Suzanne Cook-Greuter and Ego Development Psychology

Ego Development Psychology

• Ego, what is it? – Ego, id, superego – Ego, personality, subject, self, soul – Proximate self (I), distal self (me, mine), overall self

• Psychoanalysis and ego psychology – Developmental psychology + ego psychology – Piaget, Kohlberg, Erikson; Kohut, Mahler, Kernberg – Blanck and Blanck, Loevinger, Greenspan, Kegan, Fischer,

Valliant, Cook-Greuter, Torbert

• The WUSCT • Child -v adult development • Transpersonal and integral (Wilberian) psychology

– Postformal development – The problem of transcendence and trans-

• Issues with cross-cultural validity and applications

Loevinger’s Stages E1, Presocial E2, Impulsive E3, Self-Protective E4, Conformist E5, Self-awareness E6, Conscientious E7, Individualistic E8, Autonomous E9, Integrated

Cook-Greuter’s Stages 1, Presocial-symbiotic 2, Impulsive/Opportunist 3, Diplomat 3/4, Expert 4, Achiever 4/5, Individualist 5, Strategist 5/6, Magician 6, Ironist

Cook-Greuter’s/Torbert’s “Action Logics” 1, Presocial-symbiotic undifferentiated 2, Impulsive 1st-person perspective 2/3, Opportunist, self-protective 2nd-person perspective 3, Diplomat, conformist con op 3/4, Expert 3rd-person perspective 4, Achiever, conscientious temporalized 3rd-person, form op 4/5, Individualist, pluralist 4th-person perspective, systems 5, Strategist, autonomous temporalized 4th-person 5/6, Magician 5th-person to nth-person perspective 6, Ironist

WUSCT Form 81 Sentence Stems and Validity Stats

Stage Characteristics Response to sample item: “A wife should…” E2 Impulsive Focus on physical needs and impulses; dependence on

others for control and limits; rules are poorly understood; exploitation of others for one’s own good; Physical and emotional needs are merged; no sense of inner emotional experience

“…be good.”

E3 Self-protective Capacity to delay immediate gratification; self-serving appreciation for rules; interpersonal wariness

“…clean the house and cook if she’s not working.”

E4 Conformist Belonging to group is paramount; “right” and “wrong” simply determined by social convention; self and others viewed in terms of “fit” with group norms; simplistic and banal inner life

“…take care of her children and love her husband.”

E5 Self-awareness Allowance for qualifications of “right” and “wrong” based on demographic differences; capacity for loneliness and self-consciousness; expanded inner life; relationships experienced in terms of feelings rather than behaviors

“…feel she is loved and needed.”

E6 Conscientious “Right” and “wrong” and decisions based on personal feeling; capacity for guilt; concern about hurting others; feeling responsible for others

“…be a good mother, lover, listener and business person.”

E7 Individualistic Greater tolerance for individual differences; differentiation between inner and outer states; emergence of long-term perspective; Interpersonal relationships are deeper and more intense

“…try to understand her husband’s feelings.”

E8 Autonomous Freedom from excessive striving and achievement; search for self-fulfillment; recognition of individual human complexity; tolerance for ambiguity and paradox; deepened respect for autonomy of others

“…try to develop herself as a person and not try to be all things to all people.”

E9 Integrated Self-actualization; not fully described Not fully described

Loevinger’s Levels of Ego Development and Example of a Scored Item (Hy & Loevinger, 1996)

“Traditional”

“Modern”

“Postmodern”

Robert Kegan’s Five Orders

of Mind

Action Logic Key Characteristics Leadership style associated with each Action Logic

Opportunist Wins any way possible. Self- oriented; manipulative; "might makes right".

Short term horizon; focus on concrete things; deceptive; rejects feedback; externalizes blame; distrustful; fragile self-control; possibly hostile humor or "happy-go-lucky"; views luck as central; views rules as loss of freedom; punishes according to "eye for eye" ethic; treats what they can get away with as legitimate. Seeks personal advantage: takes an opportunity when it arises.

Diplomat Avoids overt conflict. Wants to belong; obeys group norm; rarely rocks the boat.

Observes protocol; avoids inner and outer conflict; works to group standard; speaks in cliches and platitudes; conforms; feels shame if they violate norm; avoids hurting others; seeks membership and status; face-saving essential; loyalty is to immediate group, not distant organization or principles. Attends to social affairs of group and individuals. Provides supportive social glue.

Expert Rules by logic and expertise. Searches for improvement and rational efficiency.

Is immersed in the self referential logic of their own belief system, regarding it as the only valid way of thinking. Interested in problem solving; critical of self and others based on their belief system; chooses efficiency over effectiveness; perfectionist; accepts feedback only from "objective" experts in their own field; dogmatic; values decisions based on the incontrovertible facts; wants to stand out and be unique as an expert; sense of obligation to wider, internally consistent moral order. Consistent in pursuit of improvement. Strong individual contributor.

Achiever Meets strategic goals. Delivery of results by most effective means. Success focused.

Effectiveness and results oriented; long-term goals; future is vivid, inspiring; welcomes behavioral feedback; feels like initiator, not pawn; begins to appreciate complexity and systems; seeks increasing mutuality in relationships; feels guilt if does not meet own standards; blind to own shadow, to the subjectivity behind objectivity; seeks to find ways around problems in order to deliver, may be unorthodox. Adopts rather than creates goals.

Individualist

Innovates processes. Relativistic position with fewer fixed truths. Self, relationships and interaction with the system.

Focus on self and less on goals; increased understanding of complexity, systems operating and working through relationships; deepening personal relationships; takes on different role in different situations; increasingly questions own assumptions (part of rise in self absorption) and assumptions of others; attracted by change and difference more than by stability and similarity; increasingly aware of own shadow.

Strategist

Creates personal and organizational transformations. Links between principles, contracts, theories and judgment.

Recognizes importance of principle, contract, theory and judgment - not just rules and customs; creative at conflict resolution; process oriented as well as goal oriented; aware of paradox and contradiction; aware that what one sees depends upon one"s world view; high value on individuality, unique market niches, particular historical movements; enjoys playing a variety of roles; witty, existential humor (as contrasted to prefabricated jokes); aware of dark side of power and may be tempted by it - may misuse their own abilities and manipulate others. Post conventional.

Alchemist

Generates social transformations. Interplay of awareness, thought, action and effect. Transforming self and others.

Seeks participation in historical / spiritual transformations; creator of events which become mythical and reframe situations; anchoring in inclusive present, seeing the light and dark in situations; works with order and chaos; blends opposites, creating "positive-sum" games; exercises own attention continually; researches interplay of institution, thought, action and effects on outside world; treats time and events as symbolic, analogical, metaphorical (not merely linear, digital, literal), involved in spiritual quest, often helps others in their life quests.

Overview of the key Action Logics of the Leadership Development Framework

Action Logics or Ego Stages Suzanne Cook-Greuter and SCT/LDP Research

2/3 3

3/4 4 4/5 5

5/6 6

2

Conventional Linear Reasoning Postconventional Understanding

Pre-Conventional Post-Conventional

Knowledge Wisdom

Conventional Traditional

Modern Postmodern

Increasing Complexity

Stage 2, Impulsive Self – Magenta Action

P R E - C O N V E N T I O N A L

2/3 Opportunist Self – Red Action

P R E - C O N V E N T I O N A L

Stage 3, Diplomat-Conformist Self – Amber Action

C O N V E N T I O N A L

Stage 3/4, Achiever Self – Amber/Orange Action

C O N V E N T I O N A L

Stage 4, Conscientious Self – Orange Action Target stage for Western Culture

C O N V E N T I O N A L

Degrees of Otherness Perspectives

• 1st Person – “I want/don’t want…” – Holding environment individual others—parents, siblings, etc.

• 2nd Person Otherness – “your view is...” – Social in-group others

• 3rd Person Otherness – “his view of your view is…”, “her view of my view is…”

• 4th Person Otherness – “the cultural context of his view of your view and everyone’s views is…” – Standing outside, seeing the system – Own culture/system, out-group others within the culture

• 5th Person Otherness – “the history of the cultural context of all our views is…” – Other culture/system, out-group others outside the culture

• 6th Person Otherness – “the comparison of the histories of the cultural contexts of different views is… – mkml

4/5, Individualistic Self – Green Action

P O S T - C O N V E N T I O N A L

Stage 5, Autonomous Self – Teal Action

P O S T - C O N V E N T I O N A L

5/6, Construct-Aware Self (Magician) – Turquoise Action

P O S T - C O N V E N T I O N A L

Stage 6, Unitive Self (Ironist) – Indigo Action

P O S T - C O N V E N T I O N A L

Where is developmental theory today?

• Postmodern disdain for power and hierarchies • Post-structuralism, relativism, identity politics • First person subjectivity as phenomenology, not

structuralism – the case of neuroscience and mindfulness research (MLI example)

• The inherent danger of stage theories: misuse, misinterpretation, judgment

• Stagnation-impasse of transpersonal-integral theory

• Developmental theory in education, life coaching, therapy, leadership and management training