. you can call me a circle ; but in reality i am not a circle , but an infinite number of circles , of size varying from a point to a circle of 13 inches in diameter , one placed on the top of the other . when i cut through your plane as i am now doing , i make in your plane a section which you , very rightly , call a circle .  in a recent article , nilsson ( 2014 ) suggests that the notion of a worldview needs to be included in cloninger 's science of well - being ( e.g. , cloninger 2004 , cloninger 2006 , cloninger 2007 , and cloninger 2013 ) . 1 ) , the worldview is  the person 's most basic beliefs , values , constructs , and scripts for understanding , evaluating , and acting upon reality , which ground the network within which more specific beliefs , goals , intentions , etc . , are embedded . cloninger 's science of well - being focuses on self - awareness of the unity of being through sustainable personality development in three dimensions ( i.e. the self , others , and the universe or the world as a whole , for example , nature ) . in cloninger 's paradigm , unity of being represents a complete , coherent , and harmonious sense of the self in these three dimensions , in turn , giving raise to feelings of hope in one self 's ability to cope and make decisions ( i.e. self - directedness ) , feelings of love toward others ( i.e. cooperativeness ) , and feelings of faith in that we are a part of something beyond the self and others ( i.e. self - transcendence ) . nilsson first argues that the notion of unity of being is a presupposition rather than an empirical fact because cloninger sees it as intuitive ( cloninger , 2004 ) and that others suggest that its critics lack self - awareness ( for a review see cloninger , 2004 ) . although cloninger further develops the notion of unity of being and his view on scientific paradigms in several of his works ( e.g. , cloninger 2004 , cloninger 2013 , and cloninger 2013 ) , we wanted to put this discussion in the context of the analogy that follows . consider the quote from the book flatland by e. a. abbott ( 1884 ) at the beginning of this article . the sphere called  a sphere  who is from spaceland , a three - dimensional world , visits the square called  a square  who lives in flatland , a two - dimensional world . a sphere s  appearance in flatland is that of a circle that can change its diameter at will .  a sphere  visits flatland to introduce a new geometrical two - dimensional figure to the idea of a third dimension in the hopes of eventually educating the population of flatland . to convince  a square  of a third dimension ,  a sphere  needs to pull  a square  out of flatland into the experience of spaceland . we suggest this analogy embodies what cloninger is explaining ( 2004) to grasp the notion of unity of being , we need to actually simultaneously experience the three dimensions by ourselves ( cf . one of the things that might prevent us humans from accepting or achieving unity of being might be the mere notion nilsson refers to as our worldviews . the subjective reality imbedded in our worldview is a distorted reality experienced through our senses and the context we live in . this is also similar to the reality of the prisoners in plato 's cave who since childhood gaze at shadows in the wall in front of them . in the case of a square ,  its worldview is based on a two - dimensional plane and therefore he is unable to understand and experience the dimension of elevation ( haidt , 2006 ) . again , the flatland analogy only puts the axiom of the unity of being in perspective and we only give a brief simplified account of it ; readers should seek more information in the works cited here . nevertheless , related to our reasoning here , research suggests that witnessing acts of self - transcendence , that is , what cloninger proposes as the third dimension of human personality , actually causes calmness and the desire to become a better person ( i.e. moral elevation ; haidt , 2006 ) . moreover , as noted by nilsson , there has been an increase in studies on meaning - making in the form of life narratives ( mcadams , 2008 ) , an interpreter module ( gazzaniga , 2008 ; haidt , 2006 ; and kahneman , 2011 ) , and worldviews ( koltko - rivera , 2004 ) . we agree in that these studies are not commonly unified in personality psychology and to an even lesser degree in well - being research ( for some exceptions see mcadams , 2008 ; pennebaker , 2011 ; and garcia et al . , 2015 ) . this is highly important because the words we use are not only a mirror of our thoughts and feelings but also the tools that can be used to guide behaviour ( pennebaker , 2011 ) . we suggest that a unified theory of personality operationalized as temperament - character - narrative presents a more complete approach . cloninger ( 2007 ) has for instance pointed out that the temperament - character - narrative dimensions have evolved through three major systems of learning and memory in a long series of steps through evolution . the first system is the procedural , which regulates different emotional responses such as fear , disgust , ambition , and anger ( i.e. cloninger 's temperament dimensions ) . according to cloninger , the evolution of the second and third system allowed humans to develop character or  the reflection of personal goals and values specifically , the second system , the propositional system , is present in primates and helps the individual to be self - directed and cooperative in a social environment . the third system , the episodic system , exists only among humans and stands for humans capacity for self - awareness , which allows introspection and recollection of autobiographical memories ( cloninger , 2007 ) . nilsson further proposes that a person might experience ill- or well - being depending on her / his worldview . the question is , we argue , whether subjective worldviews actually guide us toward lasting well - being , and if they promote adaptation and survival in harmony with the world around us ( cf . cloninger , 2013 ) . for instance , it is true that intelligence and money are important for our subjective well - being only if excelling in academic achievement and status , respectively , are the part of our worldview ( myers and diener , 1995 ) . nilsson , however , forgets that worldviews might be shared as well and that certain behaviours bring well - being to most human beings . for example , prosocial attitudes ( i.e. cooperation ) increase individuals well - being across different cultures ( e.g. , aknin et al . in other words , promoting helpful behaviour seems to lead to well - being independent of subjective worldviews . in contrast , certain things are important for our well - being only depending of our own unique worldview . although nilsson 's proposition might be a step forward for personality research , it actually diminishes the science of well - being to the individuals subjective experience of reality , probably leading to a  separation of being cohen et al . , 2000 ) . for instance , as suggested by hart et al . ( 2005 ) , people have a desire to uphold a meaningful picture of reality , which is probably motivated by existential insecurity . when threatened , individuals try to protect their cherished worldviews by , for example , enhancing the value of in - group members and devaluating the value of out - group members ( greenberg et al . , that is , separation rather than unity with others who do not resemble ourselves or are not regarded as equal to us . furthermore , nilsson also suggests  neither worldview nor the development of character and well - being is a one - size - fits - all  ( nilsson , 2014 , p. 3 ) . although it is very appealing to see ourselves as unique , which we are in the sense nilsson proposes through our own and unique experiences and memories , we are also connected to all living things and our environment ( dawkins , 1982 ) . moreover , cloninger 's tri - dimensional model of character ( i.e. the self , others , and the universe ) resonates with the findings by cultural psychologists ( e.g. , shweder et al . , 1997 ) who suggest that moral judgments across cultures can be organized in three main areas of ethics : autonomy ( cf . some cultures are more or less inclined to one or the other . also of importance , in the field of personality psychology , it is common to define personality as stable through the life span . in contrast , cloninger has actually revised the definition of personality ( cloninger 2004 ) to emphasize the interaction between temperament and character and each of the traits within the model across the life span ( e.g. , cloninger and zohar , 2011 ; josefsson et al . , 2013 ) : personality is a dynamic organisation within the individual of the psychobiological systems by which the person both shapes and adapts uniquely to an ever - changing internal and external environment ( cloninger , 2012 ) . in other words , it is a nonlinear dynamic model of personality that covers drives , goals and values , and influences and is co - influenced by the life narrative . flowchart of the paper nilsson 's proposition , if we understood it correctly , is indeed important to the science of well - being and personality theory in general . however , we argue that it is important because worldviews are analogical to flatland , the individual needs to be aware of her / his worldview to experience well - being and exercise her / his free will . one 's worldview could be meaningfully organized around agency ( self - directedness ) , communion ( cooperativeness ) , and spirituality ( self - transcendence ) to recognize what truly helps the individual to achieve well - being . in this context , a definition of well - being is lacking in nilsson 's article ; thus , our conclusion here might depend on which definition he is using . well - being might , for example , refer to feeling good ( i.e. happiness ) , doing good ( i.e. mature and actively virtuous living ) , physical health ( i.e. absence of disease or infirmity ) , and prosperity ( i.e. success , good fortune , and flourishing ) ( cloninger , 2004 ) . finally , one of the main concerns is the fact that the notion of worldviews presented by nilsson is too broad and comprises both implicit and explicit constructs of a person 's self - awareness . in the quest of a nonreductive theory of personality , nilsson puts together all parts of human self - aware experience in one notion , which misses out relevant constructs such as temperament and character ( cloninger , 2004 ) , the life narrative ( mcadams , 2008 ) , and the interpreter module ( gazzaniga , 2008 ; haidt , 2006 ; kahneman , 2011 ) . all of which might interact in the development of well - being [ figure 1 ] . a ternary awareness of our being is necessary if the worldview is going to be integrated as a part of the science of well - being . without this ternary structure , it is probable that the focus on one 's worldview leads to separation of being . we rather propose a ternary structure of personality : temperament , character , and identity [ figure 2 ] . a unified view of personality including temperament ( novelty seeking , harm avoidance , reward dependence , and persistence ) , character ( self - directedness , cooperativeness , and self - transcendence ) , and identity ( a construction of the interpreter module and the narrative self ) . all of which interact in the development of well - being ( adapted with permission from c. r. cloninger , personal communication december 2 , 2014 ) . is the notion of the worldview needed in the science of well - being?does a person 's worldview prevent her / him from experiencing the unity of being?are we humans unique or are there universal ethics that unify us as species?is cloninger 's biopsychosociospiritual model of personality a unified model of human personality ? 
  is the notion of the worldview needed in the science of well - being ? does a person 's worldview prevent her / him from experiencing the unity of being ? are we humans unique or are there universal ethics that unify us as species ? is cloninger 's biopsychosociospiritual model of personality a unified model of human personality ? danilo garcia ph.d . is a doctor of philosophy in psychology and associate professor at the university of gothenburg . he is also a wellbeing coach and the director of the blekinge center of competence , which focusses on innovation , research , and development of health and healthcare through person - centered methods . he is interested in personality , character , free will , responsibility , life narratives , empowerment , happiness , wellbeing , exercise , and human performance . patricia rosenberg m.sc . has been a high school teacher for more than 10 years .
this paper discusses the suggestion of the notion of a worldview as part of the science of well - being . 
 we present , at first , an allegoric comparison as to why the view of a ternary unity of being ( i.e. a coherence of the three parts of the being , body , mind , and psyche to maximize well - being ) is difficult to grasp . 
 we also discuss that humans do have unique experiences and memories , but that we are also connected to both all living things and to our environment . 
 finally , we point to a ternary model of personality to increase our understanding of a person 's well - being : temperament , character , and identity .