#disagreeableness

Selective Approval & Devotion

The Unseelie attitude will constantly and unconsciously pinge their emotional register for how they feel about everything, responding with affection or acute repulsion reactions. They will be disgust-sensitive, carrying a specific emotional and aesthetic palate, registering things as tasteful or "gross." They will not be afraid to call something unethical or revolting by its rightful name and will make their opinion known without apologizing. Unlike the Seelie attitude, who is willing to be generous towards people and situations --seeking to highlight the beauty beneath things-- the Unseelie person feels there is no excuse for something unseemly, amoral, or cruel that does not deserve to be excused. However, this may cause them to appear highly selective and difficult to please. They may develop a reputation as being standoffish or cold. They may be misunderstood as being ill-willed when they are instead merely standing for what they value and consider good. While initially guarded, the Unseelie attitude will be a very gentle and sweet presence to all who can get past their initial barriers, revealing themselves to be loyal and ever-honest friends.

Self-Focus & Idiosyncrasy

The Unseelie person will be self-possessed, righteously independent and exhibit that through unusual habits and appearances. They will dress in ways that encapsulate their individuality, having little regard for how aligned it is to the cultural norm. Unafraid to be seen as bizarre, the Unseelie person is eccentric, idiosyncratic, and bold. Focusing on their own needs and values first, these adamant non-conformists will fight for their right to their body, their gender, and their expression. Like a rose behind glass --poised, elegant but protected-- they may elicit the feeling of being ever out of reach. Moreover, while the Unseelie individual may enjoy this adulation, they are not primarily motivated by it. Their conscious goal may be to allow their existing nature --or nature itself-- to speak through them, becoming a vessel or vehicle for what is already inside. If they take a liking for theatre, music, or dance, their illustrations will be dramatic, carrying themes of sexuality, primal displays, and romance.

Bluntness

The Unseelie type is notoriously blunt in their verbal delivery. Not beating around the bush, they will convey their opinion with a deadpan face. Wonderful or bad news may be relayed with the same monotone voice or with a glimmer of sarcasm. They may have no problem telling someone they are fired, telling a lover their relationship is over, or negatively criticizing people's works or art. However, this can eventually expand into a highly calloused view of life where any appreciation for sensitivity is omitted. They may respond to the tragedies or hardships of others with "get over it" and lack sympathy for themselves or anyone else. Over time, this habit may excommunicate them from friend groups- a causality they may feel indifferent to initially but personally weighed by later. They may be branded the local "asshole," shrugging it off or biting back in equal measure. Hiding behind this rebellious front, the Unseelie person may have lost the ability to convey their transparent feelings to others when it truly matters to them. They will struggle with vulnerability and the opening of their heart. Coming off as guarded even when they intend to appear sincere, the Unseelie person may be forced to show their affection for others through indirect means, being highly generous with their time, money, or resources and hoping their feelings can somehow reach the other person.

-Under Stress

Vanity & Self-Obsession

When highly distressed, the Unseelie attitude becomes obsessed with their appearance, social status, and personal value. As hardships cause devastation to their self-esteem, it starts to matter terribly that others think them beautiful and valuable. What was once genuine self-expression becomes a necessary channel for attention. Their self-focus deteriorates into vanity. Their desire to embody beauty becomes an obsession to receive external approval and to fill an emotional abyss. They may come to feel they only matter if they are beautiful and can embody elegance in the world. They may become exhibitionists, raising the stakes higher and more revealing than most in their attire and words. Narcissism grows in them, which can progress into a desire to be exalted and adored as royalty. However, unfortunately, one is never enough: never beautiful enough, rich enough, or important enough, which eventually devolves into jealousy, bitterness, and petty hatred towards others who sit higher than them in any competing domain.

Bitchiness

This pettiness degrades over time into a foul character marked by passive-aggressiveness, slandering, and prejudice. Here, the stressed individual exemplifies genuine malicious intent towards others, coordinating underhanded tactics to sabotage relationships and defame their enemies. They may gossip behind their backs, distorting people's opinions and setting people up for public humiliation. The Unseelie type under stress comes to be known as a "bitch" or snob, rejecting people based on lower status and power. They will use these tactics to secure their position in power, simultaneously validating their opinion of themselves. However, this power dynamic may just as easily backfire and cause the Unseelie type to become the subject of ridicule and excommunication when their ill-willed motivations are known. They play a dangerous game of fraud and fame, risking love and reputation. However, deep down, they may be indifferent to these outcomes, motivated not just by a desire for status but just as much by a misanthropic view and resentment towards people.

Morbidity & Macabre

Shaming

Contrary to the Adaptive attitude, the Directive attitude does not believe in grace; it believes in punishment and the fairness of properly balancing emotional economies. It accomplishes this through the use of shame. Directiveness believes that individuals are only kept in order --and rightly aligned in their personal and societal perception-- by a regulation of pride. It will take it upon itself to "put people in their place" if they are exaggerating their self-worth or diminishing the value of others of a higher tier than they. We see a Directive attitude echoed in phrases such as "You do not talk to your elder that way," "You use the right honorifics," and "That was a foolish mistake; now your reputation is ruined." To this attitude, a reputation is largely a proper reflection of who they are, as it reflects how their comportment is objectively evaluated. Outside opinion is considered legitimate feedback given to them by the culture; negative feedback is necessary as the eternal modulator of pride, where pride is only warranted when the tribe acknowledges their abilities and value. Directiveness is both the enforcer and receiver of this shame and will concede or yield when they measure that they were the one in the wrong. However, unlike Adaptiveness, which makes itself susceptible to exploitation, the Directive attitude will always defend itself against unjust or unearned reprimand. It will only take reprimand when they agree with it.

Retribution

Indeed, when a Directive person agrees with the shame, they would rather take punishment deliberately than be the one economically in the wrong. They may actively ask for retribution to face others again without shame, having paid their dues. Balance is to be restored, and they want to stand on the right side of judgment's blade. There is also a physicality and combativeness in this Directive attitude, where it may be fair game to balance the emotional scales using a physical-to-emotional pain translation. It will want to teach others a very somatic lesson, imposing an emotional experience on others through the vehicle of pain. It is important to note that Directiveness is not sadistic by nature, as causing injury is not the aim itself. Instead, it is the translation of emotional energies through the act. A higher motif arises from this physical channel, where a Directive attitude will wish to lock fists with others to truly "level" with them. They may develop a philosophy: "You do not really know someone until you fight them" or "You only really know someone's heart once you cross fists with them." The frustration expressed through battle is seen by Directiveness as catharsis and as evidence of the reality of hearts. In this sense, the Directive attitude wishes to see -as clearly as possible- what lies in the heart of others. It may encourage or even invoke that reality to understand the other person better.

Leveling in the Truth

This leveling happens not only at the physical level but also verbally. The Directive attitude opposes Adaptiveness, wishing always to cut through facades and speak frankly about the harsh truth of its opinion. Directiveness does not collapse upon hearing the truth or cave under pressure but feels relief and a rebuilding of trust. It feels that only after the air has been cleared can anything true and lasting be formed. A Directive attitude will compel the person to ask those hard questions, dig at the problem, expose the fraud, heartbreak, or corruption, and look at it directly with no compromise in attention. It seeks to establish respect through transparency, in feeling another's pain, letting them feel yours, getting angry at them, and asking them to get angry at you. Directive people will be suspicious of any love or friendship that lacks conflict, viewing such things as symptomatic of concealment and compromise. It understands human hearts to be a messy business. It is content existing in eternal but necessary friction so long as it does not escalate to unethical levels or into genuine malice. Notwithstanding its harsh outward comportment, ethics ultimately drives Directiveness, like Adaptiveness. It will still hold steadfast to its ethical boundaries, even if it appears alarming in the words it selects for communication.

-Under Stress

Violence

When under stress, a Directive attitude's initially honest and cathartic qualities become exaggerated outside proper ethical constraints. The impulse to put people in their place regresses into a vengeful desire to defame or humiliate others. What was once a desire to create equilibrium devolves into a desire to cause genuine suffering. The name of the game becomes domination rather than the arrangement of society into balance. A societal order is indeed enforced, but one where others are oppressed under one's emotional and physical rule. This attitude becomes predatorial and territorial, using intimidation tactics and engaging in a power dynamic. Under stress, morality is tossed aside, and the person resorts to foul play to remain atop the social hierarchy. They may become emotionally abusive and physically abusive. Moreover, while all people can experience anger or sudden violent outbursts, Directiveness is more prone to premeditated aggression to establish rule and control. We see directive attitudes often manifest in gang violence, where the same Fe-Ti handling that is used to gather people together is then used to pivot those people against others.

Manipulation

Another effect that emerges from Directiveness in an unhealthy individual is a proclivity toward emotional manipulation. Their ability to persuade and charm through oration is channeled into an art form designed to deceive and attain an advantage over others. Sweet words will fall off their lips while darker intentions rest beneath them. The person is often keenly aware of the sensitivities of others -how they tick and break- and will exploit these vulnerabilities for their gains. They may assert emotional control over their relationships, weakening their lover or family member's opinion of themselves through psychological manipulation and gaslighting. Through months or years of verbal onslaughts, they will diminish the confidence of others and present their own opinions as absolute. Moreover, through the sheer force of their personality, they will mentally overpower those beneath them --inhibiting their willpower, mobility, and life options. Like how Adaptive people can create a suffocating dynamic of co-dependence, the unhealthy Directive type will use their loved ones to secure their need for control, relevance, and ego validation.

Cultism

He articulates something clearly that I've felt for awhile, so I'm happy about that. People are always like, "that's crazy" or "that's insane" as a sort of end to the argument. But I've always felt, "ok, sure, then what?"

Regardless, fascinating interview by Cowen of Annie Jacobsen, I could see how some listeners would be annoyed. She required so much clarification before answering many questions, and even upon receiving clarification, she wouldn't answer. She even refused to say what her favorite novel was.

the Bipartisan Podcast Episode 8: 9 Months into the Trump Presidency

Donald Trump During the Presidential Campaign

“Trump the disrupter, the businessman, the real estate mogul, the Atlantic city casino owner, the man who no matter what could do no wrong in the eyes of his devoted acolytes…and Trump won the election and now he’s our leader…see the problem is America didn’t elect a president, they elected the proverbial Bull and the China Shop that he was placed in…

Image Credit: <www.thegrindstone.com>

…So much has been written about women’s tendency to negotiate less vigorously for their salaries than their male peers. There is really nothing significant I can add to the dialogue here, and in today’s post I don’t aspire to try.

With that said, I recently I reviewed the results of an interesting study (here) from researchers Timothy A. Judge, Beth A.…