MEANING OF DISINTEGRATION SERIES

Attention has been drawn to the risk of using the concept of overexcitabilites outside the context of the whole TPD theoretical framework ( Mendaglio and Tillier, 2006), as overexcitabilities are only one (the first factor) of three factors influencing personality development. To date, empirical evidence showing how overexcitabilities correspond (or not) to known psychological constructs is scant (but see Rinn and Reynolds, 2012 Vuyk et al., 2016). The theory has a following in the realm of gifted education where some components of the theory (overexcitabilities) are sometimes used to identify gifted pupils. The potential of any individual to develop their personality relates to three factors: (1) genetic attributes, also called overexcitabilities (psychomotor, sensual, imaginational, intellectual, and emotional) (2) the environment (3) the inner motivation to develop one's personality (called the third factor) ( Dabrowski et al., 1972). The theory stipulates that neither ontogeny nor intelligence influences the level at which a person will find themselves. To explain how a person might be undergoing personality development, dynamisms (e.g., disquietude with oneself, subject-object in oneself) are used to explain the feelings of a person when they transit from one level to another ( Dabrowski, 1964) ( Figure 1).

MEANING OF DISINTEGRATION SERIES

In the TPD, the path to personality development is expressed as a series of levels represented by the Roman numerals I–V ( Figure 1). The implications of the TPD are that symptoms of poor mental health may not always be negative, but part of a necessary process which lets individuals who successfully navigate those difficult inner-states grow to be the best version of themselves.

The characteristics of this theory is that some signs of mental illness (e.g., neurosis, anxiety) along what is often considered a person's flaws (e.g., nervousness, maladjustment) are seen as positive signs that a person is developing their personality toward their “personality ideal” (i.e., the best, most altruistic, and worthy version of themselves) ( Dabrowski, 1964 Dabrowski and Joshi, 1972). The theory of positive disintegration (TPD) is a complex theory of personality development elaborated by K.

Meaning of disintegration