Robert Kegan - In Over Our Heads

Dr. Robert Kegan - author of the book "In Over Our Heads" - is a pioneer of human development, perhaps best known for his work on Orders of Consciousness and Subject-Object Theory.

A tremendous amount of cross-cultural evidence shows that various capacities of human beings develop through several distinct stages of psychological maturity. But our culture seems to know almost nothing about human development during adulthood. The fact that human development is a life-long journey can be essential to find solutions for the most pressing global problems. Human development, particularly adult development, is an idea that could change the world.

The "Subject-Object Theory" offers insight into the actual mechanics of transformation, both psychologically and spiritually. Essentially, the subject of one stage becomes the object of the subject of the next stage. The process of "subject becoming object" does not just describe the process of "vertical growth" through psychological stages of consciousness, but also "horizontal growth" through states of spiritual awareness and awakening (e.g. meditation is a practice of making subject into object: witnessing our own subjective minds with non-attached equanimity, experiencing our subjective thoughts, emotions, sensations, and impulses as objects in our awareness, like clouds floating through the empty expanse of the sky). With enough training and practice, the spiritual path ultimately leads us to the point of "Absolute Subjectivity"—that point where we are completely "emptied out" and there is no more subject left to be made into object, and all that remains is the effortless and seamless embrace of nondual awareness.

In Dr. Kegan's work, he outlines Five Orders of Consciousness:

• First Order: Impulsive — Perceives and responds by emotion.
• Second Order: Imperial — Motivated solely by one's desires.
• Third Order: Interpersonal — Defined by the group.
• Fourth Order: Institutional — Self directed, self authoring.
• Fifth Order: Inter-individual — Interpenetration of self systems.

At each step, the subject of the preceding stage becomes the object of the following stage.

• Subjects of the impulsive stage (Order 1) are the individual's impulses and perceptions, whilst its objects are the reflexes.
• Subject of the imperial stage (Order 2) are the individual's needs, interests, and desires, whilst its objects are the individual's impulses and perceptions.
• Subject of the interpersonal stage (Order 3) are interpersonal relationships and mutuality, whilst its objects are the individual's needs, interests, and desires.
• Subject of the institutional stage (Order 4) are the individual's authorship, identity, and ideology, whilst its objects are interpersonal relationships and mutuality.
• Subject of the inter-individual stage (Order 5) is "the interpenetrability of self-systems", whilst its objects are the individual's authorship, identity, and ideology.

Loosely, one can think of ...

• the first and second orders as egocentric (me),
• the third order as ethnocentric (us),
• the fourth and fifth orders as worldcentric (all of us).

If one grows from egocentric to ethnocentric, one doesn't stop caring about oneself, but that care and concern is now extended to one's family, community, nation, and so on. Likewise with the growth from ethnocentric to worldcentric, that care is now extended to all people regardless of race, class, creed, gender, etc.

One of the most complete ways to illustrate how levels of developmental complexity exist in the subjective, intersubjective, objective, and interobjective aspects of reality is the diagram:

The Five Orders of Consciousness exist in the intentional (I) quadrant, but their influence permeates the behavioral (it), cultural (we), and social (its) quadrants. Likewise, those domains can influence the speed at which one does or does not evolve through the Five Orders.

(information and inspiration from http://integrallife.com/ken-wilber-dialogues/over-our-heads)