Order of Consciousness/Age

Characteristics

Examples

Role of Others (i.e, parents, teachers, etc.)

Order 0: The Magical childhood mind

(Newborn to 18 months old)

Infants are "living in an objectless world, a world in which everything sensed is taken to be an extension of the infant" (Kegan 1982: 78).

When the infant cannot see or experience something, it does not exist. By the time infants are eighteen months old, they begin to recognize the existence of objects outside themselves, propelling them into the next stage.

Parents must remain steadfast as the child pushes against them to determine where the boundaries are between its self and the environment.

Order 1: The Self-sovereign Mind

(Children ages 2 to 7)

At age two, “when [children] realize that they have control over their reflexes (Kegan 1982) and become aware of objects in their environment as independent from themselves (Kegan 1994) their thinking tends to be "fantastic and illogical, their feelings impulsive and fluid, [and] their social-relating egocentric" (29) in that they are attached to whatever or whoever is present at the moment.

Young children cannot yet hold the idea of “durable objects”—which is the notion that things in the world retain the same qualities over time.  When they look out of an airplane and see how small houses look, they believe they actually are small. 

 Parents should support their children's fantasies while challenging them to take responsibility for themselves and their feelings as they begin to perceive the world realistically and differentiate themselves from others while moving into order 2.

Order 2: The Instrumental Mind:

(Upper elementary school children and adolescents)

Individuals are able to construct "durable categories"-classifications of objects, people, or ideas with specific characteristics (Kegan 1994). As a result, their thinking becomes more logical and organized, their feeling are more enduring, and they relate to others as separate and unique beings. In this order, individuals develop a sense of who they are and what they want. "Competition and compromise" (Kegan 1982: 163) are characteristic themes of the second order and are often played out within peer group settings.

Children understand that when they look out of an airplane and see the houses as small, they know that they are actually not. They also realize that their likes and dislikes are not changing depending on the context (ie., I like chocolate regardless of the type/shape of the chocolate bar). They are still struggling when their interest intersects with those of others (i.e., I like to hang out with John, but I don’t want him to use my iPad).

Support from others at this stage requires confirmation of the person the child has become. Challenge to develop further involves encouragement to take into consideration the expectations, needs, and desires of others.

Order 3: The Socialized Mind

(Adolescence to Adulthood)

Cross-categorical thinking-the ability to relate one durable category to another-is evident in the third order of consciousness. As a result, thinking is more abstract, individuals are aware of their feelings and the internal processes associated with them, and they can make commitments to communities of people and ideas (Kegan 1994).

People at this order are excellent followers of strong cultures because they have internalized the ideas and philosophies of others and worked out of their loyalty to a larger group.  Someone whose surroundings supported a very earth-conscious, vegetarian lifestyle might himself be very uncomfortable if he spent much of his time around a group of carnivores but might not find himself changed by those opinions at all.

Support is found in mutually rewarding relationships and shared experiences, while challenge takes the form of resisting codependence and encouraging individuals to make their own decisions and establish independent lives.

Order 4: Self-Authoring Mind

Self-Authoring Mind. Cross-categorical constructing-the ability to generalize across abstractions, which could also be labeled systems thinking-is evident in the fourth order of consciousness (Kegan, 1994). In this order, self-authorship is the focus. Individuals "have the capacity to take responsibility for and ownership of their internal authority" (Kegan & others, 2001, p. 5) and establish their own sets of values and ideologies (Kegan, 1994). Relationships become a part of one's world rather than the reason for one's existence.

People at this stage feel like they “own” their work, have articulated their personal theories, are self-guided, self-motivated, self-evaluative, and self-correcting.  Adults don’t feel torn apart by the conflicts of different meaning systems because they have their own system with which to make decisions. 

Support at this stage is evident in acknowledgment of the individual's independence and self-regulation. Individuals are encouraged to develop further when significant others refuse to accept relationships that are not intimate and mutually rewarding.

Order 5: Self-Transforming Mind

(Age of 40 and over)

Transforming Mind

(Age of 40 and over)
    

Individuals see beyond themselves, others, and systems of which they are a part to form an understanding of how all people and systems interconnect (Kegan, 2000). They recognize their "commonalities and interdependence with others" (Kegan, 1982, p. 239). Relationships can be truly intimate in this order, with nurturance and affiliation as the key characteristics.

Individuals are less likely to see the world in terms of dichotomies or polarities.  They are more likely to understand and deal well with paradox and with managing the tension of opposites.  They may also realize that their internal system itself contributes to their inability to perceive a wide enough field of alternatives.

Kegan (1982) noted that only rarely do work environments provide these conditions and that long-lasting adult love relationships do not necessarily do so either.