High self-esteem is something we, Americans, all want. To be sure, a similar obsession with self-esteem is rarely, if ever, found in other civilized countries, whose languages often do not even possess an adequate equivalent of the term.

For some time now, experts in the field of giftedness have been searching for and creating theoretical models of development, which could be applied to the gifted population. Kazimierz Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD) shows a great promise as such a universal theory of development proposed above (Dabrowski, 1970).

Development is a progression from primary integration characterized by rigid, instinctual egocentrism to conscious altruism based on empathy, compassion and self-awareness, expressed the fullest at the highest level of development, the level of secondary integration.