Sentence:  It is our hypothesis that Kohnstamm-positive subjects are less hesitant about relinquishing control than <WSD>are</WSD> Kohnstamm-negative subjects ; that they can give up their control and allow themselves to be reactors rather than actors . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)