Dear Reader,
Ken Wilber's Integral AQAL (All Quadrants, All Levels) theory offers a comprehensive framework to understand human consciousness and experience, while personality types provide valuable insights into personal relationships and development. By integrating personality types into the framework of Integral AQAL, we can gain a more nuanced understanding of ourselves and our partners, leading to healthier, happier, and more fulfilling relationships.
Before delving into how Integral AQAL can be enriched by considering personality types in intimate relationships, let's briefly review the fundamentals of this theory. Integral AQAL is a holistic framework developed by Ken Wilber that suggests that human experience can be understood from multiple perspectives, encapsulated by four key dimensions or quadrants: the Individual Interior (I), the Individual Exterior (It), the Collective Interior (We), and the Collective Exterior (Its). Below is a very brief overview of what the quadrants include.
Each quadrant also contains lines, levels, stages, and states.
Lines of development can be horizontal (increase in skill) or vertical (qualitative transformation) and include the self, emotional, and relational among others.
Stages range from egocentric (self-focused) to ethnocentric (own culture-focused) to world-centric and further beyond.
States, on the other hand, describes a more short-term form of awareness, e.g. someone might be dreaming, awake, or experiencing an emotional state.
Considering all these occur within each quadrants helps create a more comprehensive understanding of human experience.
A common criticism of personality types viewed through the Myers-Briggs questionnaire (MBTI(r)) is that they are perceived to "put you in a box." This is not how I use the Type lens in my work, or indeed in my own life, and it is not how Wilber uses Type in his model.
A Type pattern explains the predisposition or preference to use your brain in a certain way. Paraphrasing Dr. Linda Berens' example, much like you won't get a pine tree from an acorn, you also won't get an ISTJ out of an ENFP. Consequently, each Type will have different interpretations of each quadrant.
Personality Types provide insight into how individuals perceive the world, make decisions, interact with others, and how they develop over time. When applied in conjunction with Integral AQAL, integrated Type offers a deeper layer of understanding within each quadrant (see also this here).
1. Individual Interior (I) Quadrant: Self-Awareness and Personality
In this quadrant, we can explore how an individual's personality type influences their thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and values. For instance, introverted individuals (I) have a more nuanced internal world compared to extroverted individuals (E), while those with a thinking (T) preference may approach relationships more logically than those with a feeling (F) preference.
Actionable Tips:
2. Individual Exterior (It) Quadrant: Behavior and Personality
The individual exterior quadrant relates to how an individual's behavior and actions manifest in the external world. Your Personality Type significantly influences communication styles, conflict resolution approaches, and relationship dynamics.
Actionable Tips:
3. Collective Interior (We) Quadrant: Personality and Shared Values
Within this quadrant, we can explore how collective values, norms, and cultural contexts interact with personality types. Different cultures may emphasize certain expectations or behaviors, which can impact relationships.
Actionable Tips:
4. Collective Exterior (Its) Quadrant: Personality and External Support Structures
The collective exterior quadrant addresses how external factors like social support, institutions, and environmental conditions intersect with personality types. For instance, an individual's personality may influence their career choices or their interactions with extended family members.
Actionable Tips:
5. Integrating Personality Developmental Stages
Incorporating personality development stages into the Integral AQAL framework allows us to consider how individuals' personalities evolve and mature over time. Just as there are developmental stages in consciousness, there are also stages of personality growth.
Actionable Tips:
6. Balancing Quadrants and Personality Types
Achieving a balance among the four quadrants, or even among your Type's four most prominent cognitive functions may not be possible; most likely, things will swing back and forth between two or three, and go around in circles at times. Having said that, being aware of all the different pieces that make up your human puzzle is the first step.
Actionable Tips:
7. Continuous Learning and Adaptation
Integral AQAL emphasizes ongoing learning and adaptation. Incorporating personality types into this framework encourages individuals to remain flexible and open to understanding their partners' evolving personalities.
Actionable Tips:
To sum up, when we integrate personality types into the framework of Ken Wilber's Integral AQAL theory, we gain a deeper and more nuanced understanding of all the different pieces that make up intimate personal relationships.
As always, if you'd like to talk through what this might look like in your specific situation, let me know!
Cheers,
Subscribe for personality-based tools and insights to help you create fulfilling relationships. Healthier, Happier Relationships Start Here!
Dear Reader, It's getting colder up here in the Northern hemisphere, and there's just something about hot teas and cozy sweaters that makes me want to curl up with a cheesy novel or watch rom coms. However, the more I work with actual clients in actual relationships, and the more I learn about intimacy and relational dynamics, the less I can enjoy these books and movies. Not going to yuck your yum, there's no shame in consuming romance as a not-so-guilty pleasure! But can we talk about how...
Dear Reader, In June, I facilitated an MBTI(r) workshop with a team of 19 participants. When it came to reviewing their reports, one participant explained why their results were absolutely off: they have ADHD and answering the forced-choice questionnaire with the wording “would you rather…” was confusing: they would rather do one thing, but their brain won’t let them. When it comes to identifying the motivations for your behavior, how do you know what is Type, and what is neurodiversity? We...
Dear Reader, After 17 years in the United States, Modesto and I will be moving back to Spain in November. It was always an eventuality, yet the reality of it is beginning to sink in - in a big way. Going through boxes of accumulated memories to figure out what to keep and what to donate is an emotional experience every time. Although given my background, you’d think I’d be a pro at it by now. Born and raised in Germany, I have been an expat (i.e., not lived in Germany) since 1997. It started...