an inclination beforehand to interpret statements in a particular way
<noun.cognition>
a disposition in advance to react in a particular way
<noun.attribute>
Predisposition \Pre*dis`po*si"tion\, n. [Pref. pre- + disposition: cf. F. pr['e]disposition.] 1. The act of predisposing, or the state of being predisposed; previous inclination, tendency, or propensity; predilection; -- applied to the mind; as, a predisposition to anger.
2. Previous fitness or adaptation to any change, impression, or purpose; susceptibility; -- applied to material things; as, the predisposition of the body to disease.
"If someone comes along and tells them pets can talk, there's a predisposition to want to believe them."
A mouse with a man-made predisposition to breast cancer scurries about a university lab. A pig with a human growth hormone gene grows bigger and faster than its brother.
Voters had become fed up with their predisposition toward leniency for violent criminals, among other things.
"I interpret this as a predisposition of President Bush, amid all his rhetoric, of negotiating this matter of the truce with the mediation" of Latin American presidents, Ortega said.
"We still have to do work on that," she said. "I don't think we'll have the final evidence for a long time." Lynch said one way to get this evidence would be to study families in which there is a genetic predisposition for cancer.
There are probably also environmental factors, which may be linked to a single bacteria or virus, or a combination of organisms, says Littman. The exact effect of the organisms and the genetic predisposition remain unclear.
It is commonly thought that women are more capable than men of paying attention to another person and that motherhood develops this predisposition even more.
The city argues that the judge's comments showed a "clear predisposition" against its case, and probably caused the jury to render an "unjust verdict."
Mr. Breeden, for example, said he has "no predisposition whatsoever" either for or against the proposed rule.