How IST works
IST reads what people write and reports two results: Freedom from Fusion, a 1–10 score with five component ratings, and a Concern Preservation judgment for each specified concern. Both come from the same text and are reported side by side, not combined.
From writing to results
Participants complete sentence stems such as “When I am criticized…”, or researchers supply journals and reflections. Two language models trained for these tasks apply fixed scoring rubrics on our servers in Vienna. One returns five Freedom from Fusion ratings; the other assigns a Concern Preservation judgment for each specified concern. The models return scores and categories without written explanations.
You receive a results workbook with the overall score, the five criterion ratings, concern judgments and scoring version. See an example result or read the reliability evidence.
Freedom from Fusion
Fusion means taking thoughts, feelings or self-concepts as defining who one is and how one must respond. Freedom from Fusion rates the five qualities below from 1 to 10. For one account, the overall score is their mean. For a sentence-completion form, ratings are first averaged across responses within each criterion, then across the five criteria. How to read the scores.
| Theme | Fusion with… | Freedom toward… |
|---|---|---|
| Reward structuresIntrinsic Motivation | external rewards, carrot and stick | intrinsic meaning, compassion, service |
| Social evaluationInternal Validation | praise and blame, status | inner growth, contribution |
| Existential questionsExistential Inquiry | avoidance, dismissal | inquiry, or peace with existential dilemmas |
| Self/other boundaryEgo Transcendence | a separate, purely individual perspective | connection, oneness without losing individuality |
| Self-conceptSelf-Identity Complexity | a solid, fixed, monolithic self | a fluid, contextual self |
Criterion anchors and an example response
- Low (1–3)
- Rigidly defines self through singular roles or traits.
- Middle (4–6)
- Acknowledges multiple aspects of identity but sees them as separate or conflicting.
- High (7–10)
- Transcends fixed self-concepts, recognizing the fluid, contextual nature of identity.
“at heightened moments touching into a vibrant field/ground/plenum, a palpable Oneness; yet in my routine experience of "me" in the world of form arising in the moment, I am becoming more centered and at ease in impermanence-the constantly changing, chaotic, flowing flux of existence.”
Cook-Greuter archive.
Concern Preservation
Concern Preservation asks whether a specified concern, such as another person’s needs or the consequences of an action, still informs how the writer understands or responds to a situation. Preservation does not require warmth or agreement: refusing a request can still preserve a concern if it was considered. A separate trained model reads the concern and the account and assigns one of four judgments.
“my intuition flooded me with impressions-- interactions with the larger group had been frank and emotional, and these couple folks were overwhelmed and frightened; I was moved to speak to one woman, in a gentle way, inquiring into her experience, making space, sensing possibility--how can we all see this anew?”
The other person’s experience shapes the response: the writer inquires into it and makes space to hear it.
Cook-Greuter archive.
| Judgment | What the account shows |
|---|---|
| Preserved | The concern informs understanding or response, even when another consideration outweighs it. |
| Partly excluded | Some aspects of the concern count; others are excluded from consideration. |
| Excluded | The account treats the concern as irrelevant. |
| Insufficient evidence | The account does not show how the concern is treated. |
The concerns assessed are predefined for the sentence-completion forms and specified by researchers for other writing. Concern targets and summary scores.
Reading both results together
Freedom alone does not rule out indifference. Contemplative traditions warn that indifference can pass for equanimity, and psychologists describe “spiritual bypassing”: using spiritual ideas to sidestep real difficulties. Read alongside Freedom from Fusion, Concern Preservation helps researchers examine whether expressed freedom is accompanied by consideration of what matters in the situation.
Freedom with preserved concern describes integration. Freedom with excluded concern corresponds to the pattern described as spiritual bypassing. Preserved concern with little freedom describes engagement still tied to self-image. Profiles are descriptive; there are no cutoffs.