HONEST rejecters - Species Pioneers

“I believe that honesty is the basis for trust.
I would not lie; even to get myself out of trouble.”

HONEST REJECTERS are those who score in the lowest (approximate) tertile
of agreement with these statements.

Figure 1. HONEST rejecters - Pioneers

These are the Honest rejecter Pioneers' top 7 Attributes:

INQUISITIVE (index 149) - I find things interesting that other people find irrelevant. I am a mine of useless information.

SIMMER (index 144) – The thought of social disorder excites me. I would enjoy being involved in a street riot.

ADAPTABLE (index 136) – I believe that laws and rules should always be questioned, not just obeyed. I feel more comfortable with a chance to change my mind rather than just sticking with the same ideas all the time.

STUPID LAW (index 135) – I don’t believe that the law is always right. I feel that, when I think a law is stupid, it’s OK not to obey it.

SPECULATE (index 135) – I am a gambler at heart. I am prepared to take a risk in order to make a lot of money.

BENDER (index 133) – I believe it’s perfectly OK to bend the rules to get what you want – just don’t get caught. I think that every system has its weak points – you just have to find them.

IMPULULSIVE (index 131) – I spend more than I should. I am an impulsive spender.

Demographically these Pioneers are over-indexed among males (18% more than females) and the split is roughly 58% male compared to 42% female. The age group is a significant indicator of difference within the Pioneer HONEST rejecters – all age groups under 35 are over-indexed (the under 35’s account for 40.8% of all Pioneer HONEST rejecters). All age groups over 35 are under-indexed, with the over 65’s most under-indexed at 69 – but the over 35’s still form the majority of the group. There is no significant variation between Socio-economic groups.

The previous section portrayed a dark picture of violence, misogyny, disregard for the truth and willingness to break rules to achieve material success. The Pioneers are part of this group – but are they same as the whole?

Here is a typical Pioneer answer, “well yes and no”.

YES: The HONEST rejecting Pioneers, like all three HONEST rejecting Maslow Groups share an espousal of SIMMER. This measure of enjoyment and excitement in the thoughts and behaviours clustering around social violence is common to all those rejecting HONESTY.

NO: Within the total rejecter group SIMMER is tightly correlated with some dark factors that are not typical of Pioneers – FORCE and CATHARSIS. Without these Attributes correlating in the Pioneer mind the probability of HONEST rejecting Pioneers turning up and becoming a ‘street fighting man’ is minimal. That doesn’t mean they won’t be part of groups and crowds that protest issues important to them. They often are the creators and leaders in fringe groups, groups that are not mainstream today, and may never be mainstream. The majority of Pioneers are more liberal than conservative in their political orientations and these rejecters are more likely to be found in social action groups which have a leaning to the left. While they will agitate for change, they see violence in the process of calling attention to their issue as counter-productive. They do not support the idea of cathartic violence as a way of gaining clarity about their issue(s). They are like other Pioneers who are unlikely to see life as a series of binary choices. For these rejecter Pioneers there is always more time, more information, more discussion to be had when choices seem to be binary.

Just as within the total rejecter group the Pioneers over-index on SPECULATE (index 135 vs 147 for all) and BENDER (133 vs 136 for all, i.e. similar).

YES: Seeing themselves as a bit of a gambler at heart the rejecter Pioneers seem willing to take a leap of faith to make some money. Their leap of faith is indicative of a larger and richer vein of motivation that runs through them, i.e. it isn’t all about money. Though SPECULATE is one of their top over-indexed Attributes (rank 5 of 7) their over-index score is slightly lower than the rejecter group as a whole.

NO: In other words they can appear similar in their attitude, but to a slightly lesser extent, than other HONEST rejecters. In a group of gamblers or, for example, on a board that is considering future investments, they are likely to be those who go along with a bet or venture that is risky – but they are those most likely to take a measured view. Perhaps they will wait for further information, or take a slightly longer view of the gamble.>/p>

This could look like a measure of responsibility for their behaviour. But other evidence (to be shown later) points to the fact that taking further time could give them an ‘edge’ in their desire for making more money.

At issue, for them, is a question that haunts many of their individual and group decisions. “How far can we push the decision-making process before it becomes too extreme; and what are the odds of being caught doing something that can be sanctioned by authorities and/or partners”?

The HONEST rejecter Pioneers are more likely than other Pioneers to be comfortable with unethical or immoral decisions that give them more money. Their espousal of STUPID LAW indicates they are more likely to stray into borderline thoughts and behaviours if they perceive rules, regulations, and laws as “stupid”, which leads them to feel OK to break them.

The combination of these particular insights helps explain the oft-times confusing data CDSM has analysed in the past when looking at the composition of C-Suite teams. These HONEST rejecting Pioneer board members are often skewed to highly educated and experienced people, used to speculating and taking business gambles – yet make decisions that seem to go against the perception of all Pioneers as possessing a set of ethics that clash with the decisions they are making.

Many of the case studies facilitated by CDSM analysis and a wide range of studies compiled by academics and journalists show that the combination of SPECULATE, BENDER and STUPID LAW with a rejection of truthful interactions at board level, can, and does, produce unethical decisions. They clearly show that HONEST rejecter-based stakeholder and regulatory communications can often lead to sanctions. Once the sanctions are instituted they become the ‘case studies’ poured over by academics and students when the miscreants are placed in the hands of administrators, bankruptcy courts, stalked in hostile take-overs, or slapped with fines that run into the billions of pounds.

Are the HONEST rejecting Pioneers more or less likely than other groups to make these types of decisions?

The best measure of orientation to making a lot of money is the MATERIAL WEALTH Attribute – the fifth highest over-index among all HONEST rejecting people – indexing 41% higher than the population as a whole.

Among the rejecters:

The Prospectors over index at 171 (rank 3 of 118)

The Pioneers over index at 116 (rank 22 of 118)

The Settlers over index at 124 but rank at 24 of 118

MATERIAL WEALTH is a robust measure of Prospector values, and while it is important to Pioneers and Settlers, it is far outside the Top 7 ‘hot buttons’ for them. It is likely that HONEST rejecter Pioneers will often be the lone voice in a group objecting to many financially driven, rather than human driven, decisions. But the younger they are the smaller the voice.

It can be said that that Pioneer rejecters will have a more’ fluid’ sense of honesty within their values system than Pioneers as a whole. Remembering that the under 35’s make up a large proportion of the Pioneer HONEST rejecters, it is likely that this is a manifestation of those who are transitioning from Prospector to Pioneer. These younger Pioneers can be characterized as younger people engaging with the world around them and finding it less ethically structured than that with which they feel comfortable. Often, finding few sanctions imposed on liars are few and far between, they also lie if circumstances indicate that repercussion will be low or non-existent. Over time all people, and especially Pioneers, come to realize that lying to others is less harmful than lying to themselves. The data indicates there is almost a straight-line decline by age among Pioneers on this Attribute. This could be cited as an example of ‘fluidity’ among the Pioneers – but really it more likely a measure of ‘growth’, a coming to maturity of their values system, and the realization of the innate sensibility of telling the truth in all circumstances. But right now they are likely to believe that telling lies is acceptable.

What a picture of the Pioneers who reject the HONEST Attribute!

They don’t appear to be Pioneers in any sense that could be expected from an analysis of the Pioneers amongst the general population.

But they are Pioneers. So what connects this less ‘ethical’ group within the Pioneers - with the Pioneers as a whole?

Three Attributes are most likely to power and mitigate the preceding values orientations. These three Attributes are core Pioneer orientations and as such provide a meta factor when interpreting the beliefs and motivations of this group of Pioneers. They drive the fluid nature of their thoughts and behaviours and mitigate against violence – even though they share many Attributes with those who do resort to violence.

The first is the outgrowth of their search for meaning in their life – and feeling comfort with ‘where they are now’. This is measured in the MEANING Attribute:

My life has a clear sense of purpose. I have a good sense of what makes life meaningful.

Pioneers over-index on this Attribute compared to other groups:

Pioneer (population) index 116
Prospector (population) index 96
Settler (population) index 81

Focusing exclusively on the HONEST rejecter Pioneers who espouse MEANING, the difference becomes even more stark, at the Attribute level.

Two Attributes within their top 6 over-indexed Attributes are: INQUISITIVE (index 188) and ADAPTABLE (index 147)

Let’s take a look at them and how they focus our understanding of these Pioneers.

INQUISITIVE is composed of the paired statements:

I find things interesting that other people find irrelevant. I am a mine of useless information.

This is core to all Pioneers – ranking 6 out of 118 (index 131) – but is ranked 1 out of 118 (index 181) for Honest rejecter Pioneers.

Combining these two Attributes (MEANING and INQUISITIVE) the picture of the Pioneer who is attracted to street demonstrations that could end in violence begins to clarify. It seems clear they are not there for a ruck, like some other groups that are attracted to the same events. It appears that these occasions just add more grist and texture to their understanding of life – a concept that becomes an experience.

These are like the people who attend mass demonstrations, for example social justice demonstrations like anti-war protest, anti-Brexit demonstrations at the upper end (up to a million people peacefully marching on the streets), or the large but much smaller Black Lives Matter demonstrations. There is a well-established dynamic in these types of events. During the main demonstration all is peaceful and noisy – people expressing their opinions in the presence of others sharing the opinion, often with a mixture and humour and anger.

But … about 4PM to 5PM, another group starts appearing – the boys/young males in the black masks (BIBM). These are those looking for a ruck with police and, in a small number of cases, with the demonstrators. The genuine ethics-led demonstrators have begun going home by this time of day – but this is the time the police know there is likely to trouble kicking off – civil disobedience and possible street riots.

Caring little for the established rules of civil behaviour, believing various contrarian information sources and ideologies – or not believing in anything at all - many of these street fighting boy/men will be rejecters of HONESTY (see first section overview).

But we are looking specifically at the Pioneer version of HONEST rejecters and why they are likely to be in crowd – both during the main demonstration and in the running violence between the BIBM’s and police.

Being secure in knowing their own identity this is an experiential event – being physically involved in a violent event. They are not likely to engage in violence, but neither are they likely to take means to actively prevent the violence. The first-hand experience of the violence is perceived more as a learning event – an intellectual construct turning into a physical and emotional experience. They will also tend to contextualize it as ‘something interesting’ while acknowledging that others won’t find it interesting, or even relevant. Being neither a BIBM nor police officer they are detached, but engaged, observers.

They are likely to be literate and self-aware enough (part of being a Pioneer) to come through the experience and be able to communicate what they saw and felt to themselves and others.

Many investigative journalists will have this questioning attitude whether that is questioning the ‘stupid laws’ that led to the demonstrations or the ‘official description’ post-event.

The Pioneer rejecters are driven by their curiosity (ranking INQUISITIVE as their most over indexed Attribute) which maintains their fluidity. A fluidity which turns a piece of ‘useless information’ into a part of their web of learning that allows them to make connections, between nodes of information and knowledge, that might not be perceived by others.

The last of the three Attributes that create the core of the HONEST rejecting Pioneers is ADAPTABLE:

I believe that laws and rules should always be questioned, not just obeyed. I feel more comfortable with a chance to change my mind rather than just sticking with the same ideas all the time.

This is espoused by Pioneers among their top 25 Attributes (rank 22 of 118, index 119) but is ranked 3rd out of 118, index 138 by the HONEST rejecter Pioneers – which supports their espousal of STUPID LAW and INQUISITIVE.

Given their unquenchable thirst for more information and knowledge about their world they are among those most likely to explore the fringes of any given field of knowledge. Going down a multitude of ‘rabbit holes’ of specialized knowledge their inner sense of self can be disquieted by what they find there – or be amazed and awed by what they discover. But both reactions are instrumental in being able to ‘change their minds’.

The potential to comprehend the limitations of ‘official knowledge’ and to gain insights into the creation of ‘alternative facts’ gives them ability to think ‘outside the box’ – to perceive different forms of living more attractive to them than life as it at the moment. Content in who they are they are able to see the alternative reality without fear and anger – not as a loss of yesterday (and today), but as a vision for the future. The vision be bright or dark, but that is irrelevant. What is relevant is the process of perceiving ‘something different’ is an active precursor to new behaviours.

Rejecting HONEST is not just a ‘dark side’ factor – it is also a positive, if youthful, orientation in a world that does not live up to their expectations. Becoming ‘adult’ (accepting the world as it is and becoming more engaged with it in a holistic way) is part of a lifelong process. When this type of Pioneer looks at a world where leaders are elected for telling better lies, where corporate communications lie about their policies and the motivations behind them, when they perceive that ‘getting ahead’ in their work life can be accelerated by selecting certain ‘key words’ to insert into their CV’s that may be less than truthful, they question whether the received wisdom ‘to tell the truth’ is actually in their own self-interest. The perceptions of unethical behaviour by others, and their own not fully formed system ethics leads them to this juncture. But this rejection of HONEST does decline with age; and the sanctity of truth become more important as they continue on their journey of discovery.