Developmental
Research Institute

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Nonprofit · Human Development Research

Advancing the Science of Human Development

DRI conducts and shares research that helps people better understand human development across the lifespan, empowering educators, organizations, communities, and practitioners to navigate an increasingly complex world.
Explore Our Research
Our Mission

Why It Matters

Why Human Development Matters

Today’s most complex challenges cannot be solved by information alone. They also require a deeper understanding of how people develop—the ways we think, learn, relate to others, collaborate, lead, and respond to complexity. Developmental research helps explain how these capacities emerge in childhood and continue evolving across the lifespan. DRI advances this science so families, educators, practitioners, organizations, and communities can better support healthy development at every stage of life.

20+

Published Studies

25+

Years Advancing Developmental Science

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Countries Represented

[#]+

Practitioners, Educators & Leaders Reached

ABOUT DRI

Research That Serves Humanity

The Developmental Research Institute supports individuals, practitioners, educators, and organizations seeking a deeper understanding of human development across the lifespan and its application in practice.

Our purpose is to support the development of humanity through investigating the unfolding of consciousness in individuals and collectives, providing guidance for models of evolution and how they affect all efforts at improving policy and approaches to education, organizational, culture change and spiritual development.

— DRI Purpose Statement

Learn about DRI
Table of the STAGES Matrix showing twelve developmental stages, 1.0 Impulsive through 6.5 Illumined, classified by tier, social preference, and learning sequence.

Advancing the Validation Research Behind STAGES

A 2021 conference summary of the research validating the STAGES developmental model, covering convergent validity, inter-rater reliability, longitudinal change, and Rasch analysis across multiple studies.

Read Study
A diverse group of adults seated in a circle during a counseling or support group discussion, listening attentively as one person speaks in a warm, light-filled setting.

WHAT WE DO

Four Pillars of Our Mission

DRI works across research, education, publication, and community to make developmental science accessible and useful in the world.

Research and science: watercolor illustration of a golden spiral overlaid on a network of connected points, framed by trailing green leaves.

Research

Conducting studies that ground research in application, and application in research

Education: watercolor illustration of a large tree at sunrise with people of different ages seated and gathered beneath it.

Education

Making developmental science accessible to counselors, educators, and practitioners

Publications: watercolor illustration of an open book with light rising from its pages and a bird in flight above it, framed by leafy branches.

Publication

A clearinghouse of references and research documenting human development across the lifespan

Community: watercolor illustration of five figures in blue and gold joining hands in a circle around a central flowering motif, ringed by foliage.

Community

Connecting an international community of researchers, practitioners, and educators

Our approach

From Theory to Evidence

Many frameworks describe how people grow. Few can measure it. DRI’s work rests on turning developmental theory into validated, repeatable measurement.

Observe

Decades of Developmental Theory

Building on Loevinger’s ego development research, developmental science describes how meaning-making matures from early childhood through late adulthood.

Measure

A Validated Instrument

The STAGES model translates theory into a scoring system with peer-reviewed evidence for inter-rater reliability, convergent validity, and longitudinal growth.

Apply

Evidence in Practice

Validated measurement lets educators, counselors, and organizations ground their work in evidence rather than intuition alone.

Explore the Frameworks

OUR REACH

A Global Community of Practice

Developmental Research Institute serves an international community of researchers, educators, practitioners, and organizational leaders advancing the science of human development across the lifespan. Now headquartered in Montana, DRI continues to foster research, education, and collaboration with partners around the world while expanding partnerships throughout Montana.

Connect with DRI

Support the Development of Humanity

DRI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Every study we publish is made freely available to the educators, counselors, and researchers who put it to work. Your gift keeps this research moving.

Support DRI