The core notion of this monograph is that processes of social change and adaptation can be best understood through the integration of "macro" concepts of social processes and development with a systematic statement of the basic "micro" processes at the individual psychological level. The monograph demonstrates that a body of useful knowledge and theory does exist for the level of individual development and adaptation. From the field of psychoanalytic theory, ego psychology and social psychology are drawn sets of interrelated propositions. These propositions systematically interrelate micro with macro concepts of development and change by means of a model developed expressly for that purpose. The approach outlines crucial variables in the nature of self-organization, conceptualizing the relationship between self and environment in a framework different from that usually adopted in the literature. At a minimum, then, the monograph extensively explores the micro level of change as it is known in ego psychology and proposes alterations in micro level concepts. (Author/TA)