Dispositional Quality Research Articles

Winning with mētis: embodied virtues in sport practice, from Odysseus to Maradona

ABSTRACT The Greek word mētis (μῆτις) traditionally refers to a particular form of wily intelligence associated with the arts of deception (dolos) and the knowledge of tricks (kerdē), subterfuges, and traps. Mētis evokes innovative and ground-breaking solutions, based on the capability to understand, anticipate, and possibly violate the others’ expectations. Most importantly, mētis presupposes practical wisdom, or prudence (phrόnesis), a dispositional quality that underpins all the virtues that deserve to be cultivated by sportspersons and that is pivotal to perfect sportspersons’ moral character. Not only is prudence required to apply mētis profitably for winning a game, but it is also indispensable to perform consistently with the game’s norms—cognizant of sport values. This analysis of mētis is key to illuminate the embodied dimension of tactical and moral reasoning in contemporary sport practice. In this paper, we first argue that the strategic effectiveness of mētis proves that not only sensorimotor control but also higher forms of intelligence, like strategic reasoning, are embodied and inform skilful performance; second, we argue that relying on mētis is necessary not only to interpret the rules of the game in one’s own favor but also to respect the shared values that these rules uphold in the sport practice.

Could Dispositional Optimism Impair Panic Disorder and Depression Outcomes?

The objective of this study was to investigate potential correlates of dispositional optimism and quality of life in patients with depression and panic disorder. The study used a cross-sectional design. The analyzed sample consisted of 77 participants with panic disorder and 75 participants with depression attending two outpatient clinics at the Psychiatry Institute of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Both groups presented similar impairments in optimism and quality of life. In the panic disorder group, optimism scores were significantly correlated with a decrease in anxiety and depression scores (r = 0.26 and r = 0.37, respectively); in the depression group, increases in optimism scores were significantly correlated with decreases in anxiety and depression scores (r = 0.23 and r = 0.3, respectively). The present study showed that high anxiety and depression are correlated with poor optimism and quality of life scores in panic disorder and depression groups. Thus, psychological treatments that can address these topics, besides acute symptoms, are crucial to the absolute recovery of patients.

Teacher subjectivation in the quality dispositive: the example of VET in Austria

Current reforms in vocational education and training (VET) are characterised by a constant striving for quality assurance and improvement. To this end, a powerful reform network has emerged that shapes the subjectivation processes of teachers. Drawing on Foucault (1980), we term this complex formation a ‘dispositive’. The paper introduces dispositive analytics as an innovative approach for educational research. Taking Austria as an example of a ‘broader understanding’ of VET (Avis 2014) we address the question of how VET teachers’ subjectivity is shaped by the quality dispositive. The study investigates subject positions that refer to the ways teachers should be and act. Furthermore, qualitative interviews with VET teachers were conducted to examine which dispositional quality logics they tend to internalise and which forms and strategies they express to subvert the quality dispositive. The analysis reveals that the current reform network creates tensions in the subjectivation processes leading to experiences of de-professionalisation.

Abstract P212: Depressive Symptoms Mediate the Relationship Between Dispositional Mindfulness and Diet Quality Among Healthy Midlife Adults

Background: Emerging evidence suggests that mindfulness, a practice of non-judgmental awareness of present experience, may reduce eating psychopathology and emotion-driven eating. However, few studies have explored the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and diet quality or sought to identify factors that mediate the effect of dispositional mindfulness on diet quality. Methods: Community-dwelling midlife participants ( N = 406; M age = 43.19, SD = 7.26; M BMI = 27.08, SD = 5.28; 52% female) reported dispositional mindfulness using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and perceived stress using the Perceived Stress Scale. Dietary intake was assessed using the Block Food Frequency Questionnaire, from which the 2015 Healthy Eating Index (HEI) was derived. Direct and mediating effects of dispositional mindfulness, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress on overall HEI scores were analyzed using the mediation package in R with bias-corrected bootstrapped confidence intervals (BootCI). Age, sex, education and BMI were entered as covariates in all models. Results: Higher dispositional mindfulness was associated with higher diet quality ( β = 0.095, p = 0.04). Depressive symptoms significantly mediated the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and overall diet quality (average causal mediation effect [ACME] = 0.6962, BootCI = 0.104-1.42, p = 0.03) such that higher mindfulness was associated with higher overall diet quality through lower depressive symptoms. Perceived stress was significantly negatively correlated with dispositional mindfulness ( β = -0.310, p <0.01) but was not related to diet quality ( β = -0.039, p = 0.44) and therefore did not mediate the relationship between mindfulness and diet quality (ACME = 0.173, BootCI = -0.261-0.65, p = 0.46). Conclusions: These cross-sectional data provide initial evidence that dispositional mindfulness may relate to diet quality among midlife adults, an effect that may be explained in part by lesser depressive symptomatology. Given that lifestyle behaviors in midlife are leading determinants of risk for cardiovascular and neurocognitive disease in late life, interventions targeted at enhancing mindfulness in midlife may plausibly mitigate disease risk. Additional research assessing the impact of mindfulness interventions on diet quality are warranted.

A diamond-quality teaching modelling in higher education: an AAU perspective

In this manuscript, the authors designed a novel model of quality teaching called the 'diamond-quality teaching model' (D-QTM). The novelty of this model is that it explicitly adds the teacher's dispositional quality modelling dimension to complement the three known pedagogic dimensions: intellectual quality; environmental quality; and significance of learning outcomes. This explicit addition of dispositional quality modelling assures that quality teaching will not only affect what students can 'academically' achieve, but also what they can 'practically' do and be; making teaching both informative and transformative. The five well-known components of emotional and social learning (SEL) were adopted as the cluster elements of the dispositional quality modelling dimension. These elements are expected to bring the affective domain to the teaching-learning process and enhance the cognitive and psychomotor domains. By this addition, each of the four D-QTM dimensions in the model comprises five key elements that further define and clarify the nature and function of the model in terms of teaching/learning dynamics. All the models presented in this manuscript are designed based on research in the concerned fields and within the spirit of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 2021 vision and the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) mission of higher education.

A diamond-quality teaching modelling in higher education: an AAU perspective

In this manuscript, the authors designed a novel model of quality teaching called the 'diamond-quality teaching model' (D-QTM). The novelty of this model is that it explicitly adds the teacher's dispositional quality modelling dimension to complement the three known pedagogic dimensions: intellectual quality; environmental quality; and significance of learning outcomes. This explicit addition of dispositional quality modelling assures that quality teaching will not only affect what students can 'academically' achieve, but also what they can 'practically' do and be; making teaching both informative and transformative. The five well-known components of emotional and social learning (SEL) were adopted as the cluster elements of the dispositional quality modelling dimension. These elements are expected to bring the affective domain to the teaching-learning process and enhance the cognitive and psychomotor domains. By this addition, each of the four D-QTM dimensions in the model comprises five key elements that further define and clarify the nature and function of the model in terms of teaching/learning dynamics. All the models presented in this manuscript are designed based on research in the concerned fields and within the spirit of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 2021 vision and the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) mission of higher education.

Agreeableness and interpersonal forgiveness in young adults: the moderating role of gender

Interest in psychological correlates and personality substrates of forgiveness has been growing recently. Empirical evidences have suggested that agreeableness may be the most robust predictor of forgiveness and revenge. This article examined gender differences in the relationship between this dispositional quality and interpersonal forgiveness in a sample of young adults. This study also tested the role of gender as a potential moderating factor between dispositional traits and forgiveness dimensions. While no gender differences were found in agreeableness in our sample, females scored lower in motivation to avoid while males scored higher in motivation to revenge. Results also indicated that agreeableness was significantly associated with motivations to avoid (only in males) and seek revenge (for both genders). Finally, gender also moderated the association between agreeableness and motivation to revenge. Our findings are discussed in terms of the need for future research to consider these differences in further positive psychology intervention programs.

Dispositional optimism, depression, disability and quality of life in Parkinson's disease.

Very little research on dispositional optimism (DO) has been carried out in the field of Parkinson's disease (PD). The present cross-sectional study, focusing on this personality trait, was performed with two main aims: i) to compare DO between patients with PD and a control group (CG); ii) to perform, in the PD group, a regression analysis including health-related variables, such as depression, anxiety, quality of life (QoL) and activities of daily living. Seventy PD participants and 70 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare life orientation between the PD and CG groups. In the PD group, Pearson's correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationship between the measures of DO and the other variables. Means of log-linear regression were also used. Mean ratios adjusted for sex, age, education, and severity of disease were estimated, with relative 95% confidence intervals and p-values. The main results were as follows: i) no significant difference in DO was found between the PD participants and the CG; ii) DO was positively associated with QoL and emotional distress and inversely correlated with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale; iii) DO was not correlated with disability. In conclusion, high DO predicts a satisfactory quality of life, low emotional distress and reduced disease severity in PD.

Optimismo disposicional y calidad de vida en mujeres con cáncer de mama

Objective: To assess the relationship between dispositional optimism and quality of life in a sample of women with breast cancer. Our purpose is to know which aspects of quality of life are influenced by dispositional optimism and which are not, to improve the understanding of optimism and improve it when it’s necessary for the adaptation to the medical situation. Method: 50 women with breast cancer answered individually quality of life and dispositional optimism measures. Results: Dispositional optimism is significantly related to many aspects of quality of life. Women with breast cancer with high dispositional optimistic feel less anger, less pain, have less difficulties in their movements, feel less tiredness, sleep better, go on with theirs home tasks, feel more illusion and less fear. But in some aspects, like social function or fatigue, it seems more important not being pessimist than being optimistic. Conclusion: In congruence with previous reports, dispositional optimism is a predictor of quality of life preservation in women with breast cancer.

Dispositional Mindfulness and Bias in Self-theories

Mindfulness is theorized to encourage a dispositional quality of nonjudgmental awareness that is incongruent with emotional and cognitive bias. Recent empirical investigations offer evidence supporting the putative negative association between dispositional mindfulness and bias. The present study aimed to test the hypothesized negative relationship between dispositional mindfulness and extreme or biased self-theories with respect to implicit beliefs about the variability of personality and intelligence. One hundred sixty-three young adults completed a measure of dispositional mindfulness followed by a self-theories implicit association test. Results indicate that respondents with less biased self-theories reported higher levels of dispositional mindfulness relative to respondents with more biased beliefs about the variability of intelligence and personality. These findings suggest that mindful individuals may adopt less biased characterizations of the self and maintain self-concepts that are less influenced by past associations or preconceived notions.

Dispositional Manpower Quality as a Predictor of Personal and Departmental Human Resource Performance

In this study our aims were to identify, in the context of the Chinese business environment, the main components of the professional competence of newly recruited employees that are critical to human resource (HR) performance, and, relative to the prediction of individual and departmental performance, to explore the influences of the identified competencies, and other important human dispositional factors, in terms of supervisors' conscious quality and career aspirations. In Study 1 we conducted in-depth interviews with a representative sample of 13 senior HR managers, in order to identify the key competencies of newly recruited employees. In Study 2 we developed a questionnaire and conducted a survey with 251 HR managers from a variety of enterprises in Taiwan to explore the impact of dispositional manpower quality on performance. We identified key dispositional manpower qualities of subordinates and supervisors and verified the relevance of these qualities in the context of the Chinese workforce. The practical implication of our findings to organizations in China is that organizations should provide more training facilitation to develop these key competencies and dispositional qualities among both managers and new employees.

PHYSIQUE ANXIETY AND SELF-EFFICACY INFLUENCES ON PERCEPTIONS OF PHYSICAL EVALUATION

The present study integrated concepts from social cognitive and self-presentational theories to determine the relationships among social physique anxiety, self-efficacy and outcome expectations, and state anxiety in situations of varying physical evaluation potential. These situations included scenarios considered to be high in physical evaluation, low in physical evaluation, and an exercise condition scenario, considered as high and low in physical evaluation by different individuals. Results demonstrated that the highest levels of state anxiety were found in the high physical evaluation/threat conditions and the lowest levels of anxiety were reported in the low physical evaluation/threat conditions. Additionally, the results demonstrated that being female and higher in physique anxiety resulted in greater self-reported state anxiety when encountering a physically evaluative condition of high threat potential. In exercise conditions, it was found that more efficacious individuals reported less state anxiety, however, in low physical evaluation conditions none of the variables predicted state anxiety. Results are discussed in terms of the integration of concepts from the social cognitive perspective and self-presentation theory and social physique anxiety as a dispositional quality.