Postconventional Personality

Angela H. Pfaffenberger has a PhD in psychology and is an independent researcher in personality theory. She maintains a private practice as a psychotherapist and acupuncturist in Salem, Oregon. Paul W. Marko has a PhD in psychology from Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center. He is a developmental psychologist who works with both organizations and individuals. Allan Combs is Professor of Transformative Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies and Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. His many books include Consciousness Explained Better: Towards an Integral Understanding of the Multifaceted Nature of Consciousness.

• List of TablesIntroduction: Exceptional Maturity of PersonalityAn Emerging Field Angela H. Pfaffenberger and Paul W. MarkoPART I: ASSESSING ADVANCED PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 1. Assessing Postconventional Personality: How Valid and Reliable is the Sentence Completion Test?Angela H. Pfaffenberger2. My Brain Made Me Do It: Brain Maturation and Levels of Self-DevelopmentFred Travis and Sue Brown3. Generating and Measuring Practical Differences in Leadership Performance at Postconventional Action-LogicsElaine Herdman Barker and William R. Torbert 4. A Report from the Scoring TrenchesSusanne R. Cook-Greuter PART II: EMERGING RESEARCH ABOUT POSTCONVENTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 5. The Issue of Highest Stages in Structural-Developmental TheoriesTobias Krettenauer6. Exploring Facilitative Agents that Allow Ego Development to OccurPaul W. Marko7. The Postconventional Self: Ego Maturity, Growth Stories … and Happiness? Jack Bauer 8.Postconventional Ego Development and Self-Transcendencein Religious RenunciatesHeidi Page 9. Leadership at Postconventional Stages of Adult DevelopmentBill JoinerPART III: THEORIES OF ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT 10. Is Higher Better? A Review and Analysis of the Correlates of Postconventional Ego Development Tracie Blumentritt 11. The Challenge of Ego Development: Intentional versus Active Development Laura King12. Transcendent Experience and Development of the Postrepresentational Self Dennis Heaton 13.Believing As If: Postconventional Stages, Cognitive Complexity, and Postformal Religious Constructions James Meredith Day 14. A Dynamical View of the Personality in Evolution Allan Combs and Stanley Krippner15. The Prism Self Revisited: The Matter of IntegrityJudith Stevens-Long ReferencesList of ContributorsIndex

"This is an excellent resource for those interested in psychometrics collections and in transpersonal/humanistic psychology and life-span development … A solid companion to other titles in the 'SUNY Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology.'" — CHOICE"[This is a convention-breaking book that makes a much-needed contribution to the field. Its varied scholarly chapters explore the far reaches of human growth and potential—including the oft-neglected dimension of personality development. Chapters are written by veteran researchers and exemplars in adult development studies. Included are wonderfully creative theoretical explorations on personality development as well as original contributions that push the envelope of spiritual and religious development to unprecedented lengths. ]The Postconventional Personality is an exceptional compilation reflecting years of research on postformal and postconventional development. As the culmination of such research, it should, in turn, challenge all developmentalists to do more, to be bolder, to take risks. This volume will exhort academicians and researchers alike to think more creatively about the limitless possibilities for human development at the postconventional level and beyond." — Melvin E. Miller, coeditor of Self and No-Self: Continuing the Dialogue between Buddhism and Psychotherapy"This book is the best place to go for current views on late-stage ego-development theory, practice, and measurement. It clarifies the promise and importance of these methods and models that stem from Loevinger (and H. S. Sullivan), but also explores the limitations and blind spots inherent in these methods. This is an excellent contribution to scholarly literature about the further reaches of human potential." — Zachary Stein, Developmental Testing Service