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It was a time of psychological ‘bricks and mortar’ – when personality frameworks posed that building a personality was much like building a house. You started with a foundation, that was laid in childhood, and you slowly built yourself over time.

But one man saw it differently. Instead of concrete, he saw Lego – something which was designed to be demolished, pulled apart, and fashioned into something completely new.

The birth of the theory of positive disintegration

Kazimierz Dąbrowski (1902-1980), was a Polish psychologist and psychiatrist. War affected his life greatly – both the aftermath of World War I, and two stints of war-driven incarceration (by the Nazis, and later Stalin).

The straightforward linear theories of his time didn’t reflect what he had seen. Most theories common at that time, marked psychological growth merely by the passage of biological time, or by building on former levels – a person simply ‘built on top of’ what they already had.

He couldn’t find an adequate way to explain how people behaved, because the theories of the day failed to capture both the highs and lows of humanity which he had witnessed. Failed to account for how people could change dramatically from trauma. People were vastly different, and their personality shifted over time, often through suffering and strife (much like he experienced during war).

So, Dabrowski started to study people who he believed were exemplars in society – those who embodied the best that human beings had to give. He started to believe that advanced development requires the break-down of lower psychological structures through a process he called ‘positive disintegration’. This led him to develop a five levelled theory of personality growth.

Levels aren’t Levels

Dabrowski described the shifting of personality as an individual left behind “who they were” and grew to become “who they ought to be”. Those parts of ourselves, and values, which no longer served a person, were pulled apart and ‘disintegrated’ to make way for something new. Rather than build on top of who you were, you demolished it, and rebuilt. More than that, we can rebuild many times during our life, and across many dimensions of our personality.

His five levels are based on the various types on disintegration and integration. However, it’s important to understand that Dabrowski didn’t use the word “level” the way we use it today (like when we talk about video games). Levels aren’t a straight progression through to the next Boss Enemy. They are more like types of disintegration which we can experience at different times, and in different ways. We can also go through cycles of growth, which means we can experience disintegration more than once.

Below is a brief summary of the five types of personality development and what a person can expect to go through:

Primary Integration (Level 1):

This is where all your mental functions act in a cohesive way, but they are based on society’s values and primitive urges. There is no disintegration at this stage.

People learn socially appropriate behaviour, particularly as children. It’s how we learn to live with those around us. For example, you learn that when sitting listening to a funeral eulogy, you are not supposed to laugh. You need to sit still and be respectful and quiet.

As you can understand, these habits and norms can be deeply ingrained, and are repeated and practiced from an early age. Much of your life is spent learning how to think and behave as other people do, and it’s exactly how social media influencers make a living. This is the point where we are not giving conscious thought or reflection on our values and behaviours, and are instead relying on those social rules to help us decide how to act, and what is right and wrong.

Unilevel disintegration (Level 2)

The first type of disintegration, where things ‘come undone’. We experience feelings of confusion about ‘the way things are’, disharmony, and a continuous going-over of ‘pros’ and ‘cons’.

It is ‘Unilevel’, because there is where there is no clear direction. Values sit on the same ‘level’ and there is no obvious ‘up’ or ‘down’ – no better or worse choices on how to feel and behave. You have not yet started to sort through your values, and make decisions about what is ‘more like you’ and what is ‘less like you’ (in other words, what is true to your heart, and what isn’t a good fit).

It can be stressful, and depressing, and many of us who have felt completely lost in life can relate. It can also be risky:

“Prolonged states of unilevel disintegration (level 2) end either in a reintegration at the former primitive level or in suicidal tendencies, or in a psychosis”

(Dąbrowski, 1970, p. 135).

This is a stage of emotional reactions, and feelings, but they are feelings with no clear direction. You are, to put it bluntly, lost. But if you can work through your problems and reflect on your self and what your true values are, something else might happen…

Spontaneous multilevel disintegration (Level 3)

At level 3, you see the difference between ‘better’ and ‘worse’ values in life. Higher and lower. So, your disintegration, now having higher and lower, becomes ‘Multilevel’.

But rather than this clarity making it all better, it can actually lead to more angst. This is because you start comparing yourself, and the world, against the way you think things should be.

Regret at past actions. Shame, when you catch yourself doing something you know you shouldn’t (like laughing at someone else’s misfortune, acting jealously towards a partner, or thinking spiteful thoughts). This misalignment between how we perceive we should be behaving, and how we are behaving, can be quite a shock.

“… astonishment with oneself, disquietude with oneself, dissatisfaction with oneself, feelings of shame and guilt, feeling of inferiority toward oneself. The individual searches not only for novelty, but for something higher; he searches for examples and models in his external environment and in himself. He starts to feel the difference between a higher and a lower level. We can notice the formation of the critical awareness of oneself and other people…”

(Dąbrowski, 1970, p. 22).

Again, this stage is one of emotional reactions, and feelings. But in this case, they are acting like carrots and sticks, or spurs to correct ourselves. All the uncomfortable feelings tell you what you shouldn’t be doing. The good feelings tell you what you should do. You may not be acting on these feelings yet, but they are giving you clear directions.

You are still at risk of reverting back, or experiencing negative disintegration. But if you keep pushing through, and self-reflecting, there is hope. Just keep holding yourself to any new values and lessons you gain from the process for dear life, reminding yourself of who you ‘ought to be’, and continue working on yourself…

Organized multilevel disintegration (Level 4)

Dabrowski calls this “organised” disintegration, because you now have a level of conscious control.

“conscious organization and direction of the processes of disintegration towards secondary integration and personality”

(Dąbrowski, 1970, p. 165).

Rather than being moved by emotional reactions, you are taking action. Where the carrots and sticks were pointing you in the right direction before, now you are walking the walk. You are taking action to align your behaviours to your self-determined values.

At level 4, you make decisive steps to act on your new values, based on your ideas of ‘better’ and ‘worse’. You see the way the world ‘ought to be’ and ‘should be’, and try to act in a way that reflects your true character.

This is where you start to be your authentic self.

You’ll still have moments of doubt. Moments of anxiety. You’re not quite out of the disintegration woods yet. But things will be getting better, the more you do the work.

Secondary Integration (Level 5)

At level 5 you become integrated again. Rebuilt and new. There is no conflict and no disintegration anymore.

It should be said that vey few people ever reach this point, and if you are choosing your own path and controlling your behaviours, and doing the hard work, you should be damned proud of yourself!

But there are some people who do make it this far. Those exemplars who Dabrowski studied. People like Socrates and Michaelangeo – you know, the really great humans who live true to their hearts and make the world a better place… The ones we all aspire to be like.

“…a new organization and harmonization of personality… There appears a growing need to transcend the sensory, ‘verifiable’ reality toward the empirical reality which can be attained through intuition, contemplation, and ecstasy rather than through the senses”

(Dąbrowski, 1970, p. 22).

Finally, you are able to live as your true and authentic self, in line with your own values, without conflict, and without suffering.

If you’re like me, you’re never going to get that far. But having understood Dabrowski’s theory, and the suffering and hard work a person needs to go through to completely rebuild themselves, I have a new appreciation for both Dabrowski, and the people he held up to this standard!