Sylvia's Journal

I studied psychology because I was interested in human behavior. After a long and circuitous route, I have come back to my roots. Not that I ever lost interest in human behavior, but I pushed off from the Developmental Psychology shores many decades ago. Now I am back.

I graduated about 5 years before Robert Keegan published his book ‘The Evolving Self.’ I paid little attention to him then as he was not in the pantheon of great psychology theorists at the time of my studies. Besides I had moved to the Middle East (Yemen, then Lebanon) and later to Senegal. I had gotten married and had a child while working full time. Although I watched the development process unfold in my own child, I had kind of forgotten about the discipline of developmental psychology in which I was credentialed, at least academically. It was in 2001, when I read Keegan and Lisa Lahey’s book ‘the way we talk’ that I reconnected with my initial interest in developmental psychology and started to follow Keegan. 

Yesterday I was reminded of his theory of human development during my breakfast reading of Heather Cox Richardson’s daily missive. She displays, for all to see, the behavior of people at the highest levels of our government. It took me back to Keegan’s view on how the mindsets of some people evolve more than those of others. 

Here’s a summary of his stage theory – more depth be found on the internet and YouTube.

In Keegan’s theory the earliest stage, Stage 1, is the stage of the Impulsive Mind. The world revolves around the small child and everything is there to serve his or her needs. At stage 2 the child (now an adolescent) has expanded his or her horizon, although satisfying one’s own needs is still at center stage in all interactions. This is the stage of the Imperial Mind. Interestingly, in his research he found that about 6% of the US’s adult population is stuck in that mindset. 

At stage 3 we have learned that we are no longer the center of the universe and our minds are socialized by the culture, values and philosophies of our extended family and community (tribe, religion, etc.) in which we are embedded. Keegan’s research suggests that about 58% of the adult population is at this stage of the Socialized Mind. In stage 4, the stage of the Self-Authoring Mind, we have come to realize that there are other perspectives on reality that are different from the one we were socialized in – hence the importance of travel and living in cultures other than the one you grew up in. About one third of the adult population has reached this stage. 

The highest stage is number 5 – the Self-Transformative Mind. At this stage we have come to realize there are no firm answers to anything as everything happens in a context.  Jennifer Garvey Berger, who has worked with Keegan and who is a genius in her own right (especially when it comes to leading in chaotic situations, like right now) explains: “People with this form of mind are less likely to see the world in terms of dichotomies or polarities, […] they are more likely to believe that what we often think of as black and white are just various shades of gray whose differences are made more visible by the lighter or darker colors around them.” An estimated 1% of the population has reached this stage.

The stages are somewhat comparable to the levels of energy that I learned about in my (IPEC) coach training. People with catabolic (depleting, destructive) levels of energy either are victims or get very angry. At levels three to seven people show up with the kind of energy that is anabolic, uplifting, constructive. The highest levels are congruent with Keegan’s stage 5.

Back to our government officials. I think many of them operate out of level 2 or 3, and the one at the top seems to be stuck in level 1. I would think this level to be an immediate disqualifier for the top position.