Ego Development: Loevinger

Loevinger's milestone sequence of ego development, measured originally by the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT).

The stages, earliest to latest

1. Impulsive E2Impulse-ridden, dependent, bodily feelings; good = nice to me.
2. Self-protective E3Wary, manipulative, externalizing blame; fear of being caught.
3. Conformist E4Belonging, appearance, social acceptance; conventional clichés.
4. Self-aware E5Emerging awareness of inner life and of exceptions to rules; multiple possibilities.
5. Conscientious E6Self-evaluated standards, long-term goals, responsibility, differentiated feelings.
6. Individualistic E7Heightened sense of individuality, tolerance of difference, inner conflict recognized.
7. Autonomous E8Copes with inner conflict; respects others' autonomy; self-fulfillment; broad scope.
8. Integrated E9Reconciles inner conflicts; cherishes individuality; wisdom and identity integrated.

Sources

• Loevinger, J. (1976). Ego Development: Conceptions and Theories. Jossey-Bass.
• Hy, L. X., & Loevinger, J. (1996). Measuring Ego Development (2nd ed.).

Stage descriptions are paraphrased summaries for orientation, written for Worldview Lens; they are not the official scoring manuals. Example sentences were written to illustrate each stage.