Stages of Ego Development

Question: Describe and define the Stages of Ego Development. Answer: Jane Lovenger developed the stages of ego development and defined ego as an attribute that evolved as a continuous process because of interaction between the inner self and the social environment. Altbach et al., (2014) mentioned that ego development is quite similar to moral development but is wider in scope. The ego development consists of nine stages, which are as follows: Pre-social- Jane loevinger believed that it is not possible for babies to develop ego, since their thinking is delusional or autistic. Thus, their ego is thinking consist of brief and hazy projection of events. Impulsive- This is the second stage where the child develops senses and reacts accordingly to outside events. Here, the individual is self-observant and only is immersed in environmental aspects that influences them. Self Protective - In this stage, the individual develops feelings of self-protection and preserves against outside elements. Conformist - Children going to school tries to measure themselves and others as per the established codes of the society. As such, this is a period of struggle as children strive hard to match social expectations. Self Awareness - Until the age of twenty-five, the period of self-awareness remains in a human being. Thus, there is an increase in level of self- awareness, and high imagination power to adjust to various situations. Conscientious - This is a more advanced stage of an individual, where the person reacts immediately to any changes in the external environment (Jespersen et al., 2013). The conscientious stage is responds positively towards achievement of goals and objectives. Individualistic - The characteristic feature of this stage is the respect towards individual as well as interpersonal relationship. Besides this, the sense of tolerance and acceptance towards people from different backgrounds and culture increases. Autonomous - This is a very mature stage, which refers to being free from materialistic wants and desires. Integrated - As per Loevinger, this stage is very difficult to attain. As such, at the integrated stage, continuous learning is mandatory for mental and emotional development in an individual. References Altbach, P. G., Arnold, K., King, I. C. (2014).College student development and academic life: Psychological, intellectual, social and moral issues. Routledge. Jespersen, K., Kroger, J., Martinussen, M. (2013). Identity status and ego development: A meta-analysis.Identity,13(3), 228-241.