This document discusses Suzanne Cook-Greuter and her work on ego development psychology. It outlines the stages of ego development from theorists like Loevinger and Cook-Greuter, including Impulsive, Diplomat, Expert, Achiever, Individualist, Strategist, and Unitive stages. It also discusses the WUSCT test used to measure ego development and provides examples of responses. Finally, it reflects on the current state of developmental theory, addressing postmodern criticisms and the role of developmental theory in fields like education and leadership.

1. Suzanne Cook-Greuter and
Ego Development Psychology

2. 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

3. 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

4. WUSCT Form 81
Sentence Stems and
Validity Stats

5. 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)

7. “Traditional”
“Modern”
“Postmodern”
Robert Kegan’s
Five Orders
of Mind

8. 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

9. 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

10. Stage 2, Impulsive Self – Magenta Action
P R E - C O N V E N T I O N A L

11. 2/3 Opportunist Self – Red Action
P R E - C O N V E N T I O N A L

12. Stage 3, Diplomat-Conformist Self – Amber Action
C O N V E N T I O N A L

13. Stage 3/4, Achiever Self – Amber/Orange Action
C O N V E N T I O N A L

14. Stage 4, Conscientious Self – Orange Action
Target stage for Western Culture
C O N V E N T I O N A L

15. 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

16. 4/5, Individualistic Self – Green Action
P O S T - C O N V E N T I O N A L

17. Stage 5, Autonomous Self – Teal Action
P O S T - C O N V E N T I O N A L

18. 5/6, Construct-Aware Self (Magician) – Turquoise Action
P O S T - C O N V E N T I O N A L

19. Stage 6, Unitive Self (Ironist) – Indigo Action
P O S T - C O N V E N T I O N A L

21. 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