Evidence for High Sensitivity/ Responsivity

Why you won't see a lot of citations in my blog posts

As mentioned in the About page for Sensitive Thrive, part of my job is to translate the knowledge about High Sensitivity, coming from research, into advice and insight relevant to helping organisational leaders understand how to help Highly Sensitive people thrive in their workplaces.

As I do this, through blog posts and information on this website, along with what I share in person, I don't usually refer directly to research studies. This is because I've synthesised the information gained from a variety of sources, often over time, and applied it to the current focus. Those sources include my own experience and insights, and the experiences of other Highly Sensitive people I've spoken with.

Research papers are also usually very specific, and rely on prior knowledge and subject expertise to interpret accurately. This is why I seek out Dr Elaine Aron's interpretations, wherever possible. As the pioneering researcher for this temperament, she has a broad and deep understanding of what it means and where to place new findings within that framework.

The role of research about High Sensitivity

There is more research being done all the time, which is excellent. While we know, largely, what constitutes the temperament and how it plays out in a person - how it feels to be Highly Sensitive and how it influences our experience, personally, and through observation of many HS people - continuing research helps others to understand, 'believe' it, and apply the findings to specific situations. It creates understanding about underlying factors, like genetics and brain processes, and effects, such as higher sensory stimulation, increased empathy, and careful decision-making.

The more that's known, through research about this temperament, the more we'll be able to provide conditions within societies which support, rather than let down, Highly Sensitive / Responsive people. My hope, and that of many who work on this, is that our societies will then benefit far more from the vital gifts that Responsive people offer, and that they will also be better able to thrive themselves, no longer hindered by conditions set to the needs of Non- or Low-Sensitive, Un-Responsive people.

As I write often, we need each other: the Responsive and Un-Responsive. Each group has gifts to share, arising from our differing temperaments. One shouldn't be elevated over the other, because that leads to missing out on the essential services of the other.

Published articles and summaries of research to refer to

Let me, then, share a few of the original research findings and their interpretations by Dr Aron, for those of you interested in the supporting evidence more explicitly. You can also search, at any time, on a scientific or psychological research database for word combinations such as High Sensitivity, Sensory Processing Sensitivity, Responsive and Unresponsive personalities, vantage sensitivity and differential susceptibility.

Here's a sampling of articles and summaries I've used so far in my work, and which you can refer to if needed:

1. Evolutionary emergence of responsive and unresponsive personalities | PNAS  - this uses the term 'personalities', which might be misleading, since we're talking about a temperament. The term used doesn't really matter, but I think it's confusing to people who are used to hearing and thinking about personality traits, and then add this to them as one more thing. High Sensitivity/Responsiveness is a foundational way of experiencing and interpreting environmental stimuli (inner and outer), while personality is built on top of that, and can have many combinations. I've explained more on the FAQ page.
2. The highly sensitive brain: an fMRI study of sensory processing sensitivity and response to others' emotions
3. Sensitivity publications, curated by Sensitivity Research - on this page, you'll find a list of articles about various theories around Sensitivity.
4. Research articles by Dr Elaine Aron and collaborators - this is another list of articles published from studies done by Elaine Aron and colleagues.
5. Some New Research on Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) - a summary (from 2017) of recent articles at that point from the psychological community. ('Sensory Processing Sensivity' is the official psychological term for High Sensitivity). These summaries are very useful for placing the research into context.
   
6. 2021 Research on HSPs - another summary and explanation by Dr Aron. ('HSP' is a common acronym that Highly Sensitive people use for themselves and others with the temperament).
7. More HSP Research - the most recent summary from Dr Aron. This is very recent, and I haven't caught up on it yet - so you might be ahead of me if you read through it first!

I hope you'll find this sampling of articles and summaries useful in your work, and also that it will help reassure you of the legitimacy and accuracy of what I report. I look forward to working together, and helping your organisation harness the needed gifts offered by Highly Sensitive / Responsive people.

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