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 people.