Next, according to Dabrowski, each level of positive disintegration represents a qualitatively distinct, relatively stable, and coherent structure. In addition to the first factor representing innate constitutional and biological potentialities of the organism (nature) and the second factor representing all social environmental influences (nurture), Dabrowski introduced the third factor that represents the autonomous forces of self-directed development and conscious choices and decision in relation to personal growth. Secondly, the TPD refers to psychological multilevel development and depends on individual's developmental potential- a complex concept containing three factors, special abilities and talents, and five forms of psychic over-excitability. He states that nervousness and psychoneurotic symptoms (anxiety, obsessions, depression) are necessary for human growth and are the signs of the beginning of an advancing process of positive transformation. Dabrowski stresses the importance of 'emotional turbulence' in the transition from the lower to the higher levels of psychological development.

However, TPD is still relatively unknown as a theory of human development.įirst of all, Dabrowski's ideas converge with contemporary theories of personality development based on the concept of self-organization. Over the past forty years, TPD has been successfully applied to the field of gifted education and the study of gifted development. Kazimierz Dabrowski (1902-1980), a Polish psychiatrist and psychologist, developed this theory over a lifetime of clinical and academic work. The TPD describes and explains mechanisms of human development with a great emphasis on emotional growth. In one of my articles, I described the Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD) as a 'revolutionary' theory of human development. The article analyzes the TPD through the perspective of subjective time (mental time travel) and shows that each level of TPD expresses different awareness of subjective time and the developmental dynamisms are grounded in strong anticipation.ĭabrowski, The theory of positive disintegration, Future, Retrospection, Prospection, Mental time travel, Anticipation According to Dabrowski, positive disintegration is characterized by a transition from narrow to a broad understanding of reality, involving the capacity for reflecting on one's past history (retrospection) and for envisaging future of one's personal growth (prospection).

This article presents Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD) as future-oriented psychology. The Theory of Positive Disintegration as Future-Oriented Psychology

Positive disintegration experience