chief problem is their overbearing attitude about rules and morals, and though they come from a good place, they can sometimes go about establishing control in the wrong way.

However, they are able to do two things when they have a wing towards type 2:

• They are able to act in a substantial way regarding their ideals and concepts of morality and justice.
• They get to establish control in a more positive, healthy way

Additionally, in a 1w2 individual, the introverted tendencies of type 1 may get mellowed in favor of the slightly more extroverted and altruistic ones of type 2, which is another thing that helps this personality type.

1w2 Basic Fear

The basic fear of 1w2 will still be a fear of being immoral or making a decision for the wrong reasons, or even getting caught in a morally intolerable situation.

The core personality type in 1w2 is still 1, the aspects of 2 are still just that: aspects.

2 is an extension to the original foundation of 1, not overlapping or overshadowing it in any way.

The basic fear of 1w2 may also encompass some versions of the fears of type 2, that is, perhaps they may be afraid of having their help rejected or being refused or spurned somehow.

They may also be afraid of not being able to help despite best intentions and may feel insecurities and tensions that are driving the unconscious processes bubbling towards the surface.

1w2 Basic Desire

The basic desire that drives 1w2 is naturally, a tendency to make good and moral choices and uphold the ideals that make for a near-perfect society, like justice, honesty, rational behavior, and peaceful attitudes.

The type 1 personality wants to maintain control, both over self and over society, not in an authoritarian way but in the manner of a well-oiled machine where everything is in its place.

There shouldn’t be any rule-breaking or an imbalance between the elements of the society, and there should be no semblance of one element trying to control another by unfair means.

The addition of type 2 traits ensure that there is a need to help others, bring people up, and be empathetic and kind to the plight of those around the person.

The basic desire of Type 1 evolves into more concrete, actionable traits by the addition of 2.

1w2 vs 2w1

2w1 is a personality type with dominant 2 and supplementing or complementing, even contradicting 1.

On the other hand, 1w2 consists of dominant type 1 with supplementing or contradicting 2.

The difference would be more simple to understand this way, 1w2 would signify a person with the need to bring about the change for the overall betterment of society by helping others and being empathetic and kind to those in need.

2w1 might involve someone who is driven to care for others but who wants to do it in the confines of rules and regulations and is likely to not cross any lines to help someone.

Alternatively, 2w1 might also be someone that is looking to care for others or being over-involved in someone’s life as a means of establishing control because they are terrified that someone else will do that to them if they don’t do it first.

1w2 INFJ

INFJ is a personality type under the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and theory of personality.

There is often significant overlap between the traits put forth by the Enneagram types and the MBTI, and approximately 64% of INFJs say that they associate with the type 1w2.

INFJ stands for Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging, and this personality type is mostly determined by traits such as Introverted feeling, extroverted thinking, and introverted intuition.

Type 1 INFJs might be highly analytical about the external world surrounding them and be particularly concerned about issues of human rights and the lives of their fellow human beings.

They also tend to be perfectionists and pragmatic, and they might find that most of the things around them could do with being perfected or improved in some way or another, whether it is people, family, friends, society, or even abstract concepts like justice or liberty.

According to most research, however, most INFJs tend to associate most with Type 4, and more so with Type 4 with a 5 wing, or 4w5.

Enneagram Test

Enneagram Test created according to the Enneagram theory of personality and asks people a set of questions that the person is supposed to answer to the best of their knowledge.

It concerns basic self-awareness, what would you do in such and such situation, and so on, and the person may be asked to rate on a scale how much they agree with a statement.

There are many tests online and offline, but the most reliable offline one, which one needs to have a certification for, is called the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator Test, shortened as RHETI.

However, if you are not able to get to this test any time soon but really want to get started on knowing what your personality type is and how you can get better, you can take a relatively accurate test here.

Is Enneagram accurate?

Enneagram can be somewhat accurate in certain situations, and employers might use it often to get something of a jump start on their conceptions about you.

It comes in handy in situations where a quick glance into the personality is required to make faster judgments about whether the person will fit in or not.

In more serious cases like in clinical settings or for the interview process in the military and so on, more validated and reliable personality traits are likely to be used, like Rorschach or Millon’s Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III).

It is also important to remember that any typology theory of personality comes with its own issues, and the enneagram theory is no different. 

Some existing issues with typology based theories are:

• They can be somewhat reductive, they seek to fit the entire population into a single type (Extrovert/introvert; feeling/thinking)
• They are vague, using mere adjectives to describe the complexity of human experiences.
• They are hard to verify and standardize due to the staggering differences between people.
• They can’t be tested adequately, because they rely so heavily on people’s self-awareness.
• They may place too much stress on a few major traits or tendencies and not cover the plethora of others.

Conclusion

In this brief guide, we looked at the basic concepts of the 1w2 personality, details of the enneagram and the type theory of personality that comes from it, as well as some features and development prospects in this personality type. Please reach out to us with any questions or comments.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Understanding 1w2 Personality

Citations 

https://www.truity.com/enneagram/what-is-enneagram

Here Are The Most Common Enneagram Types For Each Myers-Briggs Personality Type

Enneagram 1w2: The One with a Two-Wing