https://spiraldynamicsintegral.nl/en/overview-value-systems/ You can learn more about Spiral Dynamics a model of different value systems each with their own characteristics.

I’m still learning Spiral Dynamics but I have found it immensely useful and have added some concepts borrowed from psychoanalysis to flesh out how to apply it as a measure of personal development and needs in individuals.

I lay out 4 aspects of self that each are typed for individuals, they are the Ego(core), Shadow, Animix(gender neutral anima/animus) and Persona.

To illustrate how this looks in practice. Someone may consciously think primarily in terms of harmony and equality, so Green would be their Ego typing. They have significant unintegrated anger issues so they would have a red Shadow. They may be inspired by the holism and broad interconnected perspective of Turquoise, and have a Turquoise Animix serving a sense of what’s possible and inspiration for growth. And they work in marketing because their skillset and personality happen to align with such and so they have an orange Persona, public role and presentation. The intensity or fullness of development of these different aspects of self are rated out of 5 as well. With a 0 being not present, 1 meaning mildly influential, a 5 meaning fully present and powerfully pushed.

Let’s say the person in the above example has worked a lot on peaceful communication with others and have a strong robust skillset in harmonizing to their inner world and to that of others. They would have an intensity of 5 for their ego. The aforementioned issues with anger and rage are moderate, they struggle with them but mostly keep them under wraps but still have occasional blow ups. They would have an intensity of 2 for their Shadow. This person only has a mild awareness of the value and potentials of Turquoise, and they only have mild external support or reinforcement to back this. They have an intensity of 2 for their Animix. They are heavily engaged and preoccupied with being effective and measured in their workplace, but not extremely proficient, I would say they have an intensity of 4 for their Persona.

Their typing: Ego: Green(5), Shadow: Red(2), Animix: Turquoise(2), Persona: Orange(4)

To be clear people have Shadows on multiple stages, it is possible to have Shadows on all the stages below your Ego type, but also to skip layers. It’s possible for someone to have the shutdown and helplessness of Beige but not the rage of Red. It may be helpful to evaluate the intensity of each layer for personal reflection around needs and trauma. The one that will be considered for one’s typing is the lowest Shadow that is at least 2/5 in intensity. The Animix also works the same way just reversed so it is the highest Color that at least a 2/5 color in intensity. Though the Animix typing of intensity per color also serves as a way to measure inertia towards integration of Shadow colors from one’s own color and below all the way down to the stage above the Shadow layer.

Shadow Stages Manifestations

Beige: traumatic shut-down, feeling helpless inside, sense of immobilized worthlessness and terror, basic life force diminished and desperation to feel enough safety to feel basic existence. Originates from unintegrated overwhelming life-threatening experiences, or traumatic situations that are experienced to the nervous system as such including but not limited to severely unaccomodated neurodivergence or experiences of sexual assault.
Purple: chaotic disorganized enmeshment, us vs them mindset about clan-like identities, openness towards ineffective strategies because they soothe anxiety, paranoid distrust of of the world at large and rejection of potential to belonging or openly relate to the world at large. Originates from situations of scarcity or rejection from the world that were mediated by conflictual, tempestuous, exploitative, and inconsistent familial or peer support as the solution.
Red: explosive rage, anger issues, belief in invulnerability and superiority, entitlement, narcissistic tendencies, grandiosity, and violent sadistic dominating exploitative mentalities. Originates in prolonged exposure to dog eat dog environments, ones in which being pushy and domineering was rewarded or normalized.
Blue:  perfectionism, over responsibility, martyr-like tendencies, rigid need for order and correctness, shame, harsh condemnation of self and others not meeting rigid ideals, hypervigilant meticulous anxiety over contamination and impurity, fear of ostracization for imperfection. Originates from overcompensating moral injuries, growing up in purity culture, and having been persistently or intensely shamed.

Orange: self and other objectification, workaholic tendencies, imposter syndrome, toxic positivity, rejection of adaptive negativity, thinking of the world rigidly in terms of reduction to what is measurable, not acknowledging limitations or grief. Originates from having had one’s value equated to productivity, and told that one is good if one thinks positive and achieves.

Green: fear of conflict, insecurity to prioritize personal interest, overidentification with other’s growth and needs, lack of vitality in one’s own self-knowledge and pursuits,  and harmony and equality at the cost of codependency and suppression of authenticity. Originates from overemphasis on accommodation and over-consideration of everyone’s needs and lack of modeling of healthy detachment and separateness.
Yellow: disembodied overanalysis, compulsive fear of uncertainty, obsession with needing a map, exhausting over-complexity , lack of trust for spontaneity, love, and instinct. Originates from lack of integration of fear of being lost or stuck, and a lack of familiarity with intimate experiences of presence with mystery and wholeness.

How to Relate to Shadows
When someone has Shadows at lower stages they can be as destructive as if they were one’s ego stage, though they will also be accompanied by the gifts of one’s ego stage. It’s important to use one’s own strengths to hold space for humility and simple direct acknowledgement of one’s Shadow self. Having intense Shadows is also the default for most people because society itself is mostly at lower tier 1 stages(blue, orange), with lingering subtler elements of even beige. I would say globally beige is quite rare, but across all nations having a beige shadow is not particularly that rare. Also outside of the environments or experiences I elaborated above that can cultivate shadows at different stages, there is a big personalty factor to tendencies one has in responding to stressors in general. I’d generally recommend people assume they have a lower shadow unless they already have done work that involves humility and acknowledging they’re not an elevated being from other people and like them are also a flawed limited human being. It’s really the embrace of that within loving connection with others that is generally the marker of active effective ongoing Shadow processing. I think people can focus on climbing one’s ego stages primarily if they want to, I think a focus on basic humility and acknowledgement early on helps things be aligned to grow in the right way without necessarily much direct fuss. Other people may find it more rewarding to focus on processing their shadow while being aware that in their ego stage there’s potential expansion of conscious awareness and love. The focus on release of the shadow elements can naturally involve releasing your current ego attachments as well. For people who may be Turquoise ego with strong shadows they were previously unaware of, I’d invite them to reflect on the beauty and love in limitation and being among other people as just another flawed person.