Mental Sets
Mental Sets
New - an
essay discussing basic problems of world cultures: "The
Combative Dominance Syndrome"The word "set" has many meanings. The Webster unabridged dictionary has over 40 definitions. It can be used as a verb (he set the table), an adjective (they met at a set time), or a noun (a set of tools). Another meaning attached to the term is the transformation of something in flux to something fixed (the cement was allowed to set). With this last meaning in mind, a mental set may be defined as: A commitment to a goal to be attained by whatever actions are required. How does a mental set differ from a habit? For a mental set, the goal becomes set whereas actions to attain the goal may vary: For a habit, repetitive actions become set and the purpose of the actions may become lost to consciousness.
Mental sets are the psychological controls we use to maintain purpose and direction in our lives. Without mental sets our actions would be mechanistically driven by external forces. With a mental set, the future, in the form of an imagined goal, becomes the selecter and determiner of our actions. A mental set keeps us oriented toward a goal despite distractions, failures, and the lure of other goals.
A ship's journey provides an extended metaphor to further
the understanding of a mental set. Before leaving the harbor, a ship's captain
sets a course that will take the ship to a selected destination (goal). The
course may not be a straight line due to weather, currents, land barriers, etc.,
but throughout the voyage the captain's mental set keeps the ship moving closer
(in time) to the port of destination. If some unforeseen event, such as a sudden
storm, takes the ship off its course, the captain's mental set will develop
an alternative course to the goal. If the goal turns out to be impossible, the
captain will fall back on an alternative goal that will require a different
mental set. The captain's mental set replaces mechanical programmed behavior
with proactive, future oriented
behavior.
Two contradictory mental sets cannot operate simultaneously. However, mental sets may be linked or sequenced to develop a complex course of action to attain a set of goals. For example, a pilot cannot hold mental sets to fly to Dallas and Los Angeles at the same time although it is quite possible to link sets to fly to one and then the other. There may also be contingency sets that are activated by information that can only become available in the future. For example a pilot may set a course to fly to St. Louis at which point a contingency set will be selected to fly to either Dallas or Los Angeles dependent on weather conditions at the time.
The ability to use symbols to represent goals gives humans a great advantage over lower animals. Animals use learned behaviors to satisfy immediate needs (such as hunger) but such learned behavior provides only a short projection into the future. The use of symbols to represent goals enables humans to develop complex programs to attain distant future goals (e.g., "when I grow up, I want to be an engineer").
Our behavior is not just occasionally directed by mental sets. Most of our actions are determined by mental sets. Mental sets may be simple and require few acts to attain an immediate goal or they may be complex with a wide variety of activities to attain a distant goal. For example, when we get up in the morning our mental sets move us toward mini goals such as brushing our teeth, getting dressed, fixing and eating breakfast, etc. These mini goals should be compatible with larger and more distant goals such as developing careers, raising children etc. It is important that the mini mental sets do not contradict or oppose the goals of larger and more inclusive mental sets.
Mental sets mediate possible conflicts between and within the subsystems of our personality. They coordinate and direct the functions of our perceptual, emotional, cognitive, and motivational systems. For example, if you are hungry you decide that its time to eat. With this goal in mind, you are "all set" to eat a good meal. To help you maintain your set and attain your goal, motives that conflict with eating are temporarily suppressed. Your mental set will direct your perceptual system to look for eating places and to ignore non-eating place stimuli. Your mental set will cause you to selectively search your cognitive system's associations and memory to determine which eating places will best suit your appetite and pocketbook. Within your behavioral system, your mental set will help you select the actions that will put you in front of a good meal. As you finish your meal, you will select another goal and a new mental set will be formed.
Mental Set Problems
As with any of the psychological systems, mental sets can develop chronic general problems that impair our ability to meet our needs and the needs of others. Below are descriptions of some of these problems.
People with very low verbal skills have difficulty in forming mental sets. Poor verbal intelligence makes it difficult to develop abstract concepts of the future. Since the formation of a mental set requires the ability to conceptualize future times and events, the lack of temporal conceptual ability is a severe handicap in mental set formation. However, people with low verbal intelligence may be able to acquire conditioned sets that enable them to carry out routine sequences of behavior (e.g., a retarded person may be trained to wash dishes). Such conditioned sets are usually drilled into verbally handicapped people by those with more ability and close supervision may be required to maintain the conditioned set of a mentally retarded person.
Poor verbal ability is not the only cause of difficulty with mental set formation. Some people with very good intelligence still have trouble forming mental sets because of a poorly developed or weak decider. In every living system there is a subsystem called the decider that selects the actions we execute (see "Living Systems" by James Grier Miller). The decider also selects the goals that determine our mental sets. If we have difficulty deciding what goals we will pursue, we will naturally be plagued by indecision and confusion. Strengthening the decider usually involves better organization of ego needs (autonomy, dominance, sex, aggression, defendance, rejection). The six ego needs must be closely associated to support each other when we are asserting our will.
Another important factor affecting our mental set formation is our system of values. When we have a well formulated and prioritized set of values, we have little trouble selecting goals that will create mental sets. Where there are choices to be made between goals, the options can be referred to our value system to indicate the priority of the goals. For example, a person fortunate enough to have a choice between two attractive jobs may, by consulting his or her value system, resolve the dilemma by selecting the position that shows the most promise for fulfilling major long term goals, even if the alternative has more immediate rewards.
Some people can easily set goals but have difficulty
maintaining a goal set. As a result, they switch from one pursuit to another
with loss of completion and accomplishment. Such people are sometimes diagnosed
as having ADD (attention deficit disorder) or, if accompanied by rapid behavioral
transitions and poor concentration, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
These conditions may be caused by being "situation bound" in that
immediate external forces are too influential in determining their behavior.
In extreme cases, their attention is "kaleidoscopic" and they react
to the total changing environmental stimuli. Their attention is too focused
on the present without sufficient regard for the future. To maintain a long
term mental set, we need to have a strong and extended time dimension.
A strongly prioritized value system enables one to ignore distracting attractions.
It pays to "go to the mountain top" occasionally to revue long term
goals to avoid wandering in circles because of a lack of orientation.
In contrast to the person who has difficulty maintaining
a mental set, some people have difficulty changing a set that is no longer appropriate
for their situation and needs. This difficulty may be caused by unrealistic
fears of new situations. For such a person, a situation that is familiar, no
matter how bad, is preferable to the unknown consequences of changing their
mental set. Such people may have had early traumatic experiences associated
with disruptive changes in their home and family situations. They feel the same
insecurity and lack of confidence in their ability to cope with change that
they experienced when they had little power and control over their circumstances.
Their mental set to avoid change restricts their exploratory impulses and restricts
their learning. Unlike the person who has difficulty maintaining a mental set,
people who have difficulty changing sets are prisoners of the past rather than
the present. They need to open their minds to the possibilities of the present
and the future and to raise their consciousness regarding their abilities to
cope with and benefit from change and new experiences.
Evaluative mental sets exert a pervasive and often unconscious
influence on our decision making and behavior. These are sets that move us to
evaluate the goodness or badness of things we experience in life. Osgood's Semantic
Differential Test has shown that evaluation is the dominant dimension in the
connotative meaning of words. The fact that our language is loaded with evaluative
concerns suggests that our general outlook on life is deeply concerned with
the positive and negative aspects of our experiences. Indeed, at a mostly unconscious
level, we are constantly evaluating the things we experience. It is quite difficult,
if not impossible, for us to take a completely neutral stand in judging and
reacting to any of our experiences. Our legal system recognizes this and operates
on an adversarial basis. Prosecution and defense lawyers take turns
presenting the pros and cons of a case to the judge and jurors. This system
recognizes the difficulty of any completely neutral objective appraisal of things
or events.
As with our legal system, we form positive and negative mental sets to help us evaluate our experiences. Being oppositional, positive and negative sets cannot function at the same time. As in a courtroom, the two sets must take turns making their case. Problems arise in a person when one evaluative set dominates the other, thus precluding a balanced and realistic appraisal of experiences.
Positive and negative mental sets are so much a part of us that we may lose awareness of their presence and their effect on our behavior. Without knowing it, a person can develop a chronic negative attitude so that they only look for and perceive negative aspects of situations. The result is anger, frustration, and depression. A dominant negative set can sometimes be disclosed by asking a person to verbally list as many of their positive qualities as they can. After a few tentative general positive qualities are related, the statements of a negatively set person tend to become qualified and provisional (e.g., "I'm a good worker - but - I never do as well as I should.") When asked to list their negative qualities, the negatively set person can usually itemize quite a number of their bad traits without qualifications. This behavior indicates the person's difficulty with maintaining a positive set and their tendency to unconsciously slip into a negative mental set. A negative set may be aimed at one's self, or at others, or at impersonal events and things. It is important to determine the targets of a chronic negative set to accurately focus on the nature and extent of negative set problems.
The same techniques may be used to discover a chronic
positive mental set. In such cases, the
reactions will be opposite to those with a negative mental set. Chronic positive
mental sets are not as common as chronic negative mental sets but when they
occur they may be associated with euphoria, grandiosity, pretentiousness, and
narcissism.
The
Picture Identification Test (PIT) is a psychological
instrument based on the Murray need system. The PIT uses multidimensional scaling
to provide an analysis of needs (motives). It indicates needs that are being
met or expressed ineffectively. The PIT can be administered to subjects ages
twelve and older.
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For further information about
the Picture Identification Test contact
Jay L. Chambers, PhD: ibis@kalexres.kendal.org
160 Kendal Drive Apartment #205
Lexington, Virginia 24450
Phone: 540.462.3874
The Motivation Analysis web site has three sections:
Motivation Analysis: General
Systems Point of View | Combative Dimension
| Personal Social Dimension |
Competitve Dimension | PIT
Scores | PIT Publications |
PIT Dissertations | Motivation
System Target Model | Target Model
Reliability | GPA Predications | Need
& Cluster Definitions | Links
Essays: Combative
Dominance Syndrome (new) | Political
Motivation | Mental Sets |
Symbolic Thinking, Values, Motivation & Religion |
Needs, Values, Philosophy & Religion
Needs (Motives): Abasement
| Achievement |
Affiliation | Aggression | Autonomy
| Blame Avoidance | Counteraction
| Defendance | Deference
| Dominance | Exhibition
| Gratitude | Harm
Avoidance | Inferiority Avoidance
| Nurturance | Order
| Play | Rejection
| Sentience | Sex
| Succorance | Understanding
URL: http://www.overbooked.org/motivation/essays/mentalsets.html
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