Stages of Ego Development

Jane Loevinger’s stages of ego development is a broad theory focusing on the structure of individuals and how experiences are comprehended in the human lifespan. The eight stages of developing the ego include the life stages in the infant, child, adolescent, and adult. Each life phase has stages that people experience throughout infancy to adulthood. The Infant experiences the sense of self. Loevinger calls this stage “the proverbial stage, Loevinger maintains, but her theory does not explicitly address what this is all about” (Axia College, p. 372, para. 3). The infant accomplishes the basic sense of understanding the separation of self from others. This allows the infant to move into the child stage, which has three phases: the impulsive stage, self-protected stage, and the conformist stage.

The Child

The first stage of the child is the impulsive stage; “the progressive movement from egocentric impulsivity to sociocentric conventionality” (Axia College, p. 373, para. 4). The child is selfish, demanding, one-dimensional, and impulsive. Expressing the self and understanding good behavior is rewarded and bad behavior is punishable, the child seeks to appreciate the rules. A child stuck in the impulsive stage for too long may be seen as uncontrollable. The child reaching the self-protected stage strives for their needs to be fulfilled. They appreciate the rules and follow them most of the time so they can have their needs met.

According to Axia College (2010), “An older child or adult who stagnates at this stage may become opportunistic and deceptive in relations with others.” The conformist stage is when the child can identify him- or herself within a group; valuing cooperation, niceness, conforming to social norms, and loyalty toward a group. Connecting with others to grasp a likeness or sameness with other people is essential for proper growth and development. If cooperation and conformity with others develops properly, the adolescent turns the opposite direction.

The Adolescent

According to Axia College (2010), “The teenage years are marked by a search for individuality and uniqueness (Blos, 1979; Erikson, 1968).” Teenagers are no longer bound to social conformity and sameness with others; they want to be unique, making their identity all their own. Typically known as a rite of passage, the teenager transforms him- or herself into various aspects of the self, searching for unity, expressing individual talents and dispositions.

The teenager will enter the conscientious/conformist stage, realizing it is impossible to live up to everyone else’s standards and will break away from conformity. Becoming aware of the inner life with self-awareness and appreciation of all that life has to offer, the teenager becomes the adult; “the ego can become a prodigiously complex and sophisticated framework for making sense of the world” (Axia College, p. 375, para. 4).

The Adult

The adult life stage has three stages; individualistic, autonomous, and fully integrated. Most adults will stagnate in the conscientious/conformist stage, not reaching his or her full potential in life, settling into a routine in life that does not inspire continual growth. Three elements of the adult conscience are a sense of responsibility; differentiated self-criticism, and long-term, self-evaluated goals and ideals. The adult is responsible, accepting the disapproval of others and criticism without conformity, and obtains long-term goals and ideals. Tolerating a paradox and contradiction is a sign of increased cognitive ability and complexity.

The individualistic stage leads to the autonomous stage; revealing tolerance and respect for others by communicating thoughts, feelings, and desires. Making decisions, formulating social ideals, realizing and accepting that emotional interdependence on others for some needs is inevitable, are traits adults acquire in the autonomous stage. The final stage, the fully integrated individual, is the most difficult to achieve because it encompasses all previous stages with the added element to individuality and identity. A person transcends everything from earlier stages, understanding both the complexity and connection of previous events and relates them to his or her identity.

The highest level of self is aligning everything from independence to interdependence and intimacy to self-sufficiency together to “coordinate one’s own identity over a lifetime, with those of others and with cultural values, so as to form a meaningful whole (p.317)” (Axia College, p.376). Many humanistic theories and Eastern religions suggest the coming together of the ego with the self. Humans progress, change, and grow during each stage of life. Evolving from one stage to the next, only to repeat the process years later, in hopes of discovering the identity we are looking for in ourselves. Accepting who we are and who we have become, will allow humans to continue to grow into the final stage, a fully integrated individual.

References

Axia College (2010). Developmental Stages and Tasks. Jane Loevinger’s Theory of Ego Development. Retrieved April 22, 2011 from Axia College, PSY230 website.