What does personality mean to you? Some traits. The way a person behaves. Their nature. And all other descriptive words. But when you think of personality, do you ever think of numbers? Have you ever heard someone telling you that they have a type 1 personality or a type 9 personality? Yes, that is also a way to describe your personality. If you’re intrigued about what it means, the Enneagram personality model is the right topic for your next curious spree. If you’re familiar with it, the title should already sound interesting to you. We’ll be discussing one of the types of personalities of the Enneagram model, and let’s know what is 1w2 Personality? Well, technically not just one but two personalities in one. How does that happen you ask? That’s the beauty of an introduction. It builds the suspense you need for a good long read.
Are There Types of Personality?
To make the study of humans simpler for other humans, they have built some personality models. Personality models divide more than 7 billion people into just a few categories, each explaining a particular behavior. This is why you can always hear your friends saying “Oh, I am this way only, I am the activist type.” The type in these sentences comes from personality models such as the Enneagram Model. This model describes people in 9 types of personality. All these types have their traits and types of behavior. The nine types of personalities are
- The Reformer
- The Helper
- The Achiever
- The Individualist
- The Investigator
- The Loyalist
- The Enthusiast
- The Challenger
- The Peacemaker
What is My Type?
A person can have behaviors and traits matching the description of one of these personality types. But that’s not it. Human personality is not that simple. How can you always show one kind of behavior? There are times when you have thoughts like “I’m not usually like this… but it happens sometimes.” Thankfully, the Enneagram Personality captures that as well. This model introduces the concept of wings. When a person has most traits of one personality type but a few of some other type as well, the personality type is mentioned using a wing. For instance, a person has the type 1 personality but some traits of the type 2 personality as well. The overall personality type of such a person will be given as type 1w2, i.e. type 1 wing 2. One of the most interesting types of personalities, this winged personality is the focus of this article.
The Winged Activist
The type 1 wing 2 personalities are a mix between the reformers and the helpers. The reformers are perfectionists and people full of purpose. They have an urge to work towards their goal and to achieve it the perfect way. On the other hand, helpers are people pleasers. They are possessive and have an urge to be loved and accepted. Type 1 seems independent and goal-oriented, whereas type 2 is emotional and people-oriented. What do you think about a balance between these two? It looks like a perfect mix to me, what about you? Wait. Don’t judge so quickly. Get to know them before you judge them.
What are they like?
As you must have guessed, the type 1w2 personalities are called Activists. Most of the traits of the Activists match the type 1 personalities. Although they are driven and principled, the type 2 influence makes them caring and empathetic. Reformers on their own are more inclined to be dismissive of other people’s needs and wants. But the Helpers take care of that. Helpers are all about interpersonal skills. The Activists thus, get the best of both worlds. Their usual traits are as follows –
- They are aware of the needs of others
- They tend to work towards a just society and making moral decisions
- They trust their instincts with a desire to help as many people as they can
- They can break into outbursts of anger while gaining control of their surroundings.
- They are ready to sacrifice their needs for the sake of their loved ones without asking for anything in return.
All in all, Activists are helpful, kind, and considerate people with a moral and just drive. Their giving personality includes not just their close ones but the society in general. They wish to make better decisions for society and be loved and accepted by people.
Their Strengths
The benefits of getting the best of both worlds cannot be better highlighted than in the strengths of the Activists.
- Standing up for themselves and those around them – If you’re the submissive one, scared to stand up for what’s right, find yourself an Activist. Their idealistic nature makes them great activists as the name suggests. They can’t resist the urge to raise their voice against what is wrong. Activists would defend people for as long as they can.
- Sensitive to the needs of others – A small touch of the Helpers was the one magic ingredient that made Activists near perfect. They are not just righteous and self-motivated people. Activists are sensitive to other people’s needs, making them better at relationships and dealing with people. A psychology tip – people will like you more if you pay attention to their needs as well while being independent. Thus, Activists are liked by people more than the Reformers.
- Creative ways to work – Who needs a reformer who cannot come up with unique ways to solve polarising problems. A leader can only lead as long as he can be the best of the lot. An attempt to reform will only work if it uses and proposes a creative way out of the trap. Activists have just that. One of their strengths is being creative and adaptive to their environment. Such a trait gives them an edge over a lot of people who follow the conventions.
Their Weaknesses
The best of both worlds also comes with some confusion and opposing tendencies. A chaotic mind doesn’t function well, and it has its weaknesses. As an Activist is a combination of two different types of personalities weaknesses are bound to show.
- Being obsessed about their image – A person who wants to please people but also wants to be righteous and moral always tends to think a lot. This is what happens with the Activists. Even though they want to be socially just and morally correct, they also care about if they are accepted and loved. Such a thought process creates an obsession with their image and a tendency to be self-critical about every single thing. Criticism is a good thing as long as it moves you towards improvement. Activists are critical to an extent that it hinders their improvement. It is a weakness they should work on.
- Tendency to be controlling – With a desire to be perfectionists and ideal all the time, Activists cannot bear others being wrong and carefree at times. Although they are empathetic and warm to others, the dominant Reformer side inclines them to be controlling sometimes. They want everyone to be as passionate about justice as they are, in which case, they forget that everyone is different and not everyone might like the same thing as them.
- Frustrated outburst – One thing that Activists need to work on and seriously improve is their control over their emotions. In situations when they find most people to be different than what they are – not so concerned about being an ideal and social justice – they get frustrated. Frustration in itself is not an issue as long as it is handled correctly. One of the ways Activists handles it is by controlling others. Another way is by having anger outbursts which tend to get out of control. A hold over our emotions is necessary to not only have a healthy life ourselves but also for others.
The Final Call
The wing finally lands and leaves you to a decision. Through this article, you got a glimpse into the world of Enneagram personalities. We scratched the surface of one such interesting combination and now the decisions lie with you. Do you like them or not? Would you dive deeper into the sea of Enneagram or are you just fine with the small dip we took? Either way, I’ll have to take your leave and let you explore. I hope you find your personality types and enjoy knowing more about yourselves.
