IMEBO

§ 01

What IMEBO is

One model for a person, a culture, and the space between them.

IMEBO describes how people and organizations orient themselves ethically when things get hard, and how that orientation can move.

The model is a bipyramid. Three developmental lines run from a shared center up to a Benevolent Apex and down to a Malevolent Apex. Each line is read on the same nine-level scale, from +4 at the top to −4 at the bottom, with Level 0 as the pivot where movement begins.

The same lines apply at two layers. In a person they describe inner capacity. In a culture they describe the structures you can observe: how worth is assigned, what is normal for emotion, and how others and dissent are treated. Read together, the two layers explain why good people can struggle in poor systems, and why good language can hide poor practice.

A placement describes how someone or something tends to act under pressure. It is not a fixed identity, and it can change.

§ 02

The nine-level scale

Nine levels, three lines, two apexes.

Levels +1 to +4 show increasing integration. Levels −1 to −4 show increasing distortion. Select a level, then switch between person and culture, to see how it shows up on each line, how it reads others, how to recognize it, how it drifts under pressure, and what moves it up.

Click, tap or use arrow keys on a level

0

The pivot

Empowered Ego

The same scale is read separately on each of the three lines, so a person or culture can sit at different levels on different lines.

Reference chart 1: where a person or culture sits

Nine levels from +4 to −4, read on the same three lines for a person and for a culture. Level 0 is the pivot and appears in informed and uninformed forms.

PersonCulture

IMEBO reference chart 1
Level	Title	Self Perception	Emotional Development	Relational Awareness
+4	Integrated Steward	Values and behaviour aligned under pressure	Feeling turned into care and repair	Accurate appraisal that protects people
+4	Integrated Steward Culture	Worth never tied to output; roles serve people	Rituals of restoration, not dominance	Structures protect the vulnerable
+3	Ethical Architect	Strong regulation, clear boundaries	Durable attunement with boundaries	Fair balancing, corrects with evidence
+3	Ethical Leader Culture	Mission governs structure and promotion	Impact on people weighed in decisions	Transparent accountability, top to bottom
+2	Ethical Empath	Stable identity, some validation seeking	Reads accurately, strains under stress	Coherent choices, drifts under pressure
+2	Reflective Giver Culture	Roles protect dignity; errors not punished	Emotional honesty built into meetings	Shared decisions; formal repair processes
+1	Seeker	Nascent coherence, role-tied identity	Basic feeling words, easily swayed	Sees other views, pulled by status
+1	Aspiring Connector Culture	Inherited roles openly questioned	Hope voiced; little support when it fails	Grassroots networks, informal belonging
0	Empowered Ego	Informed: pauses, names what is true inside, acts on values. Uninformed: centered until pressure, then borrows group identity	Informed: names and sizes feeling to context. Uninformed: swings between overgiving and shutdown	Informed: maps incentives and people, leaves room to revise. Uninformed: rational language without method; echoes group
0	Empowered Culture	Informed: pauses to check whether roles still serve people. Uninformed: steady until pressure, then copies dominant norms	Informed: names the group's mood before deciding. Uninformed: swings between suppressed tension and flare-ups	Informed: maps stakeholders, sizes action, sets a review. Uninformed: follows the loudest pressure; borrows procedure
−1	Opportunist	Externally driven, shame prone	Reacts before reading	Quick blame, little tracking
−1	Conditional Conformer Culture	Status granted for fitting in	Discomfort discouraged; tone policed	Silence rewarded; issues unreported
−2	Image-Maker	Image eclipses authenticity	Display optimized for approval	Argument used for image or control
−2	Performer Culture	Visibility and branding rewarded	Sentiment staged in campaigns and statements	Policy used to deflect accountability
−3	Authoritarian Defender	Grandiosity and deflation alternate	Surges and shutdown alternate	Selective evidence, harm rationalized
−3	Enforcer Culture	Rank defines worth; hierarchy fixed	Emotion treated as insubordination	Dissent formally punished
−4	Architect of Inversion	Severe fragmentation, disengagement	Dysregulation or flat disconnection	People reduced to instruments
−4	Manipulative Controller Culture	Identity assigned by leadership narrative	Praise and fear used to bind loyalty	Critics isolated; narrative controlled

Reference chart 2: how it reads others, how to tell, and how it moves Draft

Observable indicators, drift and movement are drafts built from the papers' indices and practices.

PersonCulture

IMEBO reference chart 2
Level	Title	Projection errors	Observable indicators	Drift under pressure	What moves it up
+4	Integrated Steward	Assumes truth will be welcomed; underestimates bad faith	Acts the same when unobserved and when it costs them; repairs without being asked	Ethical fatigue or disillusionment when surrounding systems stay hostile	Teaching and succession; rest and peer challenge
+4	Integrated Steward Culture	Sees everyone as redeemable; slow to name manipulation	Protections for the vulnerable hold through budget cuts; repairs routinely completed	Slow complacency when authority goes uncontested	Building succession and independent oversight into structure
+3	Ethical Architect	Assumes others want reform; underestimates resistance	Revises with stated reasons when shown evidence; holds boundaries without retaliation	Burnout when reform meets entrenched resistance	Peer challenge and sustained boundaries; allies in the system
+3	Ethical Leader Culture	Expects rational reform to be adopted; misses entrenched interests	Decision reasons published; leaders held to the same rules; dissent used without penalty	Reform stalls against entrenched power; leaders overreach	Embedding protections so they outlast individual leaders
+2	Ethical Empath	Mistakes intensity for commitment; reads distortion as passion	Words and actions mostly match; occasional visible validation seeking	Overgiving and emotional overload under strain	Boundary practice; accepting limits without guilt
+2	Reflective Giver Culture	Treats distortion as confusion, not strategy	Repair processes used and closed out; errors reported early	Conflict avoidance creeps in; emotional labour concentrated on a few	Making repair and dissent safeguards structural, not personal
+1	Seeker	Mistakes shared language for shared ethics	Asks for feedback; follow-through inconsistent; tracks group norms	Swayed by charismatic or popular figures	Accurate mirroring; practising the center sequence
+1	Aspiring Connector Culture	Idealizes ethical figures; copies what is popular	Values acted on in pockets; few formal mechanisms	Fragile idealism; co-opted by performer branding	Backing aspiration with procedure and protected dissent
0	Empowered Ego	Informed: checks own lens before judging. Uninformed: cannot tell integrity from performance	Informed: pauses before reacting and can name the steps. Uninformed: calm until stressed	Uninformed slides to −1 under pressure; informed may stagnate if action is deferred	Using the center deliberately; acting, not only stabilizing
0	Empowered Culture	Informed: tests its reading of others before acting. Uninformed: treats light and dark as merely situational	Informed: decision logs with review dates; method widely known. Uninformed: calm kept by avoiding conflict	Uninformed slides to appeasement; informed may stall on action	Embedding the center sequence in meetings, reviews and repair
−1	Opportunist	Reads careful reflection as indecision or weakness	Position shifts with the audience; avoids conflict	Slides to image management as approval is rewarded	Relationships that tolerate disagreement safely
−1	Conditional Conformer Culture	Trusts whatever seems safest; distrusts any strong stance	Low issue reporting; tone policed; status tied to fitting in	Slides to performer as optics are rewarded	Rewarding dissent; ending tone policing
−2	Image-Maker	Reads ethical restraint as calculation or weakness	Wide gap between stated values and actions; defensive when asked	Hardens toward control when exposed or audited	Low-shame honest mirroring; rewards for process, not image
−2	Performer Culture	Takes optics as truth; sees depth as a threat	Values statements without matching policy; complaints closed by process, not resolved	Tightens into enforcement when image is threatened	Measuring outcomes, not optics; auditing values against practice
−3	Authoritarian Defender	Reads correction as attack; critics as enemies	Retaliates against critics; enforces rules rigidly	Collapses into betrayal or disengagement when control fails	Safety and repair before insight; external accountability
−3	Enforcer Culture	Sees conformity as virtue; reformers as disloyal	Dissenters disciplined or pushed out; loyalty tests; fear-based reporting	Rigid until abrupt failure	Independent oversight and protected reporting
−4	Architect of Inversion	Sees others as tools, threats, or easy believers	Deceives to gain control; harm without remorse	Total collapse, or sustained only by others' belief	Stabilization and external structure first
−4	Manipulative Controller Culture	Weaponizes perception; treats all others as assets or risks	Critics isolated or removed; information withheld; narrative controlled	Failure when the narrative breaks	External intervention and change of leadership

§ 03

The three lines and their regulators

Each line has a way of seeing that keeps it steady.

Every line is regulated by a perceptual faculty. When that faculty is injured, distortion on the line follows. The injury comes first. Select a line to trace it on the diagram.

Line I · Introperception

Self Perception

How clearly someone sees who they are and why they act, and whether what they value matches what they do.

Regulator: Introperception: perceiving one’s own motives, identity, worth and alignment.
Integrated (+): A stable identity (+2), with values and behaviour aligned under pressure (+4).
Distorted (−): Image eclipses authenticity (−2), down to severe fragmentation and disengagement (−4).
Person · Culture: In a person, an inner sense of motive and worth. In a culture, how worth is assigned: from roles that protect dignity (+2) and worth never tied to output (+4), to visibility and branding rewarded (−2) and identity assigned by the leadership narrative (−4).

Line II · Affectperception

Emotional Development

How accurately someone reads emotional signals, their own and other people’s, and keeps the response in proportion.

Regulator: Affectperception: perceiving one’s own and others’ emotional signals, and their proportion.
Integrated (+): Reads feeling accurately (+2) and turns it into care and repair (+4).
Distorted (−): Display optimized for approval (−2), down to dysregulation or flat disconnection (−4).
Person · Culture: In a person, emotional capacity. In a culture, the norms for emotion: from emotional honesty built into meetings (+2) and rituals of restoration (+4), to sentiment staged in campaigns (−2) and praise and fear used to bind loyalty (−4).

Line III · Interperception

Relational Awareness

How fully someone sees others as distinct moral agents, and how clearly they read incentives, motives and power.

Regulator: Interperception: perceiving others as distinct moral agents, and perceiving incentives, motives and power.
Integrated (+): Coherent choices (+2) and accurate appraisal that protects people (+4).
Distorted (−): Argument used for image or control (−2), down to people reduced to instruments (−4).
Person · Culture: In a person, how others are seen and treated. In a culture, the procedures for treating others and dissent: from shared decisions and formal repair (+2) and structures that protect the vulnerable (+4), to policy used to deflect accountability (−2) and critics isolated (−4).

§ 04

Two layers, same lines

A culture's level is not the average of its people.

A culture's level is set by what the system rewards, permits and punishes. People are often more ethically developed than the systems they work in.

Layer A

The person

Inner capacity on each line: how clearly someone perceives themselves, emotion and other people, and how they act on it under pressure.

Layer B

The culture

Observable structures on each line: how worth is assigned, what the norms are for emotion, and the procedures for treating others and handling dissent.

Look at leadership behaviour, policies, rewards, and the procedures for dissent and repair.

§ 05

What governs movement

Placement moves. Perception decides which way.

A level describes orientation under pressure, not a fixed identity. Whether a person or culture moves up or down depends on how it perceives at the moment pressure arrives.

PressureA situation with something at stake. Placement describes how a person or culture tends to act here.
RegulatorEach line is steadied by a way of perceiving: introperception, affectperception, interperception. If the regulator is injured, perception distorts first and the line follows.
Center (Level 0)Perception settles, inner and outer information are compared, and a proportionate next step is chosen. Informed, or uninformed.
DirectionUp ↑ Informed use of the center supports upward movement.Down ↓ Uninformed balance holds only until pressure pulls it, usually toward −1.

i.Placement is not identityA level describes how a person or culture tends to act under pressure at a point in time. It can change.
ii.The regulator comes firstEach line is governed by its perceptual regulator, and ego acts as that regulator. Injury to the regulator comes first; distortion on the line follows. Paper 2, Ego and Ethical Perception, describes the mechanism.
iii.Level 0 is the pivotThe center space is where knowledge and empowerment come together to create balance between the two forces, integration and distortion. Informed use of the center supports upward movement. Uninformed balance holds only until pressure pulls it, usually toward −1.
iv.The center sequence makes movement deliberatePause, Sense, Name, Map, Proportion, Choose, Revise or repair. Walk through it in § 06.
v.Injury can fix placementPaper 4, Trauma and Ethical Development, explains how injury fixes placement, how it can be inherited, and which practices restore upward movement.
vi.Cultures move by what they rewardA culture’s level is set by what the system rewards, permits and punishes: leadership behaviour, policies, rewards, and the procedures for dissent and repair. It is not the average of its members.

§ 06

Level 0 and the center sequence

The center is where knowledge and empowerment create balance.

Level 0 is the space between the two forces, integration and distortion. With knowledge, it becomes a place of empowerment and balance, and that matters more than ever right now. It can be reached in two ways, and the difference decides what happens next.

Informed

Used knowingly

The center is entered on purpose and used as a step. It supports upward movement.

Uninformed

Reached by accident

It holds until pressure pulls it, usually downward toward −1.

The center sequence

PauseStop before reacting.
SenseNotice what is happening, inside and around.
NamePut words to it.
MapPlace it on the lines and levels.
ProportionCheck the size of the response against the situation.
ChooseThe smallest sufficient step, with an owner and a review time.
Revise or repairAdjust on evidence, and repair harm.

§ 07

Interaction patterns

What happens when a person and a culture sit at different levels.

Reading both layers side by side shows recurring patterns, and helps cultures stop misreading each other and their people.

person +3 · culture −2

Upward tension

The more developed person is seen as rigid by the culture. The usual outcomes are burnout or exit.

culture −2 · language +2

Downward co-option

The culture adopts the language of a higher level. Care vocabulary gets used for branding rather than practice.

culture 0 uninformed

Sideward appeasement

A culture caught between opposing positions avoids taking a stand. The avoidance itself enables harm.

person +2 · culture −2 / −3

Exploited care

A caring person's emotional labour is drawn on heavily, without the authority to change anything.

Person–culture gap explorer

A reflection aid, not an assessment

Choose where a person and a culture sit. The outcome reader describes what tends to happen in that pairing, for the person and for the team, drawing on the model and on well-established findings from psychology and sociology. Every result is generated by simple, fixed rules from the charts above.

Examples

Person level +2

Culture level −2

Read on line (optional)

Person · +2

Culture · −2

Outcome reader

Likely outcome for the person

Likely outcome for the team or culture

Likely direction over time

Watch for

What helps

What research says

Research notes summarize general findings in plain language. IMEBO itself is independent research and has not yet been empirically validated as an assessment tool.

Model pattern

A reflection aid, not an assessment. These are common tendencies, not predictions about any one person or team, and either side can change what happens.

How patterns are matched

Exploited care: person at +2, culture at −2 or −3.
Upward tension: person at +1 or above and at least two levels above the culture (when exploited care does not already apply).
Downward co-option: shown as something to watch for whenever the culture is at −2 or below.
Sideward appeasement: culture at Level 0, uninformed.
Close alignment: person and culture within one level of each other.
Anything else is shown as no named pattern. Levels are read per line, so a real person or culture may sit at different levels on different lines.

§ 08

The four papers

Four papers, one model.

Each paper adds one part of the picture: structure, mechanism, the collective layer, and movement.

I 2025 Structure

The Integrative Model of Ethical-Behavioural Orientation

The bipyramid, the three developmental lines, and the Benevolent and Malevolent apexes.

Read the paper DOI 10.5281/zenodo.15170064

II 2025 Mechanism

Ego and Ethical Perception

Ego as the regulator of perception, and the three perceptual faculties that steady each line.

Read the paper DOI 10.5281/zenodo.15337901

III 2025 Collective layer

Culture and Ethical Expression

The nine-level cultural scale, and how cultures misread each other.

Read the paper DOI 10.5281/zenodo.15450294

IV 2026 Movement

Trauma and Ethical Development

How injury fixes placement, how it is inherited, and the practices that restore upward movement.

Read the paper DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18149337

Together they assess a person, a culture, and the interaction between them. All four are published open access (CC BY 4.0) in the IMEBO journal series on Zenodo.

§ 09

How organizations can use it

Look at the system, not only the people in it.

Audits usually check whether systems exist. IMEBO asks what those systems reward, permit and punish, and how that shapes the people inside them.

Read the two layers separatelyPlace the culture by its leadership behaviour, policies, rewards and dissent procedures, not by the quality of its people.
Name the interaction patternLook for upward tension, downward co-option, sideward appeasement or exploited care, and the cost each one carries.
Build the center into practiceTeach the seven-step center sequence so Level 0 is used knowingly rather than reached by accident.

§ 10

Limits. IMEBO is independent research, developed through professional practice without external funding or institutional affiliation. It has not yet been empirically validated as an assessment tool.

It is not a clinical or diagnostic instrument and should never be used to label or judge people. A placement describes orientation under pressure at a point in time, and it can change.