More about the Integral model

The Integral approach is often represented by the acronym AQAL ("all-quadrants, all-levels"), which is shorthand for the multiple aspects of reality recognized in an Integral approach. There are at least five recurring elements that comprise an Integral approach: quadrants, levels, lines, states, and types. These five components represent the basic patterns of reality that reoccur in multiple contexts. To exclude an element in any inquiry or exploration is to settle for a less comprehensive understanding or a reduced participatory engagement. By including these basic elements, Integral practitioners ensure that they are considering the main aspects of any phenomena: all-quadrants, all-levels, all-lines, all-states, and all-types.

The first element, all-quadrants, refers to the basic perspectives an individual can take on reality: the interior and exterior of individuals and collectives, which is often summarized as the following four dimensions: experience ("I"; subjectivity), culture ("We"; intersubjectivity), behavior ("It"; objectivity), and systems ("Its"; interobjectivity). Each of these perspective-dimensions is irreducible, and has its own validity claim (i.e., truthfulness, justness, truth, and functional fit) and methods of investigation.

The next four elements of the Integral model arise in each of the four quadrants: all-levels refers to the occurrence of complexity within each dimension (e.g., the levels of physical complexity achieved by evolution in the behavior quadrant); all-lines refers to the various distinct capacities that develop through each of these levels of complexity (e.g., the developmental capacities of cognition, emotions, and morality in the experience quadrant); all-states refers to the temporary occurrence of any aspect of reality within the four quadrants (e.g., the occurrence of weather states in the systems quadrant); and all-types refers to the variety of styles that aspects of reality assume in various domains (e.g., types of festivals in the cultural quadrant). The use of these five elements within the context of the Integral approach provides any scholar-practitioner with a powerful set of distinctions for transforming themselves, their personal and professional relationships, and the world.

Read a complete introduction to the Integral approach here.