Morgan opened one of his desk drawers. He took out a first-edition journal whose cover had faded with age.Printed at the bottom was the year of publication.
1992
Lucien recognized it immediately. It was the very first publication of Behavioral Dominance Theory. Nearly every psychology student in Valerion had read the journal, though only a handful truly understood its contents.
Morgan flipped through several pages. Then stopped at the introduction.
"I still remember the debate before this paper was published."
A faint smile crossed Lucien's face.
"The ethics committee?"
"No." Morgan shook his head. "It was our own research team."
Lucien looked mildly surprised.
"About what?"
"One word."
"One word?"
Morgan pointed to the journal's title.
Behavioral Dominance Theory
"The word Dominance."
Lucien understood immediately. "Some members of the team opposed the name."
"Exactly."
Morgan closed the journal.
"Helena proposed Behavioral Responsibility Theory."
"Victor preferred Interpersonal Orientation Theory."
"Daniel wanted a title so long it never would have fit on the journal cover."
Lucien chuckled "That certainly sounds like Daniel."
Morgan smiled "In the end, we kept Behavioral Dominance Theory."
"Why?"
Morgan didn't answer immediately. Instead, he asked, "What do you think?"
Lucien took his time. He knew in research, terminology was never chosen carelessly.
"Because the word dominance was already an established concept in behavioral psychology."
Morgan nodded "That's one reason."
"And..." Lucien continued, "...because it describes a tendency that is more dominant than other competing tendencies. Not dominance over other people."
"Precisely." Morgan smiled with satisfaction. "Many people assume we chose the word dominance to describe interpersonal relationships, but we didn't."
He picked up a blank sheet of paper. Quickly, he drew a circle. Inside it, he wrote several words.
Empathy
Logic
Moral Values
Experience
Personality
Then, near one edge of the circle, he added another word.
Instinct
Morgan turned the paper toward Lucien. "Every human decision is influenced by many factors. BDT has never claimed that instinct is the largest factor. Nor the most important one."
He tapped the word Instinct with his pen.
"What we've always said is simply this...in a small minority of people, certain instinctive tendencies appear to be more dominant than they are in the general population. That's why we chose the term Behavioral Dominance. Not dominance over Others."
Lucien nodded quietly. The distinction seemed subtle. Yet the difference in meaning was enormous.
Morgan continued, "If future research proves that another term would be more accurate I'd have no problem renaming the theory."
Lucien smiled. "You'd make every psychology student memorize it all over again."
"That's hardly my problem. They're the ones who chose to study psychology."
The two of them laughed softly.
Morgan set the journal aside. His expression became serious again.
"Lucien."
"Yes."
"For years, the media has described BDT as a theory that divides people into four groups. Dominant. Submissive. Switch. Neutral."
"That's certainly the easiest way to explain it."
"But..." Morgan shook his head "...the easiest explanation is almost never the most accurate one."
Lucien leaned back in his chair. He knew this discussion well, but he also knew Morgan almost always found a new perspective.
"Do you remember why we eventually adopted the term Profile instead of Type?" Morgan asked.
Lucien nodded "Because human beings are far too complex to be explained by a single label."
Morgan smiled.
"Exactly."
He picked up a gray folder. Printed across the cover were the words:
Behavioral Dominance Profile Assessment
"Many people assume an evaluation ends with a single sentence."
«Dominant.»
«Submissive.»
«Neutral.»
«Switch.»
Morgan gently shook his head. "In reality it's much more complicated."
He opened the folder. The first several pages were filled with graphs and statistical tables. Nowhere did they immediately assign someone to a category.
"The first thing we measure isn't Dominance."
Morgan pointed to the opening page.
"It's patterns."
Lucien examined the charts.
Morgan continued, "Tendencies toward assuming responsibility. Patterns of building trust. Responses to uncertainty. Emotional regulation. Relational stability. Empathy. Cognitive flexibility. Every one of them is observed. Every one is compared. Every one is analyzed."
"And only then..."
Morgan pointed toward the final page.
"...do we construct a comprehensive profile of the individual."
Lucien looked over several pages from one of his own previous evaluations. A small smile appeared. "I used to think the last page was the most important. The one labeled Dominant."
Morgan laughed "That's the mistake most psychology students make."
He gestured toward the entire folder. "When in reality, the last page is only a summary. The truly important part is everything that produced that summary."
Morgan paused.
"Besides two people with a Dominant profile can be completely different."
Lucien nodded "Like Grandfather Cedric and me."
Morgan looked at him.
"Exactly. You both have a strong Dominance Orientation, but the way it's expressed is different. Cedric reduced his anxiety by taking responsibility for everything."
"But you..." Morgan smiled gently. "...reduce yours by constantly evaluating yourself."
Lucien fell silent. The observation was simple. Yet it described him with remarkable accuracy.
Morgan continued, "That's why I always tell my students..."
«'BDT never predicts the decisions a person will make.'»
«'BDT only helps us understand why someone may feel drawn toward a particular direction.'»
"The final decision is still made by the individual."
He looked at Lucien calmly. "And that's precisely why this theory must never be used to judge people. Not in the workplace. Not in education. And certainly not in the legal system."
Lucien nodded. He still remembered the controversy several years earlier, when several major corporations had attempted to use Behavioral Dominance Profiles as a criterion for promotion.
The Behavioral Dominance Research Group had been the first to oppose the policy. They had even published an official statement.
«Behavioral Dominance Profile was created to improve understanding, not to determine human worth.»
Morgan took another sip of tea, now growing cold.
"Now then..."
He slowly closed the gray folder.
"We've talked enough about the theory. It's time to return to the real reason you came here."
Morgan opened the bottom drawer of his desk. He pulled out a much thicker folder. Unlike the previous one, its cover was worn from years of use, covered with folded corners and handwritten notes.
In the upper-right corner was a single name.
Lucien Ashford
Morgan placed it gently on the desk. Then looked at Lucien with a faint smile.
"I think it's time to see how you've progressed over the past three months."