Processes involved in adult ego development: A conceptual framework

Ego development has been Found to stabilize by early adulthood among the ma jority of the population at a stage which is well below the maximum potenti al. The modal stags of stabilization is one which involves rudimentary self -awareness and incipient conceptual complexity. The reasons for this early stabilization below the maximum potential art: not fully understood. In thi s article, a conceptual framework is formulated to explain the processes in volved in ego-stage transition in adulthood. The formulation is based on Lo evinger's theoretical reflections on adult ego-stage transition and the ass ociated research, the intervention programs designed to promote adult ego d evelopment, the theory and research in relation to moral-stage development in adulthood, and the theory and research in relation to general personalit y change in adulthood. In the resulting framework;, it is proposed that ego -stage transition in adulthood represents an accommodative response to spec ific types of life experiences and that the degree of exposure to such life experiences, as well as the perception of and response to the life experie nce, is influenced by specific psychological characteristics. Specific rese arch hypotheses follow from the proposed framework, and these are outlined with suggestions for empirical tests. (C) 2000 Academic Press.