The concept of Ego-Development as developed by Jane Loevinger (1976) represents an important and original approach to understanding personality and its development. Her empirically derived description of qualitative changes in personality growth can be counted amongst the most important achievements of personality and developmental psychology (Westenberg, 1998). Recent reviews and meta-analyses (e.g. Cohn & Westenberg, 2004; Manners & Durkin, 2001) have found substantial empirical support for the soundness of her theory and method of measurement (WUSCT).
The more than 350 empirical studies on Ego-Development are mostly done by developmental or personality researchers concerned with basic research. Only a small number of studies are in the field of applied research. Interestingly, for a concept that touches on such a wide range of aspects, there are only a few studies that analyze the impact of Ego-Development in the business world. This too despite the fact that many other personality tests are so widely used in business.
This presentation will show what the impact of different stages of Ego-Development in business settings could be and how crucial these aspects are for managers and consultants in their daily work. Research findings from other professions (e.g. Rooke & Torbert, 1998), often unknown by developmental and personality researchers, will also be presented. This will show how developmental, personality and business psychology can be fruitful for each other.

Literature:• Cohn, L.D. & Westenberg, P.M. (2004). Intelligence and maturity: Meta-analytic evidence for the incremental and discriminant validity of Loevinger\'s measure of ego development. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 760-772.
• Loevinger, J. (1976). Ego Development. Conceptions and theories. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Manners, J. & Durkin, K. (2001). A critical review of the validity of ego development theory and its measurement. Journal of Personality Assessment, 77, 541-567.
• Rooke, D. & Torbert, W. (1998). Organizational transformation as a function of CEO´s developmental stage. Organization Development Journal 16 (1), 11-28.
• Westenberg, P., Blasi, A. & Cohn, L.D. (Ed.) (1998): Personality Development. Theoretical, Empirical and Clinical Investigations of Loevinger´s Conception of Ego Development. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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