Becoming Developmentally Aware
An Introduction to Developmental Stage Theories
Becoming developmentally aware means recognizing and understanding the potential stages of growth that humans can go through. All living organisms go through some form of development. In humans, we find that this development is not only biological but also psychological. We are keenly aware of such psychological development in children because their growth is rapid and pronounced. Most parents recognize that children are growing and strive to provide them with a nourishing environment. Yet because most of us overlook that psychological development can continue in adulthood we rarely apply the same conscious care to creating adult environments.
An adult’s mind is far more ingrained than a child’s hence it takes more time and effort to change. However, our failure to acknowledge and support adult development doesn't help us overcome this friction and instead contributes to the stagnation of adult minds. In turn, most adults die psychologically and spiritually immature.
Educational philosopher and human development expert Zak Stein speaks to this phenomenon when he writes “In most cultures around the world, so-called “grown-ups” are usually quite immature relative to the full spectrum of human capacities and potentials that are latent inside them. Many grown-ups are actually emotionally young, having been infantilized by consumer culture and traditional religion or alienated from their own creative powers by dull and meaningless jobs. Overcoming neuroses, exploring latent potentials, and pursuing Self-actualization are all part of what lies beyond merely conventional definitions of what it means to be a mature adult.”
If you find any resonance then you’ve already started to wake up beyond conventional forms of consciousness. It is only from this place of questioning self and reality can we begin to pave a path towards a developmentally aware society. A society that deeply cares and nourishes the psychological and spiritual growth of all of its citizens. And while there are many pieces towards creating such a society a crucial part is becoming developmentally aware which also means becoming acquainted with developmental stage theories.
What are Developmental Stage Theories?
Developmental Stage theories are models that measure distinct psychological and spiritual aspects of human development. While each theory is unique in terms of what it measures there are universal agreements found amongst many of these models. Such theories have tracked everything from the development of cognition, morality, faith, world views, needs, and meaning.
Like any theory, these models can be misused and some have argued that they can lead to elitism and an amplified sense of separation. Despite these legitimate concerns, there remains a strong justification that if used with sensitivity and nuance developmental stage theories are more beneficial than harmful. Proponents of such theories argue that they are not just useful for supporting and accelerating development but that they can make us more compassionate and understanding toward others regardless of what stages they occupy.
Examples of Developmental Stage theories include:
Piaget’s Cognitive development theory
Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development
Robert Kegan’s Evolving Self Model
Susanne Cook-Greuter’s Ego Development Theory
Ken Wilber’s Integral theory
Don Edward Beck and Christopher Cowen’s Spiral dynamics
The General tenets of Developmental Stage Theories
In her seminal paper on Ego Development Theory, Susanne Cook-Greuter shares the common tenets most Developmental Stage theories are built on:
“Development theory describes the ideal unfolding of human potential towards deeper understanding, greater love, wisdom and effectiveness in the world.”
“Growth occurs in a logical sequence of stages or expanding world views from birth to adulthood. The movement is often likened to an ever-widening spiral.”
“Overall, world views evolve from simple to complex, from static to dynamic, and from ego-centric to socio-centric to world-centric.”
“Later stages are reached only by journeying through the earlier stages. Once a stage has been traversed, it remains a part of the individual’s response repertoire, even when more complex, later stages are adopted as primary lenses to metabolize experience.”
“Each later stage includes and transcends the previous ones. That is, the earlier perspectives remain part of our current experience and knowledge (just as when a child learns to run, it doesn’t stop to be able to walk).”
“Each later stage in the sequence is more differentiated, integrated, flexible, and capable of functioning more adequately in our rapidly changing and ever more complex world.”
“As healthy development unfolds, autonomy, freedom, tolerance for difference and ambiguity, resourcefulness as well as flexibility, self-awareness, and skill in interacting with the environment increase while defenses decrease.”
“People’s stage of development influences what they notice and can become aware of, and therefore, what they can describe, articulate, cultivate, influence, and change.”
“Derailment in development, pockets of lack of integration, trauma, and psychopathology are seen at all levels. Thus later stages are not necessarily more adjusted or “happier.””
“A person who has reached a later stage can understand earlier ones because they are part of their own becoming, but a person at an earlier stage cannot fully understand the later ones.”
“The depth, complexity, and scope of what people notice can expand throughout life. Yet no matter how evolved we become, our knowledge and understanding remains partial and incomplete.”
“Development occurs through the interplay between person and environment, not just by one or the other. It is a potential and can be encouraged and facilitated by appropriate support and challenge, but it cannot be guaranteed.”
“While vertical development can be invited and the environment optimally structured towards growth, it cannot be forced. People have the right to be who they are at any station in life.”
“The later the stage, the more variability for unique self-expression exists, and the less readily we can determine where a person’s center of gravity lies.”
“All stage descriptions are idealizations that no human being fits entirely.”
Essential Principles for Working with Developmental Stage Theories
In his breakout book “The Listening Society” Hanzi Freniacht elicits 8 vital principles for using Developmental Stage Theories in a nonpathological way:
”The stages of development in humans and other organisms must be studied in the light of a radical acceptance, a pervasive non-judgment.”
“The developmental stages do not constitute a moral order, in which a higher or later stage would be morally “more worth” than a lower or earlier one.”
”There is a difference between natural hierarchies and dominator hierarchies. Dominator hierarchies are the ones that you cannot find any universal arguments for and that are used to legitimize exploitation. Natural hierarchies have no exploitation and they build on a universal argument that benefits all parties, and it is limited to the specific area in which that benefit can be argued for. All dominator hierarchies disguise themselves as natural ones.”
”The hierarchy does not transmit to other, irrelevant areas or power relations. They should not give “halo effects”.”
Stance of Humility – “Hierarchical stage models don’t make the mistakes that an anti-hierarchy view makes which groups everyone into two levels… those for hierarchy and those who are above it (hence putting themselves in the highest stage. Instead, they oblige people to describe all the relevant stages, how they relate to one another, and you must always admit that there can be higher stages than your own, stages that you don’t yet understand.”
“Simply to know that hierarchical stage theories of human development have different dimensions and that development in one dimension does not necessarily translate into development within another.”
Embody sensitivity – “One must recognize that all hierarchies can and do hurt people’s feelings.”
“These stages of development are important, but they are obviously not all there is to life.”
It’s important to mention that many Developmental Stage theories agree that humans rarely occupy only one stage of development but rather dynamically move across several stages.
If we are well-rested and nourished or in an environment where we feel inspired and supported we are more likely to operate from a higher or later stage. Whereas if we feel tired and depleted or in a toxic environment we are most likely to regress to a lower or earlier stage. However most of the time we will stay within our “center of gravity” – the default stage we regularly occupy.
Summary
Whether you find developmental stage theories beneficial or harmful it’s hard to deny that development is a process that exists in all life forms. Understanding the developmental stage from which a human is operating from can help improve the quality of our interactions.
It’s helpful to know that a two-year-old child can’t understand the same things a five-year-old can. Knowing this changes how we interact with them. In a similar way, it’s helpful to know that someone who operates from a fundamentally traditionalist state of consciousness might have difficulty understanding or integrating post-modern values.
Seeing how development is intimately tied to causes and conditions is an antidote to feelings of superiority/inferiority. We all have the capacity to regress in suboptimal conditions and the capacity to grow in exceptional conditions. It’s helpful to see stages as patterns in consciousness rather than concrete descriptions of who someone is. By understanding the limits of developmental stage theories and remembering the dynamic & unique nature of humans we can use such models in the most beneficial and least pathological way.