num_pages: 97
description: Ego Development Theory (EDT) has come a long way since Jane Loevinger’s original (1970) and sparse stage descriptions compared to our current understanding of the full trajectory of development, and the mechanisms, and patterns of vertical growth in the personal realm.What makes EDT unique and different from other theories in the field of constructivist developmental approaches is its focus on meaning making. EDT addresses the whole person. It is best understood as a framework that portrays the growth of individuals as moving into ever greater awareness and integration about both the inner and the outer world. Although EDT focuses on the development of individual awareness, it fully recognizes that there is no individual interior development outside a cultural and linguistic surround, nor is individual growth possible without the external context (historical, geographic, infrastructure, etc.) as it supports and constrains what is possible in the interior. EDT has been developed and refined over at least 40 years by empirical means unlike almost all other developmental approaches 2 which first propose a theory, then find appropriate means to measure their constructs. EDT is a grounded theory. It was derived solely based on evidence from responses to the sentence completion test which we now call the MAP (Maturity Assessment Profile).
language: English
title: Nine Levels Of Increasing Embrace In Ego Development:  A Full-Spectrum Theory Of Vertical Growth  And Meaning Making