Contact Assimilation / M + C

Description

(-) Negative attentional valence

Negating what's bad, absent, broken: "The light's too harsh and it'll cloud over by afternoon."

Attention drawn to flaws, absences, and potential threats.

Default expectation of problems.

Cautious and alert emotional baseline.

Accumulation of problems along Differentiation functions. Instrumental problem-solving along Assimilation.

General Meaning

Foregrounding the negative

Faster focusing on what's bad - in order to minimize negative consequences

Intellectual Level

Contrast-based thinking (differentiation, contradiction, dissection)

Social Level

Distrustful and guarded in initial contact

Less accepting of strangers and outsiders

Psychological Level

Higher emotional guardedness, lower suggestibility

Physical Level

Higher baseline tension (needs discharge)