The 9 Stages Of Ego Development - Part 1

Introduction to the 9 stages of ego development: Leo Gura introduces the two-part series on the nine stages of ego development, citing the influence of Susan Cook Greuter's work. He specifies that the first part will cover pre-conventional and conventional stages, while the second part will delve into post-conventional and transhuman stages. Gura describes the series as a groundwork for understanding how self-identity evolves over time, with different levels of maturity and sophistication.
About the Ego Development Theory (EDT): This empirical scientific model, based on sentence completion tests, frames the evolution of self-identity. The model categorizes data from different demographics, collected over a period of time, to understand the order of human cognitive development.
Relevance of studying Ego: Contrary to some spiritual teachings that advocate the elimination of ego, Gura emphasizes that most people need ego development and maturity. He adds that the ego, the center of human life, plays a critical role in interpreting and making sense of reality, often influencing the person's life experiences.
Understanding different perspectives on reality: Gura points out that each individual's perspective of reality is unique and often conflated with the reality itself. Recognizing and understanding these differences is crucial for personal growth and maturity. He suggests viewing life from broader perspectives to expand understanding and avoid potential traps.
Promotion of resources and future plans: Leo Gura recommends reading Susan Cook Greuters research paper for deeper understanding and assures viewers that the next part will elaborate on the post-conventional and transcendent stages of ego development. He promotes his website, blog, life purpose course, book list, forum, and invites support through Patreon.
Importance of understanding the ego: The ego plays a crucial role in interpreting and making sense of reality, thereby creating meaning. As the ego develops, the ways it can make meaning become more sophisticated and varied. This process of interpretation can lead to many different outcomes and ways of interacting with the world.
Not focusing on the content, but the structure of the mind: The model discussed doesn't focus on the content of the mind (i.e., the difference in beliefs), but rather on the structure of how the mind relates to the world. The structure of the mind dictates its level of self-awareness and its own mechanisms. The ego serves as a storyteller and as an integrator of all aspects of experience, holding them together into one cohesive stream of consciousness.
Values have to be renegotiated when entering a new view of reality: Whenever we enter a new level of awareness or understanding, we have to renegotiate our strongly held values to fit this new perspective. Our understanding of concepts such as power, feedback, time, love, integrity and truth also changes as we evolve through different stages of ego development.
Different stages of ego development and population distribution: There are nine stages of ego development - symbiotic, impulsive, opportunistic, conformist, expert, achiever, pluralist, autonomous/strategist (which may be known by other names like construct aware/ego aware/magician) and the unitive stage. These stages also span across four categories: pre-conventional, conventional, post-conventional and transcendent. The distribution of population across these stages varies depending on the country and potential sampling biases. For instance, in the US around 5% of the adult population is in the pre-conventional stage, whereas a large majority (75-80%) is in the conventional stage. Only about 15-20% of the adult US population reaches the post-conventional stages and less than 1% reach the transcendent stage.
Interpretation of different realities: Most people tend to mistake their perspective of reality as reality itself without recognizing that different people may have different interpretations. It's important to understand these different interpretations of reality to grow and mature personally.
The model mainly focuses on vertical development: The model focuses on 'vertical' development which refers to changes in the structure of one's reality and self, rather than 'horizontal' development which refers to growth or expansion within the same structure. Each stage represents a different reality and individuals at different stages experience the world differently.
Understanding human development and avoiding traps: Awareness and understanding these stages of human development are crucial to avoiding certain pitfalls on the path. Viewers are encouraged to take on wider perspectives to enhance their understanding and avoid these pitfalls.
Concept of different realities: There is no absolute reality but different perspectives of reality. Conflicts and misunderstandings can occur when people fail to recognize that different people may have different interpretation of realities. Understanding and recognizing these can be key to personal growth.
Symbiotic Stage of Development: The symbiotic stage of development typically characterizes infants who lack the ability to differentiate between self, others, and the world. Common misconceptions include believing that babies possess a sense of self or even enlightenment. However, like animals, they lack these capacities, making them completely dependent on parents and cultural learning. Indoctrination of cultural norms and mental categories happens immediately upon birth, as infants lack discernment ability.
Impulsive Stage of Development: The impulsive stage of development usually occurs in toddlers and young children who are exploring and trying to make sense of the world through sensation and movement. At this stage, children possess a rudimentary sense of self and the concept of time. They often take the world in the forms of simple dichotomies and are still dependent on others for survival. Knowledge absorption still happens unconsciously and without critical evaluation, forming the basis for their future beliefs and perspectives.
Opportunistic Stage of Development: Primarily found in less developed parts of the world among adults, the stage of development involves magical thinking to make sense of the world. Individuals at this stage are relatively thoughtless and impulsive, focusing on their own needs without considering others. There's also an increasing awareness of manipulation and defense mechanisms like intimidation. Their perception of life often sees it as a zero-sum game, hinged on action rather than thought or planning. This stage also involves a duality in self-awareness, with a "real" inner self and a "fake" outer self presented to others for manipulation and protection.
Implications of These Developmental Stages: These early stages of development significantly shape the future perceptions and behaviors of individuals. Symbiotic and impulsive stages in childhood form the foundational operating system of the mind, where uncritical adoption of cultural norms and parental beliefs occur. The opportunistic stage sees the introduction of manipulation, unchecked impulsiveness, and a failure to consider others, traits that can carry forward into adulthood and potentially cause various societal problems.
Lack of Guilt and Responsibility at Stage Two: At the second stage of ego development, individuals behave primarily on their impulses and show little shame or guilt for their actions, akin to animalistic behaviour. They fail to take responsibility for their actions and display a tendency to blame others for their shortcomings. This stage also yields volatile and immature relationships, with frequent instances of blame and conflict.
Chinese Anecdote: Using an anecdote from China, Leo posits that rapid industrialization has created a societal group that, despite economic advancement, lacks the "civilized" mindset to abide by social norms or comprehend the implications of their actions.
Stage Two in Business and Morality: This phase can produce successful individuals in business environments where opportunism, exploitation, and unilateral power are rewarded. However, because these individuals disregard and violate societal norms, they often engage in immoral activities like scamming, theft, or other illegal businesses. Basic problem-solving skills and empathy are severely lacking at this stage.
Conformist/Diplomat Stage Overview: The transition from pre-conventional to conventional stages begins with the conformist or diplomat stage. This stage characterizes individuals who abide by the rules and seek to fit themselves within their identified group (in-group). Strong affinity to the in-group leads to binary thinking, with a clear division between the in-group and everyone else (out-group).
Strong Group-Centric Thinking: Individuals in the conformist/diplomat stage display strong group-centric thinking, tending to conflate their personal identities with the ideals and norms of the in-group. As such, they often perceive criticism of their group as a personal attack. Striving to fit in provides a sense of protection and a feeling of shared power, but demands unquestioning loyalty, obedience, and fear of ostracism.
Consequences of Blurred Boundaries: Because the boundary between one's self-identity and group norms/ideals is blurred, the conformist's mindset is vulnerable to manipulation, leading to instances like radical religious followers misinterpreting criticism of their belief system as a personal attack. They tend to strongly reject anything or anyone that falls outside of their in-group.
Conformity during Childhood and Adolescence: Throughout elementary, high school, and even college, many go through a stage where fitting in defines their personal identity. The individual's attitude, preferences, and behaviors are guided by the need for social approval, and they dedicate a lot of energy into conforming to their peer group's norms and values. This can range from their choice of music, movies, as well as their friend circles. Failure to integrate during this stage could result in feelings of loneliness and social isolation.
Sheep-like Behavior and Divisive Thinking: The conformist stage is marked with unquestioning acceptance of norms and a narrow, "sheep-like" outlook, which often leads to being called 'sheeple'. Individuals at this stage struggle to perceive nuances and tend to categorize people or things in simplistic, absolute binariesally or enemy, right or wrong, cool or lame. There's high regard for high-status groups and ambition to climb up the social ladder within such groups.
Groupthink and Limitations in Perspective: Conformists typically consider their group's way of thinking as the absolute truth and superior to others. This stage lacks the ability to understand and accommodate multiple perspectives of truth, leading to a habit of dismissing other groups with differing belief systems as 'evil' or 'wrong'. The conformist mentality tends to treat beliefs as facts and experiences as absolute realities, failing to critically evaluate the distinction between the two. Therefore, this mindset does not fare well with feedback from others, viewing it as direct criticism instead of potential learning opportunities.
Issues with Independent Judgment: As conformers operate to fit in and blend with the crowd, independent thinking takes a backseat. There is a lack of self-evaluation, personal moral principles, or any expressed personal opinions. Instead, individuals rely heavily on the morals and values established by their social surroundings. When faced with ethical dilemmas, like conforming to group practices that might be morally questionable, individuals in this stage lack the mental capacity to stand against group actions, often participating in these actions and even justifying them.
Conformity beyond Ethics: This conformity extends beyond personal and social behaviors, leaning into religious beliefs as well. Individuals at this stage tend to interpret religious teachings superficially and materially, often adopting an absolutist understanding of spiritual concepts. This stage lacks the cognitive capacity to discern metaphorical interpretations of religious teachings or acknowledge the fallibility of absolute beliefs. This is why individuals in this stage are likely to justify heinous acts like war crimes, atrocities, genocide, bigotry, racism because their group partakes in them. The perspective taken here is usually, if the group is doing it, it must be the right thing to do.
Pre-set roles and traditions in organizations: Organizations like churches, military, and government that operate at this stage offer rigid, pre-defined roles where creative thinking or independent analysis is hardly encouraged. Conformism is widely practiced, and people often do what is required of them rather than questioning or challenging established norms and practices.
Conformist mindset and roles: The mindset at the conformist stage is rigid, allowing individuals to be certain in their actions and decisions. They prefer a clear boundary with traditional roles, such as being a missionary, soldier, provider husband, or caretaker wife, and are threatened by any blurring of these roles. They stick to the rules and are proud of their conformity, particularly observable in military scenarios.
Moral absolutes and resistance to change: At the conformist stage, morality is absolute, rendering everything either good or bad without any grey area. This unyielding worldview can cause difficulties when facing reality's constant evolution, such as societal, cultural, and technological change. The choices then are to open oneself up to these changing perspectives or double down and close up, often resulting in denial and demonization of diversity and multiculturalism.
Sexuality at the conformist stage: Sexuality is treated as an animalistic instinct needing control, leading to suppression and denial, at times resulting in a sexual shadow or hidden internal guilt and shame. Examples of this can be seen in the church, where suppressed sexuality can manifest in sexual abuse scandals.
Social conformity and fear of questioning: At this stage, fitting in socially and being liked is very important, so individuals present a pleasant and accommodating front. Questioning truth or considering other perspectives, such as other religions, are seen as treason or sin. This results in a judgmental attitude to protect oneself from having to deal with the complexity of diverse perspectives in today's global society.
Conformity and Non-Conformity: People in the conformist stage of development struggle to accept different religious or spiritual perspectives. There is a danger of becoming overly conformist, even within supposed non-conformist groups. People in this stage tend to suppress anger, especially in order to maintain outward conformity. This type of mindset values appearance, status symbols, material possessions, reputation, and the opinions of others. The primary anxiety is the fear of not belonging or being rejected by the group one identifies with. Emerging problems are often denied and rebuffed, and conformists prefer clear instructions, well-defined identities, and hierarchies within organizations.
Conformity and Denial of Progression: Conformist people have difficulties adapting to changing societal issues and evolving technologies, often being resistant to shifts in tradition and conventional practices. They tend to be against innovative advancements, like birth control, media, and genetic engineering, due to a lack of ability or willingness to grapple with the new challenges these technologies pose.
Conformity and Indoctrination: From childhood, conformists are often taught to believe in the absolute truth of their own religions or belief systems. This makes them prone to rejecting other religions or belief systems which, in some instances, might offer more advanced spiritual knowledge. This refusal to consider alternative perspectives can often create an existential crisis in conformist individuals, leading to feelings of anxiety and confrontation.
Conformity-Based Relationships: Relationships at the conformist stage often carry a sense of neediness and codependency, wherein each party conforms to the other's expectations reciprocally. The relationship often goes on smoothly as long as each party conforms to the expectations of the other.
Conformity in Workplace Settings: Conformist individuals are generally not the best fit for roles that require innovation or creative thinking. They prefer roles with clear instructions and a defined hierarchy, which makes them less adaptable to new challenges and sectors requiring quick, on-the-spot problem-solving skills.
The Risks of Radical Sects: The danger of radical sects within mainstream religions is highlighted. These radical groups can often pose more a significant threat than mainstream conformity, as they can adhere to more extreme and potentially harmful practices or beliefs. Radicalization within certain religious groups is seen commonly responsible for acts of violence or terrorism.
Conforming to Non-Conformity: Conformist individuals are not only limited to mainstream groups but can also be found within niche or sub-culture groups. Even while appearing non-conformist in terms of their beliefs, the mindset they latch onto is often still very conformist. Examples of this include sub-cultures within high schools, where kids rebel by conforming to a rebellious subgroup, thus following a different but still conformist path. Such scenario can also be seen within cults, where individuals may hold beliefs that deviate from mainstream norms, yet are still highly conformist within their cult community.
The Importance of Broadening Perspectives: The importance is stressed of recognizing and understanding the different realities people live in, as this understanding can help facilitate personal growth and maturity. It's emphasized that most people often conflate their own personal perspectives with reality, failing to acknowledge the differing realities others might subscribe to. This lack of perspective-taking often results in conflict and misunderstanding between different groups of people.
Conformist stage of ego development: In this stage individuals tend to conform to the expectations set by their parents and express themselves based on their parents' likes and dislikes. These individuals have absolute confidence in their chosen way of life, despite potential criticism or differing opinions provided by others, especially their children. Individuals at this stage interpret others' difference in preference as a flaw rather than acknowledging the validity of alternate value systems or lifestyles.
Limited vocabulary for feelings identification: Individuals at this conformist stage also demonstrate a simplistic approach toward identifying their feelings. Their emotional understanding lacks complexity because they regularly suppress their emotions, including their unique needs and desires in favor of what is acceptable or praiseworthy by their social or familial group.
Rudimentary self-reflection in expert stage: Progressing into the 'expert' stage of ego development, these individuals now have a desire to distinguish themselves from their family and express their unique selves. Despite their perfectionistic tendencies and defensiveness to negative feedback, they begin to question authority and reject the conformist beliefs of their family or group.
Belief in the superiority of science: Those at the expert stage denounce myths and religion, submitting authority instead to science. They view religion or spiritual beliefs as inferior to the concrete facts and findings of science, often leading to a superiority complex and a belief that they can explain everything about the world.
Struggle for acceptance and recognition: Individuals at this expert stage still need to feel validated by a group, despite their desire to assert their uniqueness. They feel torn between their need for validation from others and their wish to assert their own needs and succeed independently. They often feel as though they have life figured out yet struggle with constant self-criticism and the pressure to perform better.
Inclination towards argumentativeness and criticism of others: Expert stage individuals are often argumentative, using their intellect aggressively and criticizing the thought processes of others. They are opinionated and sure of their perspective, viewing it as the best and most definitive approach, often leading to superiority complex. They derive satisfaction from creating efficient and perfected processes in their daily life.
Stage of the Expert: The Expert stage is characterized by a perfectionistic mindset and a preoccupation with being the best and most efficient. Individuals at this stage are often overworked due to striving for perfection. They heavily rely on rational thinking and dismiss anything outside their worldview. They tend to intellectualize and rationalize everything with an arrogant belief that they are intellectually superior. They become obsessed with accumulating knowledge and expertise and sometimes treat human interactions like competitions. They might swing from repressed sexuality to focusing heavily on casual physical encounters. The ego at this stage feels entitled to impose its views on others and people at this stage often blame others or the system for any shortcomings.
Stage of the Achiever: The Achiever stage marks a focus on self-discovery and self-improvement, and the individual begins to envision their future. They have a lifelong learning attitude, interest in self-help subjects and basic psychology. Achievers appreciate complexity in problem-solving and start to understand the influences of psychology on success and achievement. While still largely clinging to conventional scientific and rational thinking, Achievers also start questioning societal and professional values. They have a tendency to take responsibility for their undesired actions by looking at their root causes. They consider and regard the diversity and different perspectives of people. At this stage, Achievers generally realize that their solutions may not work for everyone and begin working on the betterment of humanity. They also start actively looking to understand what makes others 'tick'. They are more planful and open to feedback and constructive criticism.
Importance of Self-Reflection and Improvement: The expert and achiever stages mark the beginning of self-improvement interests, an increased understanding of emotional intelligence, and interest in psychology. Both stages contribute to an increased desire to understand one's own behavior and to seek out ways to improve it. They both also show openness to the significance of lifelong learning with a drive to achieve personal success and validation.
Understanding Different Developmental Paths: The video emphasizes the importance of understanding that different people may be at different stages in their understanding and interpretation of reality which may lead to conflicts and misunderstandings. It emphasizes the importance of vertical development, changing the structure of one's reality and sense of self, vs horizontal development, expansion within the same structure. This understanding of different realities is key to personal growth and maturity. The video encourages viewers to adopt higher and broader perspectives to expand understanding and avoid misconceptions and traps.
The Role of Ego in Personal Development: The ego plays a significant role in personal development. It is important to recognize the ego's influence and the strategies it employs at different stages of development. As individuals progress, they may become more self-aware and introspective, delving deeper into understanding their subconscious drives and motivations. Understanding these ego dynamics can provide valuable insights into personal development and growth.
Past to Present Psychoanalytic Perspective: Acknowledges the achiever stage, which is oriented towards self-actualization. The achiever stage allows individuals to better understand and confront unwanted behavior, taking responsibility and introspecting on root causes. Achievers start to recognize self-deception and attempt to distinguish between appearance and reality without fully understanding the full depth of self-deception. They begin to consider cognitive biases but usually perceive them in others rather than in their own thought processes.
Achiever Stage Characteristics: At this level, there is emphasis on the exploration of suppressed and denied feelings, less denials and projections onto others, enhanced sense of responsibility for actualizing one's potential, ability to belong to multiple groups without internal conflict, drive to improve the world, and exaggerated sense of guilt for not being more successful. Additionally, achievers begin to favor living according to their chosen values over societal or familial values. There is an awareness of severe self-criticism as a common issue and the tendency to expect others to be at the same level of development.
Further Achiever Detailing: Achievers are drawn towards scientific rationality and analysis, they believed in the potential for understanding the laws of the universe through continued scientific examination. Departure from individual control can pose a significant threat to the achiever's sense of identity. At this stage, emphasis lies on the importance of communication, acknowledging the mutual expression of diverse ideas and feelings, and the commitment towards continuous learning and improvement. Defense mechanisms may involve intellectualization, rationalization and suppression of the 'shadow'. There is a fear of loss of control, a fear of regression to conformity and a fear of loss of progress.
Vertical Development Overview: Highlights the dynamic nature of development as individuals progress through the stages. Vertical development is presented as essential for changing the structure of one's perspective and self-image, contrasted with horizontal development which only expands within the current structure. It encourages the adoption of higher and broader perspectives for better understanding and personal growth. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the different stages of ego development for personal growth.
Finite Nature of Achiever Stage: Achievers accept facts and the material world as a reality, viewing scientific knowledge and prediction as irrefutable truths. This stage is characterized by a belief in technology as the solution to most problems and a tendency to create complex theories. Achievers may have difficulty understanding the influence of their belief systems on their perceptions of reality. Lastly, they tend to take science for granted, rarely questioning its assumptions.
Functioning at Multiple Levels: Explains that people can identify with characteristics of multiple stages at the same time, with responses often falling into three adjacent levels. Individuals tend to have a 'center of gravity' which represents a consistent and dominant developmental stage, however, under stress or in optimal conditions, individuals might slide down or peak up into the characteristics of adjacent stages.
Concluding Remarks: The video ends by emphasizing the importance of this ego development model, stating that it represents a crucial framework for understanding human development and behavior. Leo repeats his recommendation for viewers to study further into ego development theory and suggests that understanding one's own developmental stage allows for a better understanding of others. It provides a glimpse of what will be covered in part two of the lecture series, including post-conventional and transcendent stages.
Differentiating Horizontal and Vertical Development: Vertical development involves changing your reality and self-perception, and is considered more significant than horizontal development which focuses on expansion within an existing structure. For instance, improving one's career or becoming a better follower of a religion constitutes horizontal development, while realizing the falseness of one's reality construction and moving beyond it represents vertical development. Most people grow horizontally as vertical development is more challenging, requiring greater depth, time, and a sustained vision.
Understanding the Achiever Stage: Achievers represent the last conventional stage of personal development. They focus on self-discovery and improvement, appreciate conceptual complexity and alternative problem-solving, and exhibit interest in psychological understanding, self-reflection, and collaboration. This drive to achieve and focus on personal responsibility can lead to complicated theories and struggles with work-life balance and burnout due to their future-oriented mindset. Achievers have a strong reliance on scientific rationality and analysis, and tend to communicate effectively while prioritizing self-improvement.
The Spiral of growth through Differentiation and Integration: Levels of growth alternate between differentiation and integration, leading to a snaking movement or swinging pendulum. The stages of growth reflect this back and forth movement, shifting between personal individualization and societal integration. However, there is also an upward movement, which makes it similar to a spiral.
The Importance of Multiple Realities: The idea of reality is subjective and different for each individual. Most people consider their perspective as the only reality, which can lead to conflicts and misunderstandings among diverse groups. Grasping and understanding these diverse realities are pivotal for personal growth and maturity.
Recognizing Development Stages Helps Understand Others: This model of development stages is vital in illustrating healthy human development and maturity. It serves as a roadmap for personal growth, showcasing potential pitfalls and traps which one may face on the journey. Understanding these stages can also facilitate understanding of others' perspectives, aiding in avoiding judgment or demonization of differing perspectives.
Personal Development Beyond the Conventional Stage: Though vertical growth is more difficult, collective societal structures often push individuals towards the achiever stage. Beyond the achiever stage, most self-help books and resources do not target, leaving a cultural and educational void to discover and comprehend the post-conventional and transcendent stages, to be discussed in part two.
Promotion of Upcoming Content and Existing Material: The author prompts his viewers to look forward to part two covering post-conventional and transcendent stages, encouraging them to interact with his other offerings such as his blog posts, book list, forum, life-purpose course, and Patreon for additional insights and ability to support his work.