Robert Kegan

Dr. Robert Kegan is a developmental psychologist and the author of numerous books, including the highly influential The Evolving Self (1982).

Kegan's Stages
In The Evolving Self, Kegan presents a model of psychological development as consisting of six "equilibrium stages": the incorporative stage, the impulsive stage, the imperial stage, the interpersonal stage, the institutional stage, and the inter-individual stage. The object of each stage is the subject of the preceding stage.

The subject of the incorporative stage are reflexes, and it has no object. The subjects of the impulsive stage are the individual's impulses and perceptions, and its objects are the reflexes. The subject of the imperial stage are the individual's needs, interests, and desires, and its objects are the individual's impulses and perceptions. The subject of the interpersonal stage are interpersonal relationships and mutuality, and its objects are the individual's needs, interests, and desires. The subject of the institutional stage are the individual's authorship, identity, and ideology, and its objects are the individual's needs, interests, and desires. The subject of the inter-individual stage is "the interpenetrability of self-systems", and its objects are the individual's authorship, identity, and ideology.


 * 1) Incorporative stage
 * 2) *Subject: reflexes
 * 3) *Object: nothing
 * 4) Impulsive stage
 * 5) *Subject: impulses, perceptions
 * 6) *Object: reflexes
 * 7) Imperial stage
 * 8) *Subject: needs, interests, desires
 * 9) *Object: impulsive, perceptions
 * 10) Interpersonal stage
 * 11) *Subject: interpersonal relationships, mutuality
 * 12) *Object: needs, interests, desires
 * 13) Institutional stage
 * 14) *Subject: authorship, identity, ideology
 * 15) *Object: interpersonal relationships, mutuality
 * 16) Inter-individual stage
 * 17) *Subject: "the interpenetrability of self-systems"
 * 18) *Object: authorship, identity, ideology

Notable works

 * (with T. Wagner and L. Lahey) Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools, 2005
 * (with L. Lahey) How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work: Seven Languages for Transformation, 2000
 * In Over Our Heads: the Mental Demands of Modern Life, 1994
 * The Evolving Self, 1982