Document Category: Published Manuscript
| Title | Summary | Categories | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1937_Dabrowski_Psychological Bases of Self-Mutilation_Manuscript_Published | … | Published Manuscript | |
| 1975_Piechowski_A Theoretical and Empirical Approach to the Study of Development | Developmental psychology, in spite of its dynamic growth, has not, thus far, generated a general theory of human development. Present developmental theories are either cognitive or ontogenetic, or both. All are descriptive. Their powers of explanation are limited. None of them include emotional development. It is argued that a theory of development in order to claim generality must (a) include emotional development, and (b) offer means of explaining, rather than only describing, developmental transformations. A nonontogenetic theory of development, called theory of positive disintegration, appears to fulfill these conditions. It is built on Jacksonian principles of evolution of levels of functioning. The central concept of the theory is that of multilevelness of developmental phenomena. Development is seen to be a function of the level of behavioral organization. The theory defines five levels. Each level constitutes a distinct structure. The dynamic elements of the structure of each level are identified. Positive disintegration is the name for the process by which the structure of a higher level replaces the structure of a lower one. The theory explains different developmental patterns by introducing the concept of developmental potential (DP). Although DP is a purely logical notion, it is given observable dimensions designated as dimensions of mental functioning. There are five of these and they correspond to psychomotor, sensual, imaginational, intellectual, and emotional modes of functioning. The first half of the monograph is devoted to the conceptual structure of the theory. The second half to empirical tests of the … | Published Manuscript | |
| 1977_Dabrowski_Piechowski_Vol 1 | Theory of Levels of Emotional Development, Volume … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| 1979_Piechowski_Developmental Potential | Today’s concept of giftedness has been broadened to include considerably more than academic capability as measured by I.Q. tests, yet, the call for broader conceptualization has essentially resulted in further test orientation. There is a need for a model that would enable one to conceptualize giftedness in terms other than testable skills. This paper presents a psychological model of giftedness that accounts for intellective and non-intellective dimensions, especially those of imagination and feeling. The model rests on the concept of developmental potential taken from a theory of human development. The value of this concept lies in that it gives readily identifiable components: special talents and abilities and five forms of psychic overexcitability: psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational, and emotional. Specific examples of expressions of overexcitability identified in case data with gifted are … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| 1981_Gage, Morse & Piechowski | According to the theory of positive disintegration there are distinct levels of emotional and personality development that are not tied to specific chronological ages. The present study sought (a) to develop a set of methods for assessing a person’s developmental level, and (b) to assess the convergent and discriminant validity of the methods. Over a period of one month, eight college seniors wrote autobiographies and completed four other measures. Three of the four new methods exhibited consistent convergent and discriminant validity. The relative advantages and disadvantages of the various methods are … | Document, Piechowski archive, Published Manuscript | |
| 1982_Self-Actualization Profile of Eleanor Roosevelt | Piechowski and Tyska present a detailed case study of Eleanor Roosevelt as a self-actualizing individual, following Piechowski’s (1978) study of Saint-Exupéry. Analysis of 197 biographical statements produced a self-actualization profile strikingly similar to Saint-Exupéry’s, despite their representing Maslow’s two proposed types—the nontranscending “doer” and the transcending “seer.” The study identified two new traits not in Maslow’s original list—Humility and Equitableness—and argued that what the two self-actualizers shared may be more significant than the distinction between … | Document, Piechowski archive, Published Manuscript | |
| 1985_Schiever_Creative Personality Characteristics and Dimensions of Mental Functioning in Gifted Adolescents | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| 1986_Gallagher_A Comparison of the Concept of Overexcitabilities with Measures of Creativity and School Achievement in Sixth-Grade Students | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| 1992_Etty Hillesum “The Thinking Heart of the Barracks” | “The thinking heart of the barracks” is how Etty Hillesum described herself when she was an inmate of a German concentration camp in World War II. She entered voluntarily to prepare herself for the inevitable end. Her diary is the story of her inner transformation, of being within herself a battlefield for the problems of our times, of finding joy and inner peace in the face of persecution, suffering and death. Love perfected her will-love for people and love for God. Her diary is one of the most detailed records of the work of love and will that makes advanced development … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| 1992_Morelock_Giftedness_The View from Within | Morelock, Martha J. (1992) Giftedness: The view from within. Understanding Our Gifted, 4(3), … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| 1998_Falk_Miller_The Reflexive Self | … | Published Manuscript | |
| 2003_From William James to Maslow and Dabrowski | This chapter introduces theoretical bridges between Maslow’s construct of self-actualization, Dąbrowski’s theory of emotional development, Bandura’s model of the self-system, and Gardner’s concept of intrapersonal intelligence. Piechowski argues that self-actualization fits into Level IV of Dąbrowski’s five levels of development, and that Bandura’s self-system furnishes the component processes of self-evaluation that Dąbrowski’s theory gains its emotional fuel from. Where Gardner equated intrapersonal intelligence with introspection, Piechowski complements it with the dynamics of inner transformation, proposing that the concept must be extended to include the multilevel process of inner growth that produces a highly developed sense of self. Drawing on William James’s observation that moral action follows the line of greatest resistance, Piechowski traces the developmental potential for self-actualization and moral vigor through detailed case material, including the lives of Etty Hillesum, Peace Pilgrim, Eleanor Roosevelt, Dag Hammarskjöld, and Gandhi. He presents Miller’s criteria for assessing levels of development, reviews the five dimensions of overexcitability as channels of felt experience, examines emotional growth in gifted adolescents, and explores the overlap between emotional giftedness and positive maladjustment. The chapter concludes by arguing that Dąbrowski’s theory, in its broadest sense, is a theory of emotional development, moral development, and inner change at the core of the self, and that the availability of models for these inner processes makes it possible to recognize signs of potential for self-actualization and advanced development in young … | Document, Piechowski archive, Published Manuscript | |
| 2008_Piechowski_Discovering Dabrowski’s Theory | Piechowski recounts his collaboration with Dąbrowski beginning in 1967, the development of the theory’s formal structure, and the content analysis method he devised to identify dynamisms and overexcitabilities in autobiographical material. The chapter traces the empirical tests that emerged from the multilevelness research project, the correspondence between Maslow’s self-actualization and Level IV, the conserving/transforming distinction, and a reconsidered view of primary integration as reflecting social conditions rather than personality structure. Piechowski also argues that unilevel growth deserves greater respect, drawing on Women’s Ways of Knowing, and notes the existence of rare individuals who function at advanced levels without undergoing positive … | Published Manuscript | |
| 2014_Rethinking Dabrowski’s Theory: I. The Case Against Primary Integration | Abstract: Some terms of Dabrowski’s theory are misleading. The construct of level and the concepts of integration and disintegration mean different things. The concept of primary integration as a starting point for personality development is untenable in light of research on child development. In its place, Level I as a type of development that is constrained by social pressures and the effort to succeed in life will serve better. Milgram’s studies of obedience and Bandura’s of the ways of bypassing one’s conscience are sufficient to explain how the Level I type of integration can take hold of a person. The descriptive term of disintegration is too extreme and too limiting to enclose the diversity of processes at each level that also include partial integration. Common errors that have crept into the usage of the theory are identified and … | Document, Piechowski archive, Published Manuscript | |
| 2016_Vuyk_Krieshok_Kerr_Openness to Experience Rather Than Overexcitabilities | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| 2019_Dabrowski_Types of Increased Psychic Excitability | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| 2019_Gallagher_Epistemological Differences Between Gifted and Typically Developing Middle School Students | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| 2021_Piechowski_Wells_Reexamining Overexcitability | Piechowski and Wells present the five overexcitabilities as a framework for understanding the intense experience of gifted and creative children, with detailed descriptions, first-person examples, and practical strategies for accommodating each type. The chapter addresses the overlap between overexcitabilities and diagnosable conditions such as ADHD and autism, arguing against dichotomous thinking and in favor of a neurodiversity perspective grounded in Dąbrowski’s earlier work. It also discusses asynchronous development, multilevel processes in adolescence, and the connection between overexcitabilities, emotional tension, and self-harm, positioning the theory as a forerunner to the neurodiversity … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| 2022_Gallagher_Openness to Experience and Overexcitabilities in a Sample of Highly Gifted Middle School Students | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| 2024_Piechowski_Setting the Record Straight | This is a strange case where one author criticizes another for the exact opposite of what that author said. References are cited but never a single quotation to support the misguided criticism. The aim of this paper is to set the record straight. In particular, Piechowski never suggested that the first two levels be dropped from Dąbrowski’s theory, yet Chojnowski (2023) repeatedly asserts that he did. Developmental potential, a key concept in the theory, not only is included in almost all Piechowski’s works but he has developed an empirical formula for it, yet Chojnowski claims that Piechowski makes developmental potential almost irrelevant in favor of the environment. Furthermore, in his theoretical speculations, Chojnowski comes up with notions about developmental potential that are directly contradicted by how Dąbrowski defined it. The same can be said of his ideas about the second level in the theory of positive disintegration. This strange case also raises questions about the review process because the reviewers appear to have been uncritical and … | Piechowski archive, Published Manuscript | |
| 2025_Falk_Wells_Kazimierz Dabrowski | … | Published Manuscript | |
| 2025_Wells_Mentors, Meaning, and Metamorphosis | … | Published Manuscript | |
| A Suicide Therapist’s Secret Past by Stacey Freedenthal | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Grant_1996 | … | Published Manuscript | |
| Grant1990 | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Grant2021 | Overexcitabilities and Openness to Experience Are Not the Same: A Critique of a Study and Reflections on Theory, Ethics, and … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Lester_Lessons from the Borderline | Lessons from the … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Mika2012 | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Mika2018 | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Miller & Silverman 1987 | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Nasierowski2006 | In the Abyss of Death by T. … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Nelson_1989 | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Ogburn-Colangelo 1979 | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Richardson (2000) Evaluating Ethnography | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Roeper1982 | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Silverman 2009 | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Silverman 2009 My Love Affair with Dabrowski’s Theory | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Silverman_1980_Gifts for the Gifted | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| SilvermanEllsworth1981 | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| SilvermanMiller2009 | … | Document, Published Manuscript | |
| Wells & Falk Origins and Conceptual Evolution of OE | … | Published Manuscript, Video | |
| Wells Inner Experience of Giftedness | … | Published Manuscript | |
| Zakreski 2018 | … | Document, Published Manuscript |