fitness

1. a set of attributes that people have or are able to achieve relating to their ability to perform physical work and to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure pursuits.

2. in biology, the extent to which an organism or population is able to produce viable offspring in a given environment or ecological niche, which is a measure of that organism’s or population’s adaptation to that environment. Compare unfitness. See Darwinian fitness; inclusive fitness; reproductive success. —fit adj.

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Psychology term of the day

February 23rd 2025

dogmatism

1. the tendency to act in a blindly certain, assertive, and authoritative manner in accordance with a strongly held set of beliefs.

2. a personality trait characterized by this tendency. The belief system of such an individual is strongly held and resistant to change. Nevertheless, it often contains elements that are isolated from one another and thus may contradict one another. See Rokeach Dogmatism Scale. [first proposed by U.S. psychologist Milton Rokeach (1918–1988)] —dogmatic adj.