This attribute expresses something that, it must be admitted, is a minority view in almost all cultures. In the UK, for example, less than a quarter of the population responds positively, versus over a third who respond negatively. That still leaves a significant proportion in between.

This attribute touches on an issue that, again illustrated perfectly in the UK, is near the heart of the conservative-liberal political divide in almost every culture. To those who view it positively, it’s about treating all people with fairness and respect. To those who view it negatively, it’s about security and trust. Both of these are perfectly valid concerns but they are NOT opposite ends of the same spectrum. After all, it’s perfectly possible to be fair and secure at the same time, otherwise no country would have ever developed any kind of criminal justice system that involved the presumption of innocence. The conflation of fairness-respect and security-trust into a single spectrum is why there will likely never be a satisfactory political resolution of the (imaginary) dilemma it poses.

As already said, those with a positive slant on this attribute tend strongly to be motivated by concerns of justice. They feel that everyone deserves to be treated equally and to have the benefit of justice applied to their case before condemnation, retribution and even hatred are brought to bear. Global espousers are able to adopt this stance because they are innately open to listening to others different than themselves. They want to understand before they judge.

One area where many of them have understood and come to a judgement is in respect of the environment. In the face of overwhelming scientific evidence of the environmental harm being done by humans in general and big business in particular, Global espousers express a willingness and, in many cases, a determination to stop buying products from companies that are known to be causing the worst damage to the environment.

What enables the Global espouser’s ability to be so open to others is a combination of their innate optimism and something of a sense of adventure.

They are perfectly aware that life will have its ups and downs but, overall, they feel that things will turn out OK. That means they aren’t too worried about what the future holds for themselves personally. As a consequence, these are people who seem to able to feel at home almost anywhere - “Wherever I hang my hat, that’s my home”. Somehow they manage to be cheerful, even when the world throws the worst at them.

At the same time, they have a tendency to go looking for adventures – not literally as in trekking to the North Pole (although some might) but by actively seeking out something “different”; something “risky”. They want their lives to be at least stimulating, if not out and out exciting.

For this all to work cohesively, these people need to be able to “forgive and forget”. For them, there are certainly a priori bad behaviours but they do not accept that there are a priori bad people. They believe that people do what they have to do, even if it’s not what they would like to do.