Dabrowski's Levels of Personal Development

Third of my posts on Dabrowski. The first described Overexcitabilities, the second his Theory of Positive Disintegration.

According to Dabrowski there are Five Levels of Personal Development. Individuals with the three factors of overexcitabilities, abilities and talents, and the drive for autonomous expression can more readily achieve the higher levels of development.

Dabrowski studied gifted and talented children and made a list of "symptoms" that may reflect the potential for higher development:

May display unusual sensitivity, frequent crises, anxieties, depression, perfectionism, etc.
May express strong positive maladjustment. (not adjusting to society's self-interested values)
Strong sense they are different, don’t fit in.
Have conflicts with social morality.
Feel alienated from others, from their peers.

Level 1: Primary Integration

At this level the personality is primarily influenced by biological impulses. They are driven by selfishness and and controlled by lower instincts. For those at Primary Integration "the ends justify the means", there is little introspection and little inner conflict.

Level 2: Unilevel Disintegration

This level features brief, often intense, crisis or series of crises. The individual sees there are choices to make but the choices are morally equivalent. There is a feeling of ambivalence. Their problems occur again and again with no break through towards more positive development.

At this point, if the person's has strong developmental potential they may experience existential depression. The resolution of this phase is when the individual replaces society's mores with their own individually chosen hierarchal values. The person feels the conflict between the behaviors of themselves and others. The ethics of the prevailing social order are no longer adequate. This crisis leads to abandoning social conformity and developing a unique value system.

Level 2 is a transition phase. At this phase a person will either fall back or move ahead. The transition from Level 2 to Level 3 is difficult and requires a considerable about of energy.

Level 3: Spontaneous Multilevel Disintegration

At this level the individual is able to visualize the ideal or higher path choice. It is spontaneous because it is involuntary. You cannot "un-see" the higher path. The Multilevelness is the different levels of behavior, from lower to higher, that are compared and chosen from. Multilevelness also describes the perceptions drawn on during this level, thinking, feeling, imagination, empathy, etc.

At Level 3 the choice to take the higher path is clear and obvious, the person no longer feels the ambivalence of Level 2. That does not mean that the choices in Level 3 are easier. There are the external conflicts involved with choosing a non-conformist path and there is inner conflict when the individual fails to live up to his or her ideals. Movement through Level 3 is by a series of Positive Disintegrations, reaching for the "what could be" and away from the "what is."

Dabrowsi found that sadness, depression and anxiety are common in Level 3. This may be a good time to seek therapy, as long as the therapist is supportive of developing personality and not pathologizing the process.

Level 3 is when the person's value structure begins to support the development of their idealized self.

Level 4 - Directed Multilevel Disintegration

At Level 4 the spontaneous positive development of Level 3 is replaced by a deliberate choosing of the positive qualities in one's self and the rejection of the negative. The belief system is reconstructed with carefully chosen ideals replacing lower automatic, self-interested views. It is thought that people can and do move back and forth between levels, especially 3 and 4.

Behavior is also less reactive, and more compassionate towards one's self and others. Dabrowski wrote, "individuals of this kind feel responsible for the realization of justice and for the protection of others against harm and injustice. Their feelings of responsibility extend almost to everything"

People at Level 4, while having respect for every person, are often at conflict with society's lower level values. The person at this level tries to change the world to their idealized vision, through expression of their unique talents and abilities.

The ideal of Level 4 is a self-aware and self-chosen personality living at their full potential .

Level 5 - Secondary Integration

At level 5 behavior conforms to personalized hierarchal value structure. Art and creative expression is visionary and unique. Positive advances in society are associated with the integrated personality at Level 5.

Very few individuals will ever reach Level 5, but, it is thought that there are levels within the Level that are more attainable.

***************

This description of the Levels of Personal Development goes along with the Theory of Positive Disintegration. It may be help to view your child's anxieties, depressions, and conflicts as a sign of potential for positive development.