Ego Development Theory (Loevinger’s Stages of Ego Development)

Ego Development Theory (Susanne Cook-Greuter, 1980s) – The model traces development from nonconscious union with the mother to conscious union with everything as it frames the ego’s task in terms of three categories of meaning making: operative (purpose-oriented), affective (emotions and experience), and cognitive (thinking and reasoning). Four clusters of stages are posited:
  • Preconventional Stages (1. Symbiotic; 2. Impulsive; 2/3. Self-Protective; Δ3. Rule-Oriented)
  • Conventional Stages (3. Group-Centric/Conformist/Diplomat; 3/4. Skill-Centric/Self-Conscious/Expert; 4. Self-Determining/Conscientious/Achiever)
  • Postconventional Stages (4/5. Self-Questioning/Individualist/Pluralist; 5. Self-Actualizing/Autonomous/Strategist; 5/6. Construct-Aware/Ego-Aware/Magician/Alchemist)
  • Transcendent Stage (6. Unitive)


Please cite this article as:
Davis, B., & Francis, K. (2022). “Ego Development Theory (Loevinger’s Stages of Ego Development)” in Discourses on Learning in Education. https://learningdiscourses.com.


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