Basic Disposition Research Articles

Moral physiology and vivisection of the soul: why does Nietzsche criticize the life sciences?

Recent scholarship has shown Nietzsche to offer an original and insightful moral psychology centering on a motivational feature he calls ‘will to power.’ In many places, though, Nietzsche presents will to power differently, as the ‘essence of life,’ an account of ‘organic function,’ even offering it as a correction to physiologists. This paper clarifies the scope and purpose of will to power by identifying the historical physiological view at which Nietzsche directs his criticisms and by identifying his purpose in doing so. Nietzsche’s criticism, it is argued, is a widespread and (contra many interpreters) pre-Darwinian description of the basic dispositions of organisms and their internal processes. The purpose of this criticism is to undermine the efforts of Herbert Spencer and Arthur Schopenhauer to derive moral-psychological insights from that description. The paper concludes that Nietzsche’s proposal to conceive of ‘organic function’ in terms of will to power is of little import for his moral psychology besides clearing away competing views.

A World Ethos for Humanistic Management: Love Story or Dialogue Platform?

Humanistic reform of management theory and practice could be expected to take a plurality of guises. One such manifestation of the desire for a humanistic reorientation of management discourse is the Weltethos Institut at the University of Tubingen, Germany. The Institute’s work builds on the legacy of founder Hans Kung in the sphere of interreligious and intercultural dialogue, and seeks to apply the humanistic insights learnt there to the world of organisations. For Kung, the ‘World Ethos’ (Weltethos) is a discovery, less of a common letter than of a common spirit among the world’s major and minor spiritual and cultural traditions, which he summarises as ‘Basic Trust in life and reality’ (in German Grundvertrauen or Lebensvertrauen), a yes-saying disposition of love for life ‘despite all temptations to reject it’. Without such a basic disposition, Kung argues, ‘no one can behave ethically’. This paper explores the paradox at the heart of the ‘World Ethos’ idea as it applies to questions of organisational leadership and management: if a certain spirit of Grundvertrauen among employees is indeed a feature of successful organisations, the attempt to cultivate it directly in the name of increased efficiency or profit is a potentially sinister and counter-productive enterprise. A more truly humanistic approach to organisational management might ease up on the top-down ‘love and trust’ message and instead provide a platform on which all members of an organisation feel free to reveal their ‘whole selves’ and explore their own spiritual sources—and those of colleagues—in a critical but ultimately trusting and constructive climate.

The Importance of Chimpanzee Personality Research to Understanding Processes Associated with Human Mental Health

Personality research seeks to identify and understand underlying process associated with individual differences in dispositional traits. In humans, individual variation across personality traits have been found to associate with mental health outcomes often times via common neurobiological processes. This shared neurobiological basis demonstrates the value of personality research in elucidating processes associated with mental disorders. More recently, a burgeoning animal personality literature has made efforts to elucidate neurobiological and environmental mechanisms associated with variation in personality—within this literature, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) represent the most promising model species with respect to optimal translational value to humans. The purpose of the current paper was thus to review the chimpanzee personality literature, with particular emphasis on the organizational, genetic, environmental, and neuroscientific basis of individual variation in personality. We further present a primate-translational operationalization of personality pathology underscoring the notion that personality pathology is rooted within basic dispositions, with evidence of genetic and environmental contributions to such tendencies. Finally, benefits with regard to animal welfare and the National Institute of Mental Health’s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Initiative, as well as roadblocks associated with curtailment of research involving captive chimpanzees are reviewed. In sum, the current review highlights the importance of translational personality research with chimpanzees as an unparalleled animal model for investigations into the pathophysiology of human mental health.

Reading Qualitative Inquiry through Critical Pedagogy

In this paper, the author reads current debates in “postqualitative inquiry” through the lens of critical pedagogy, in particular the work of Paulo Freire. The author argues that the field should more fully embrace “inquiry” as a basic disposition. In addition, the author suggests that reading postqualitative inquiry through critical pedagogy can help us to challenge reductive approaches to “data” while also allowing us to get on with our work of thinking and acting differently in the world—our work of inquiry.

Subjective and situational conditions affecting personality development

Personality development takes place through mutual interactions involving the person and their environment. It can be analyzed and described on three levels: basic dispositions (traits), characteristic adaptations (e.g. basic beliefs, desires or goals), and personal meanings (narrative identity). The phenomena and processes involved are different on each level. Analyses of this are concerned with what promotes and/or inhibits developmental changes of personality. This article introduces the notion of reasons for great life changes, as well as Zenomena Pluzek’s conception of personality development.

Voluntarism, Intellectualism, and Anselm on Motivation

According to the standard reading of Anselm’s De casu diaboli 12 through 14, the angels are morally responsible only if their own wills are in a radical way within their own power. By giving to angels two wills, i.e., two basic inclinations or volitional dispositions, Anselm’s God yields to the angels room for a free choice—indeed imparts on them the necessity of such a choice: in the case where an angel’s own happiness is incommensurable with justice, the angel must choose or “will” which disposition to act in accordance with. The standard reading thus takes Anselm to argue for a form of voluntarism. In this paper I argue that the underlying moral psychology of De casu diaboli is neither voluntarist nor intellectualist. A voluntarist reading renders Anselm’s views on motivation incoherent, whereas his views on the conditions of morally right action run afoul of crucial intellectualist assumptions.

Being positive despite illness: The contribution of positivity to the quality of life of cancer patients

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal relationship between Positivity (POS), defined as a stable disposition to view at experience under a positive outlook, and physical and psychological functioning in a sample of cancer patients immediately after diagnosis and one year later.Methods: A total of 110 patients (40% males) with pulmonary, colorectal and breast cancer, aged 30–75 (M age = 59.62; SD = 10.33), have been prospectively enrolled between 2012 and 2013, at the S. Andrea Hospital in Rome. All patients were previously aware of their diagnosis. A follow-up one year after diagnosis was conducted. We used structural equation modeling in order to analyse the specific effects of POS on functioning impairment from diagnosis to follow up.Results: POS was associated with less functioning impairment both at diagnosis and follow-up assessments. Furthermore, POS level at diagnosis continued to be associated with less functioning impairment one year later, after controlling for its stability. Conclusions: Patients with higher level of POS tended to report less symptoms associated with negative affect such as anxiety and despondency and to preserve their habitual relationships and social roles. POS may act as a basic disposition that sustains patients’ efforts to deal efficaciously with severe illness, by complying with medical treatment and using cognitive strategies that enable individuals to cope with concurrent and prospective challenges of illness.

El círculo en la relación espacio y cuerpo. Foto-ensayo a partir de Isidro Blasco y el método BAPNE

En el presente artículo se muestra un estudio visual sobre el espacio educativo universitario en el que se desarrollan enseñanzas sobre percusión corporal. Como marco metodológico se escoge la Investigación Educativa Basada en las Artes Visuales empleándose la obra de un artista como referente conceptual y metodológico. La investigación queda marcada tanto por la referencia visual a la obra de Isidro Blasco – especialmente con la obra “Shanghai planet 2009”-; como por los paralelismos establecidos entre el objeto de estudio de esta investigación -el análisis espacial- y los focos de interés desvelados por los críticos de arte respecto a la obra de este artista. Mediante un discurso visual formado por 7 fotocollages se visualiza la relación entre cuerpo y espacio educativo en la disposición básica de aprendizaje circular. Las construcciones visuales a modo de fotocollage y su carga estética nos aproximan a la intimidad del espacio educativo, al modo en que se distribuye al alumnado en el aula de música, la materialización de las relaciones interpersonales, los volúmenes ocupados y vacíos.

Untangling the concurrent influences of the Dark Triad, personality and mating effort on violence

The Dark Triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy; DT) and mating effort are associated with anti-social behaviour, but these associations may build on underlying personality traits not specific to violence. The DT (measured using the SD3), the HEXACO personality scale, and a measure of mating effort were regressed onto a measure of self-reported violence as defined by an adapted version of the MacArthur Community Violence Screening Instrument in 305 adults recruited via an online survey. While simple correlation analyses found violence and mating effort both systematically associated with most personality and DT measures, regression suggested overall violence was specifically associated with younger age, lower agreeableness, and greater psychopathy (R2=0.32, 95% confidence interval=0.24 to 0.40); unprovoked violence was associated with greater psychopathy. These results suggest that when personality, the DT, and mating effort are considered simultaneously, antisocial personality variance falls out of mating effort and narcissism constructs, leaving a more parsimonious set of associates for aggression and violence. This study reiterates the importance of concurrently measuring basic disposition when examining factors genuinely underlying violence and aggression, and the centrality of psychopathy and low agreeableness to such behaviour.

Relations among EEG-alpha asymmetry and positivity personality trait

The present study investigates cortical structures associated with personality dimension of positivity (POS) by using a standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA), which provides EEG localization measures that are independent of the recording reference. Resting EEG and self-report measures of positivity, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism were collected from 51 female undergraduates. EEG was recorded across 29 scalp sites. Anterior and posterior source alpha asymmetries of cortical activation were obtained by using sLORETA. Based on previous research findings, 10 frontal and 6 parietal regions of interest (ROI) were derived. Alpha asymmetry in the posterior cingulate (i.e., BA23 and BA31) was uniquely associated with both POS scores. These areas are, hypothetically, part of a complex default-mode neural network (DMN). The activity in the DMN usually increases during tasks that invoke self-referential processing, such as responding to statements describing one’s personality, attitudes, or preferences. Importantly, the cortical structures associated with POS were different from those associated with indicators. Indeed, measures of “optimism” failed to maintain a significant correlation with any of the previously significant ROI, but “self-esteem” and “life satisfaction” revealed robust associations with alpha asymmetry at the precuneus (i.e., BA7), after controlling for POS residual scores. In conclusion: Present findings support the assumption that POS is a basic disposition that reflects the concerted activity of brain structures that are essential for integrating self-referential thought and autobiographical memories and for assigning a positive valence to one’s experience and attitude toward the future.

Sustainable Development in Architectural Education

The Faculty of Architecture of the Brno University of Technology represents an art school at a technical university. Education of architects with the support of workshops, conferences, excursions, competitions and exhibitions has encouraged students' creative abilities, developed their independence and also their social responsibility and endurance. We pay close attention to ensure that the education acquired forms basic dispositions for activities which will fulfil all attributes of optimum formation of the environment and principles of sustainable development

Meaning in life contributes to better understanding of positive orientation. Empirical verification of the extended model

Positive orientation is a higher-order factor underlying such well-known variables as self-esteem, optimism and satisfaction with life. The model proved its validity and currently investigations focus on problems that arise around the model, for example: are self-esteem, optimism and satisfaction with life the only variables that could be included in the model? The main hypothesis is that the model of positive orientation is open, it can include other variables that refer to positive attitude toward the self. In several studies meaning in life was put into the model as another important indicator of positive orientation. Results have shown that the extended model of positive orientation has good fit indexes. Meaning in life is loaded on the higher factor more than the other three variables. These results shed new light on positive orientation that can be understood as a very basic cognitive disposition to organize experiences as meaningful and therefore positive.

Chilean Spanish version of the State Trait Cheerfulness Inventory (STCI-T-60, trait form): Individual and couple forms

AbstractThe adaptation and validation of a Chilean Spanish version of the State Trait Cheerfulness Inventory (STCI-T-60) including a couple evaluation, is presented. The inventory was developed by Ruch (1990) to measure three traits (cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad mood), considered to enable exhilaration, which is the main indicator of the sense of humor experience. Ruch suggested studying basic temperamental traits and stable dispositions involved in the possibility of experiencing humor. The inventory was applied to three Chilean samples: a validation sample of 500 adults individuals, evaluated in a stratified manner considering gender, age and socio-economic level; a replication sample of 298 middle-class adults; and a couple sample of 53 middle-class couples. The results showed adequate internal consistency and solid validity of the constructs in all groups. The study contributes to research in the field of the sense of humor from local and transcultural perspectives. The validation of a couple form will contribute specifically contribute to the study of the sense of humor as a couple relational dynamic and its relations with other relational variables.

Research and Reflections on the Spiritual Development of Young Jewish Children

This article is about spiritual development for early childhood Jewish education. Findings from a research study defines the spiritual development of young children as an integration of deep connections, basic dispositions (strengthened from experiences of wonderment, awe, joy, inner peace), and complex dispositions (displayed through acts of caring, kindness, empathy, and reverence)—all reinforced by modeling and spiritual moments. Buber's philosophy of I and Thou, Heschel's views of radical amazement and the sublime, and Senge's system thinking offer lenses for integrating a Jewish perspective to this theory of spiritual development.

Kicking against the pricks: vaccine sceptics have a different social orientation

In any country, part of the population is sceptical about the utility of vaccination. To develop successful vaccination programmes, it is important to study and understand the defining characteristics of vaccine sceptics. Research till now mainly focused either on the underlying motives of vaccine refusal, or on socio-demographic differences between vaccine sceptics and non-sceptics. It remained till now unexplored whether both groups differ in terms of basic psychological dispositions. We held a population survey in a representative sample of the population in Flanders, Belgium (N = 1050), in which we investigated whether respondents' attitude to vaccination was associated with their basic disposition toward other community members or society in general, as measured by the Triandis and Gelfand social orientation scale. We found that sceptics and non-sceptics have a different social orientation, even when several variables are controlled for. More specifically, vaccine sceptics scored significantly lower on both horizontal individualism and horizontal collectivism, indicating a lower disposition to see others as equals. These findings need confirmation in the context of different countries. Such insights can be valuable to optimize the design of effective communication strategies on vaccination programmes.

THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM IS PARANOIA: AN OVERLOOKED ASPECT OF THE ‘FEAR OF YHWH’ IN THE CONTEXT OF LACANIAN PSYCHO-EPISTEMOLOGY

Much has been written on the concept of ‘the fear of Yhwh’ in biblical wisdom literature. The scope thereof is said to include anything from sheer terror before the deity to pious respect for benevolence. In this article, a different necessary property of the basic disposition is identified. It is argued that if as many texts in the Hebrew Bible state a) wisdom involves the fear of Yhwh, and that b) possessing knowledge of some sort is a necessary condition for having wisdom, and that c) all knowledge is essentially paranoiac as Lacanian psycho-epistemology suggests, then it follows that d) the quest for wisdom itself is partly driven by paranoia. doi: 10.7833/111-1-26

THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM IS PARANOIA: AN OVERLOOKED ASPECT OF THE ‘FEAR OF YHWH’ IN THE CONTEXT OF LACANIAN PSYCHO-EPISTEMOLOGY

Much has been written on the concept of ‘the fear of Yhwh’ in biblical wisdom literature. The scope thereof is said to include anything from sheer terror before the deity to pious respect for benevolence. In this article, a different necessary property of the basic disposition is identified. It is argued that if as many texts in the Hebrew Bible state a) wisdom involves the fear of Yhwh, and that b) possessing knowledge of some sort is a necessary condition for having wisdom, and that c) all knowledge is essentially paranoiac as Lacanian psycho-epistemology suggests, then it follows that d) the quest for wisdom itself is partly driven by paranoia.

Dirty Habits? Online Pornography Use, Personality, Obsessionality, and Compulsivity

Internet pornography use can be compulsive, but evaluation of pathology underlying this is difficult to assess. The present study aimed to distinguish individual differences in personality and psychopathology that predict pornography consumption in an individual, and whether this reflected more general compulsive processes, assessing 226 male participants. Neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and obsessional checking all significantly correlated with a latent measure of compulsive behavior upon which use of Internet pornography use also loaded. The authors suggest the greater use of pornography on the Internet may reflect a general vulnerability to compulsive problems related to basic disposition, and that problems associated with this behavior can be managed with generic clinical approaches to obsessional and compulsive disorders.

The Positivity Scale.

Five studies document the validity of a new 8-item scale designed to measure positivity, defined as the tendency to view life and experiences with a positive outlook. In the first study (N = 372), the psychometric properties of Positivity Scale (P Scale) were examined in accordance with classical test theory using a large number of college participants. In Study 2, the unidimensionality of the P Scale was corroborated with confirmatory factor analysis in 2 independent samples (N₁ = 322; N₂ = 457). In Study 3, P Scale invariance across sexes and its relations with self-esteem, life satisfaction, optimism, positive negative affect, depression, and the Big Five provided further evidence of the internal and construct validity of the new measure in a large community sample (N = 3,589). In Study 4, test-retest reliability of the P Scale was found in a sample of college students (N = 262) who were readministered the scale after 5 weeks. In Study 5, measurement invariance and construct validity of P Scale were further supported across samples in different countries and cultures, including Italy (N = 689), the United States (N = 1,187), Japan (N = 281), and Spain (N = 302). Psychometric findings across diverse cultural context attest to the robustness of the P Scale and to positivity as a basic disposition.

The Utility of Positive Orientation in Predicting Job Performance and Organisational Citizenship Behaviors

The contribution of positive orientation to organisational behavior has been assessed in three studies. Positive orientation has been conceptualised as a basic disposition to view life and experience from a positive outlook and operationalised as the common latent factor at the core of self‐esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism. In Study 1 (n= 203), positive orientation predicted in‐role job performance over the effects of its lower‐order components (self‐esteem, optimism, and life satisfaction), the Big Five, and positive affectivity. In Study 2 (n= 372), positive orientation predicted extra‐role performance (Organisational Citizenship Behaviors), beyond the effects due to its lower‐order components, the Big Five, and positive affectivity. In Study 3 (n= 311), a brief self‐reported measure of positive orientation predicted in‐role job performance above Core Self‐Evaluations and the conscientiousness trait. The contribution of positive orientation to a better understanding of organisational behavior is discussed.