Implicit Dispositions Research Articles

Synthetic consortium of Ganoderma lucidum and Lactobacillus plantarum for enhanced natural products biosynthesis

Microbial coculture holds immense promise for biomanufacturing. Herein, we designed a synthetic consortium of G. lucidum and L. plantarum for enhanced natural product biosynthesis. The spatio-temporal alignment of the strains revealed an implicit disposition for transient and long-term mutualistic co-existence in the shared environment. The consortium assembly and biomass growth were driven by an intuitive toggle-switching of carbon/nitrogen sources and TOR signaling. Extracellular electron transfer propelled by redox shuttles facilitated the distribution of high-energy electrons and enhanced the consortium's robustness. The ROS-scavenging activity of antioxidant enzymes maintained the cells' viability via intracellular ROS removal. The CAT, GPX, and APX enzymes catalyzed the reduction of H2O2 to H2O and O2, thereby protecting the cells against the toxic effects of ROS. Small-signaling molecules stimulated the biosynthesis of bioactive natural products in the coculture. Over-expression of target genes further enhanced ganoderic acids and exopolysaccharides bioproduction in the coculture system. The study provides insight into the physicochemical and molecular forces that drive cooperative interaction and stimulate natural product biosynthesis in G. lucidum and L. planatarum consortium.

“The Gods Must Be Crazy”: Students’ Attitudes and Dispositions as Enablers and Blockers to Internationalization

This article argues that students’ attitudes and dispositions can be important enablers or blockers to effective internationalization of the curriculum in higher education. Using a case study of teaching African studies at a Dutch Liberal Arts and Sciences college, this article shows that students have mixed explicit attitudes toward the subject matter, but more consistent implicit dispositions that influence their understanding. Specifically, our students show strong dispositions toward agency, rationality, separation, and similarity, which clarifies some aspects of the course content but obscures others. As such, they function as both enablers and blockers to intercultural learning. Since dispositions are common among university students and relevant to a wide array of intercultural learning contexts, this study offers important insights for designing and implementing effective internationalization—in particular, the need to tailor our efforts to the specific constellation of attitudes and dispositions, the course content, and the skills of both teachers and students.

A complex dynamic systems perspective on identity and its development: The dynamic systems model of role identity.

Current prominent models of identity face challenges in bridging across divergent perspectives and apparent dichotomies such as personal or social-collective, conscious or unconscious, and epigenetic or discursive-relational, and affording pursuit of research questions that allows integrative answers. This article presents a coherent theoretical perspective on the integrative nature of identity and its developmental mechanisms. Adopting the contextual social role as a primary unit of analysis, the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI) conceptualizes role identity as a Complex Dynamic System (CDS) anchored in action that comprises the actor's ontological and epistemological beliefs, purpose and goals, self-perceptions and self-definitions, and perceived action possibilities in the role. These system components are conceptualized as interdependent, and identity development is viewed as emergent, continuous, nonlinear, contextualized, and given to influences from within and without the system. The role identity itself constitutes an element within a multilevel hierarchy, which at the unit of analysis of the individual reflects a CDS of the multiple roles that constitute the person's psychosocial identity. Identity development involves the formation and restructuring of relations within and among role identities through intra- and interpersonal processes that are mediated by sociocognitive and cultural means, and framed by the context as well as by implicit dispositions. The DSMRI provides a framework to conceptualize and investigate the nature of the identity system, its development, and the relationship between identity development and psychological functioning at different units of-analysis, across different developmental stages and contexts, and using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. (PsycINFO Database Record

Do Some People Need Autonomy More Than Others? Implicit Dispositions Toward Autonomy Moderate the Effects of Felt Autonomy on Well-Being.

The present studies examined whether implicit or explicit autonomy dispositions moderate the relationship between felt autonomy and well-being. Study 1 (N = 187 undergraduate students) presents an initial test of the moderator hypothesis by predicting flow experience from the interaction of autonomy need satisfaction and autonomy dispositions. Study 2 (N = 127 physically inactive persons) used vignettes involving an autonomy (un)supportive coach to test a moderated mediation model in which perceived coach autonomy support leads to well-being through basic need satisfaction. Again, the effects of need satisfaction on well-being were hypothesized to be moderated by an implicit autonomy disposition. Study 1 showed that individuals with a strong implicit autonomy (but not power or achievement) motive disposition derived more flow experience from felt autonomy than individuals with a weak implicit autonomy disposition. Study 2 revealed that perceived autonomy support from sports coaches, which we experimentally induced with a vignette method, leads to autonomy satisfaction, leading in turn to positive effects on well-being. This indirect effect held at high and average but not low implicit autonomy disposition. The results indicate that the degree to which people benefit from autonomy need satisfaction depends on their implicit disposition toward autonomy.

On the Road to the Unconscious Self: Understanding when People Gain Self–knowledge of Implicit Disgust Sensitivity from Behavioural Cues

On the basis of an integration of dual–process models of information processing and the lens model framework of person perception, we conducted two studies to investigate whether self–perceivers could detect their implicit disposition from video feedback of behavioural cues and whether these cues were used for explicit dispositional inferences under conditions that maximized the presumed self–perception process. Using an approach that differed from previous research, we used the following: (i) a more detailed and stepwise self–perception procedure; (ii) a specific explicit measure compared with a global explicit measure; and (iii) disgust sensitivity as a domain with clear, unambiguous cues and an assumed low self–presentation bias. The results from two studies (N = 117 and N = 130) on disgust sensitivity provide the first evidence for the assumed process with regard to bodily reaction cues but not with regard to facial expression cues. These novel findings suggest that people can get to know their unconscious selves better if supporting conditions are met and the right behavioural cues are attended to. Additional boundary conditions of this self–perception process were investigated using display rules and need for closure in Study 2. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Perceiving pain in others: Validation of a dual processing model

Accurate perception of another person’s painful distress would appear to be accomplished through sensitivity to both automatic (unintentional, reflexive) and controlled (intentional, purposive) behavioural expression. We examined whether observers would construe diverse behavioural cues as falling within these domains, consistent with cognitive neuroscience findings describing activation of both automatic and controlled neuroregulatory processes. Using online survey methodology, 308 research participants rated behavioural cues as “goal directed vs. non–goal directed,” “conscious vs. unconscious,” “uncontrolled vs. controlled,” “fast vs. slow,” “intentional (deliberate) vs. unintentional,” “stimulus driven (obligatory) vs. self driven,” and “requiring contemplation vs. not requiring contemplation.” The behavioural cues were the 39 items provided by the PROMIS pain behaviour bank [27], constructed to be representative of the diverse possibilities for pain expression. Inter-item correlations among rating scales provided evidence of sufficient internal consistency justifying a single score on an automatic/controlled dimension (excluding the inconsistent fast vs. slow scale). An initial exploratory factor analysis on 151 participant data sets yielded factors consistent with “controlled” and “automatic” actions, as well as behaviours characterized as “ambiguous.” A confirmatory factor analysis using the remaining 151 data sets replicated EFA findings, supporting theoretical predictions that observers would distinguish immediate, reflexive, and spontaneous reactions (primarily facial expression and paralinguistic features of speech) from purposeful and controlled expression (verbal behaviour, instrumental behaviour requiring ongoing, integrated responses). There are implicit dispositions to organize cues signaling pain in others into the well-defined categories predicted by dual process theory. People reliably organize cues signaling pain in others into well-defined categories that represent a distinction between automatic and controlled pain behaviour.

Tricky treats: Paradoxical effects of temptation strength on self-regulation processes

This series of studies examined the effect of temptation strength on self-regulation processes in the context of eating behavior. Based on the critical level model, it was hypothesized that weak, rather than strong, temptations yield the most unfavorable conditions for effective self-regulation, because the negative consequences of the former are underestimated. In line with the assumptions of this model, Studies 1 and 2 showed that weak temptations inhibited the mental accessibility of theweight watching goal, in contrast to strong temptations. Study 3 showed that exposure to weak temptations lead to higher consumption in comparison to exposure to strong temptations. It is concluded that weak temptations, as compared to strong temptations, have an inhibiting effect on self-regulation processes and may therefore form a bigger threat for long-term goal attainment. Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Having to choose between short-term allurements or long-term benefits is a classic self-control dilemma. The experience of a dilemma as such is represented by temptation, comprising an immediate pleasure that is in conflict with a long-term goal: On the one hand, you would love to eat that delicious apple pie, but on the other hand you know it would be in conflict with your weightwatching goal. In order to deal with temptations andto be abletopursuelong-termgoals,peopleneedtoregulateorcontrol their behavior. In the current paper, it is proposed that temptation strength is an important factor in relation to self-regulation. The influence of temptations on self-regulation processes is not straightforward, with different perspectives prevailing in the literature. Following from the idea of a conflict between immediate pleasure versus rationally known longterm benefits, a distinction between affective and cognitive processes playing a role in people’s response to tempting stimuli has been proposed. It has been assumed that the default responseto temptation ismostlyimpulsiveand drivenbyaffect (i.e., giving in to the short-term pleasure), and that in order to give the long-term goal a chance to overrule this impulse, conscious cognitive processes are required (e.g., Metcalfe & Mischel, 1999). The use of the cognitive system, however, can be undermined when cognitive capacity is reduced because of, for example, coping with emotional distress (Tice, Bratslavsky, & Baumeister, 2001), alcohol use (Hofmann & Friese, 2008), or when under cognitive load (e.g., Shiv & Fedorikhin, 1999; Ward & Mann, 2000). As a consequence, if affective processes have room to put a heavier weight on the decisional balance, people are more likely to give in to temptation (Shiv & Fedorikhin, 1999). Therefore, the presence of temptation appears to undermine goal attainment. At the same time, recent research has suggested that temptations may in fact be helpful from a self-regulation perspective, adaptively triggering cognitive, and behavioral processes congruent with the long-term goal. Importantly, the activation of the long-term goal could occur automatically, not requiring deliberate thought or cognitive effort. For example, Fishbach, Friedman, and Kruglanski (2003) have shown that, outside of participants’ awareness, presentations of temptations could enhance the mental accessibility of the long-term goal. Moreover, the activation of the long-term goal in turn led to goal-directed behavior, resulting in healthier food choices among people who were exposed to temptation than among participants in the control condition (Fishbach et al., 2003; Kroese, Evers, & De Ridder, 2009). In a similar vein, Fishbach and Shah (2006) found that people tend to have implicit dispositions to approach goals and avoid temptations, again pointing toward a low-effort, adaptive self-regulation mechanism. This suggests that temptations do not always have negative effects on the activation of self-regulation processes. The phenomenon of temptations directly triggering defensive mechanisms would be very adaptive and has been found to be related to self-control success (Fishbach et al., 2003; Papies, Stroebe, & Aarts, 2008). The apparent discrepancy between the theoretical views described above renders it useful to search for moderating factors that might bring about a more comprehensive understanding of the processes at hand. It seems likely that under certain circumstances temptations can indeed automatically trigger self-regulation processes, while other circumstances are less facilitating and require more conscious attention to avoid indulgence. Although a number of studies

Convergence of Direct, Indirect, and Objective Risk-Taking Measures in Gambling

Based on dual-process models, we assumed that risk taking depends on implicit and explicit risk attitudes and risk propensity. Specifically, we predicted that the convergence between these indicators would depend on the impulsiveness versus reflectiveness of risk behavior. Two objective personality tests (OPTs) of risk taking that measure risk behavior in standardized situations were employed. We predicted that the impulsive OPT would depend more on implicit risk dispositions. The reverse effect pattern was expected for the reflective OPT. Next, we expected that self-control would amplify the weight of explicit dispositions and attenuate that of implicit dispositions. At Time 1, two direct questionnaire measures of explicit risk proneness, three indirect measures of implicit risk proneness, and a self-control measure were administered. At Time 2, participants participated in a reflective and an impulsive gambling OPT. The assumed pattern of effects was obtained. We conclude with a discussion of future research avenues.

The implicit power motive and sociosexuality in men and women: Pancultural effects of responsibility.

Research has shown that an individual's implicit power motive relates to 2 types of behavioral clusters: either prosocial, socially appropriate behaviors or profligate, impulsive behaviors. The present study examined the relationship between individuals' implicit power motives and their tendency to engage in sexual activities without strong emotional ties (i.e., sociosexuality). For men, but not for women, this relationship was hypothesized to be moderated by an implicit disposition for responsibility. Whereas most research has been limited to Euro-American contexts, the present study examined the relationship between power motive, disposition for responsibility, and sociosexuality among participants recruited in Cameroon, China, Costa Rica, and Germany. Explicit Big Five measures of personality were controlled for. For women, only a main effect of responsibility on sociosexuality was found across cultural groups; for men, the association between power motivation and sociosexuality was moderated by responsibility, independent of cultural group. Traits of agreeableness and conscientiousness were systematically related to lower levels of sociosexuality. Effects for both implicit and explicit measures of personality suggest universality in the processes associated with more enactments of sociosexuality, confirming in part the hypothesized role of responsibility in channeling the realization of the power motive into less impulsive activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

The road to the unconscious self not taken: Discrepancies between self‐ and observer‐inferences about implicit dispositions from nonverbal behavioural cues

To what extent can individuals gain insight into their own or another person's implicit dispositions' We investigated whether self‐perceivers versus neutral observers can detect implicit dispositions from nonverbal behavioural cues contained in video feedback (cue validity) and whether these cues are in turn used as a valid basis for explicit dispositional inferences (cue utilization). Across three studies in the domains of extraversion and anxiety we consistently obtained reliable cue validity and cue utilization for neutral observers but not for self‐perceivers. An additional measure of state inferences in Study 3 showed that one reason for the lack of mediation in self‐perceivers is their reluctance to use their state inferences as a basis for more general trait inferences. We conclude that people have a ‘blind spot’ with respect to the nonverbal behavioural manifestations of their unconscious selves, even though neutral observers may readily detect and utilize this information for dispositional inferences. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Self-control in action: Implicit dispositions toward goals and away from temptations.

Five studies examined whether, in self-control dilemmas, individuals develop an implicit disposition to approach goals and avoid temptations, psychologically as well as physically. Using a method developed by A. K. Solarz (1960; see also K. L. Duckworth, J. A. Bargh, M. Garcia, & S. Chaiken, 2002), the authors assessed the time for pulling and pushing a lever in response to goal- and temptation-related stimuli (e.g., studying and partying). The results show that individuals offset the influence of tempting activities by automatically avoiding these stimuli (faster pushing responses) and by approaching stimuli related to an overarching goal (faster pulling responses). These implicit self-control dispositions varied as a function of the magnitude of the self-control conflict, itself defined by how strongly individuals were attracted to temptations and held the longer term goal. These dispositions were further shown to play a role in successful self-control.