In this article we will discuss 5w6 enneagram. Enneagram is a system of typology which describes the personality of an individual as a number of interconnected personality types.

This has become popular in the spiritual and business domain but it is not widely accepted in evidence based psychology as it lacks empirical research. 

The description of a 5w6

The 5w6 personality tends to be introverted and focused on learning things, and they are also likely to be very loyal to the people they are close to. 5w6 personality can also be described as someone who is organized and intellectual and a great problem-solver. 5w6 is also very logical and analytical.

5w6 Personality Traits

The enneagram 5w6 personality includes some traits of the type 6 but mostly of the type 5. The 5w6 personality may be more withdrawn than usual type 6. 5w6 also tends to be very devoted to learning things and even though they only let very selective few people in they are very loyal to those that do.

Summary of a 5w6

5w6 is a blend of basic personality type 5 with an influence of its adjacent wing 6. Both of these personalities types’ basic desire to be worthy and useful but this desire is fulfilled by them in very different ways.

5 tend to rely on their internal resources while 6 tend to be more dependent on others. 5w6 prefer staying alone and have difficulty establishing relations with others.

They like staying engaged with their intellectual pursuit and their exploration of the working of the world.

There are various other enneagram types including the 2w3, 3w2, 3w4, 4w3, 6w7, 8w9, 4w5, and 5w4.

Enneagram personality theory:

Enneagram personality is defined with the help of enneagram structure. It consists of a circle with nine distinct personalities.

The outer circle has an equilateral triangle inside which connects three of the nine points of the circle.

Rest of the points in the circle are connected through irregular hexagons. 

In simplest form, enneagram represents 9 distinct personality types and it grows complex when these 9 personalities give rise to 27 different personality subtypes.

Enneagram personalities are clustered in 3 X 3 arrangement giving rise to three centers. These three centers are instinctive, feeling and thinking.

The three personalities in each center have common characteristics of their center.

For example characteristics of personality type four has its relationship with feelings. 

The basic personality types:

The basic personality types described through enneagram are as follow:

1. Reformer
2. Helper
3. Achiever
4. Individualistic
5. Investigator
6. Loyalist
7. Enthusiast
8. Challenger 
9. Peacemaker

The Wings:

Enneagram researcher suggests that no one person has only one pure personality rather the dominant personality type is influenced by either one or both of its adjacent personality type.

These adjacent personality types are known as wings.

 These wings or adjacent personality types add up complementary or sometimes contradictory elements to individuals personality type.

It is important to take into account these wings in addition to dominant personality types as they are often known as the second side of one’s personality.

For example individuals with personality type eight will be influenced either by nice or seven which are adjacent to it. 

This article will explore the personality subtype 5w6, where personality type 5 constitutes the basic personality type and is influenced by personality type 6.

Overview of personality type 5:

Personality type is known as ‘The investigator’. Type 5 personality engages themselves with learning new things.

They do not take things at their face values rather they question every belief and every authority and only accept certain beliefs after having logic for it.

They like to explore the world ranging from the microscopic world to the biosphere.

They also tend to question and explore their inner world. Their search to find these answers constitute a major part of their day. 

Their constant pursuit of knowledge is defined by their deeply ingrained insecurities which is their lack of confidence in them.

They believe that they do not have enough capabilities to go on and succeed in this world.

Thus, to overcome this insecurity, they constantly strive to achieve more and more knowledge so that they can compete with others.

They prefer being in a safe place in which they are comfortable with the things they know about.

They believe that if they are able to achieve that safe place in their minds, they will be able to join others in this life.

Personality type 5 is good at observing the working of the world around them.

They tend to just sit and contemplate about the cosmos, microscopic world, biomes and their inner world as well.

When they sit and observe they also internalize this knowledge. This internalization of knowledge tends to boost their self esteem.

They are good at synthesizing their observation for example they can develop a symphony based on the sound of water flowing or wind blowing.

They talk about their observations about how the world is to others and when others are able to grasp what they are trying to convey, they feel acknowledged and appreciated.

This acknowledgement and appreciation helps them to overcome their insecurity. 

Overview of personality type 6:

Type 6 personality type is known as ‘The loyalist’. They are named as they are most loyal to their friends and family type than any other type.

They would go to any extent for them. They are also committed to their ideas and belief system let alone their friends and family.

They would stick to whatever they believe in even if that belief means questioning everything before accepting it.

Being committed to ideas does not necessarily mean that they are traditional and conventional in their belief system.

They can be highly rebellious and revolutionary but they would definitely follow the belief system, which they are adherent of. 

The basic fear of type 6 personality makes them this much loyal. They fear being abandoned and left out by others.

This fear is ingrained in them because they tend to believe that they are not capable enough to solve their own problem consistent with the belief of personality type 5.

But unlike personality 5, they do not rely on themselves but rather find others as a resource to solve their problems.

Thus their major focus is on establishing ties with others and outing in as much effort as they can to maintain those ties. 

Personality type 6 is primary in the thinking center.

Being primary in thinking center in thinking centre implies that they face difficulties while interacting with their inner self and letting their internal guide to make a way for them.

This is the reason which inhibits them to rely on them and find refuge in the help of others to solve their problems for them.

Being primary in the thinking center does not mean that they do not think, rather they think and worry a lot.

But they are afraid to make decisions for themselves because they lack the confidence in themselves. 

Personality type 5w6:

They are known as ‘The troubleshooters’. Personality type 5w6 tends to be objective and systematic in their approach.

They easily leave their own question and desire behind. 5w6 are generally introverted and enjoy reading, learning and researching on their own.

They are withdrawn from others and are likely to spend time with themselves.

The reason for them being withdrawn from others is that they feel like relationships are demanding and they need to put in a lot of effort to sustain a relationship.

They fear running out of their emotional fuel so they tend to stay away from people. Unlike other subtypes they have good control of their emotions.

They believe that those who cannot regulate their emotions are illogical and investment in them is a waste of their time and energy.

As 5w6 do not live in space, they need to interact with others and deal with hyper emotional situations but they tend to develop strategies to deal with them. 

Below, we’ve mentioned only the general 5w6 personality traits. However, each personality sub type is different from the other.

For example, ISTP 5w6 have different traits from INFJ 5w6.

Basic Fear

Their basic fear is being useless or unworthy.

Thus most of their time is spent in learning and intellectual pursuits so that they can do something good for the community and overcome their basic fear. 

Basic desire:

Their basic desire is to be useful in community.

To fulfill this they keep on learning new skills which can come in handy in different situations so that they can be worthy in those situations by using their skills. 

Connection of 5w6 with others:

Being withdrawn and replying on their own intellectual pursuits constitute the major part of their personality.

As they have influence of personality type 6, they are not completely withdrawn from others.

People around 5w6 might often get hurt and annoyed because of their consistent indulgence in their intellectual pursuit.

They are comfortable in developing a relationship with those who share common interests with them, who stimulate their mind, help them in their intellectual pursuits, working on the same project as the or introvert like them.

Beginning a relationship with 5w6 might be difficult but once they test others they might develop a deep connection with them.

They often seem to be absent minded and consumed in their intellectual journey. 

5w6 are not generally introspective. Their observation and intellectual pursuits often rely on the outside world rather than their own emotions and their inner world.

They tend not to think about their emotions though they have good emotional regulation and do not waste their energies dealing with their emotions.

They often withdraw from others as a coping mechanism to deal with stressful situations. This can exacerbate their feeling of loneliness. 

Strengths of 5w6:

According to Enneagram institute every personality subtype has its own strengths which help them to function effectively and efficiently in different situations.

Strengths associated with 5w6 are as follow:

• They are much focused and organized which help them to accomplish a task in orderly fashion.
• Because of their desire to be useful, they tend to engage in difficult tasks and put all their energies into completing those tasks. 
• They have a constant urge to learn and grow, and on this journey they develop different skills which can come in handy in different situations.
• Because of their good emotional regulation, they tend to deal with crisis effectively. They tend to remain calm during crisis 

Weaknesses of 5w6:

Weaknesses which are associated with 5w6 are as follow:

• Because of basic personality type 5, they have difficulty in establishing deep connections with others and remain withdrawn from them. 
• They prefer to stay alone and can be really defensive in the presence of others
• As they remain withdrawn from others and have difficulty establishing good relationships, they are usually perceived as cold by others which strips them off the help they can get from them. 
• They face difficulty performing those tasks which do not provide them enough mental stimulation they require

FAQs about 5w6 enneagram

References:

crystalknows.com/enneagram/type-5-wing-6

psychologia.co/5w6/

personalityjunkie.com/02/enneagram-type-5-5w4-5w6-intp-intj-infj-infp/