Sensory Processing Sensitivity

This article reviews the literature on sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) in light of growing evidence from evolutionary biology that many personality differences in nonhuman species involve being more or less responsive, reactive, flexible, or sensitive to the environment. After briefly defining SPS, it first discusses how biologists studying animal personality have conceptualized this general environmental sensitivity. Second, it reviews relevant previous human personality/temperament work, focusing on crossover interactions (where a trait generates positive or negative outcomes depending on the environment), and traits relevant to specific hypothesized aspects of SPS: inhibition of behavior, sensitivity to stimuli, depth of processing, and emotional/physiological reactivity. Third, it reviews support for the overall SPS model, focusing on development of the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) Scale as a measure of SPS then on neuroimaging and genetic studies using the scale, all of which bears on the extent to which SPS in humans corresponds to biological responsivity.

[1]  J. Gray,et al.  Anxiolytic action on the behavioural inhibition system implies multiple types of arousal contribute to anxiety. , 2000, Journal of affective disorders.

[2]  G. Barnes,et al.  Extraversion and pain. , 1975, The British journal of social and clinical psychology.

[3]  Ahmad R. Hariri,et al.  Cognitive impact of genetic variation of the serotonin transporter in primates is associated with differences in brain morphology rather than serotonin neurotransmission , 2009, Molecular Psychiatry.

[4]  G. Kochanska,et al.  Children's fearfulness as a moderator of parenting in early socialization: Two longitudinal studies. , 2007, Developmental psychology.

[5]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Differential susceptibility to rearing environment depending on dopamine-related genes: New evidence and a meta-analysis , 2011, Development and Psychopathology.

[6]  Kenneth H. Rubin,et al.  Social Reputation and Peer Relationships in Chinese and Canadian Children: A Cross‐cultural Study , 1992 .

[7]  Kenneth H. Rubin,et al.  Continuity and discontinuity of behavioral inhibition and exuberance: psychophysiological and behavioral influences across the first four years of life. , 2001, Child development.

[8]  K. Vohs,et al.  How Emotion Shapes Behavior: Feedback, Anticipation, and Reflection, Rather Than Direct Causation , 2007, Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

[9]  David C. Funder,et al.  Towards a resolution of the personality triad: Persons, situations, and behaviors , 2006 .

[10]  J. Stamps,et al.  Growth-mortality tradeoffs and 'personality traits' in animals. , 2007, Ecology letters.

[11]  B. Sahakian,et al.  The effect of polymorphism at the serotonin transporter gene on decision-making, memory and executive function in ecstasy users and controls , 2006, Psychopharmacology.

[12]  J. Strelau.  Temperament personality activity , 1983 .

[13]  D. Noonan.  Altered states. , 2004, Newsweek.

[14]  M. Liss,et al.  Sensory processing sensitivity and its relation to parental bonding, anxiety, and depression , 2005 .

[15]  M. Buchsbaum,et al.  Augmenting and Reducing: Individual Differences in Evoked Potentials , 1983 .

[16]  J. Gabrieli,et al.  Temperament trait of sensory processing sensitivity moderates cultural differences in neural response. , 2010, Social cognitive and affective neuroscience.

[17]  A. Aron,et al.  Bulletin Personality and Social Psychology Adult Shyness: the Interaction of Temperamental Sensitivity and an Adverse Childhood Environment , 2022 .

[18]  Ibrahim N Orgun,et al.  TEMPERAMENT AND DEVELOPMENT , 1978 .

[19]  C. Carver,et al.  Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: The BIS/BAS Scales , 1994 .

[20]  B. Ellis,et al.  The stress response systems: Universality and adaptive individual differences , 2006 .

[21]  Elizabeth Duffy,et al.  Activation and behavior , 1962 .

[22]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Effects of attachment-based interventions on maternal sensitivity and infant attachment: differential susceptibility of highly reactive infants. , 2006, Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association.

[23]  M. Gunnar.  Psychoendocrine studies of temperament and stress in early childhood: Expanding current models. , 1994 .

[24]  Andrew Sih,et al.  Insights for Behavioral Ecology from Behavioral Syndromes. , 2008, Advances in the study of behavior.

[25]  H. Gough,et al.  Positive, Negative, and Balanced Shyness , 1986 .

[26]  Shelley E. Taylor,et al.  Early Family Environment, Current Adversity, the Serotonin Transporter Promoter Polymorphism, and Depressive Symptomatology , 2006, Biological Psychiatry.

[27]  H S Koelega,et al.  Extraversion and vigilance performance: 30 years of inconsistencies. , 1992, Psychological bulletin.

[28]  A. Bundy,et al.  How does sensory processing dysfunction affect play? , 2007, The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

[29]  B. Ellis,et al.  Printed in the United States of America DOI: 10.10170S0954579405050145 , 2022 .

[30]  Amanda Bryan,et al.  The Big Five , 2012 .

[31]  M. Kernis.  TARGET ARTICLE: Toward a Conceptualization of Optimal Self-Esteem , 2003 .

[32]  A. Caspi,et al.  The typological approach to studying personality. , 1998 .

[33]  S. Suomi.  Early determinants of behaviour: evidence from primate studies. , 1997, British medical bulletin.

[34]  D. M. Lyons,et al.  Individual differences in temperament of domestic dairy goats: constancy and change , 1988, Animal Behaviour.

[35]  A. Sih,et al.  Behavioral Syndromes: An Integrative Overview , 2004, The Quarterly Review of Biology.

[36]  Jay Belsky,et al.  Variation in Susceptibility to Environmental Influence: An Evolutionary Argument , 1997 .

[37]  Christian Dina,et al.  AVPR1a and SLC6A4 Gene Polymorphisms Are Associated with Creative Dance Performance , 2005, PLoS genetics.

[38]  P. R. Wiepkema,et al.  Individual behavioral and physiological strategies in pigs , 1994, Physiology & Behavior.

[39]  D. Schalling.  Tolerance for experimentally induced pain as related to personality. , 1971, Scandinavian journal of psychology.

[40]  D. Kemler.  Sensitivity to Sensoriprocessing, Self-Discrepancy, and Emotional Reactivity of Collegiate Athletes , 2006, Perceptual and motor skills.

[41]  Jay Belsky,et al.  For Better and For Worse , 2007 .

[42]  S. Winberg,et al.  Genetically Determined Variation in Stress Responsiveness in Rainbow Trout: Behavior and Neurobiology , 2007, Brain, Behavior and Evolution.

[43]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Parent-child relationship, temperament, and physiological reactions to fear-inducing film clips: further evidence for differential susceptibility. , 2008, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[44]  R. Moyzis,et al.  Contributions of Dopamine-Related Genes and Environmental Factors to Highly Sensitive Personality: A Multi-Step Neuronal System-Level Approach , 2011, PloS one.

[45]  I. Bell.  Allergens, physical irritants, depression, and shyness☆ , 1992 .

[46]  Barbara K. Keogh,et al.  Temperament , 1982 .

[47]  D. Robinson,et al.  Evoked potential augmenting-reducing and personality differences , 1984 .

[48]  S. Cameron,et al.  Are plant DNA barcodes a search for the Holy Grail? , 2006, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[49]  K. Lesch,et al.  Looking on the Bright Side of Serotonin Transporter Gene Variation , 2011, Biological Psychiatry.

[50]  David F. Bjorklund,et al.  Origins of the social mind: Evolutionary psychology and child development. , 2005 .

[51]  M. Zuckerman.  Impulsive unsocialized sensation seeking: The biological foundations of a basic dimension of personality. , 1994 .

[52]  D. Nettle.  The evolution of personality variation in humans and other animals. , 2006, The American psychologist.

[53]  J. Wingfield,et al.  The Darwinian concept of stress: benefits of allostasis and costs of allostatic load and the trade-offs in health and disease , 2005, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[54]  K. E. Nichols,et al.  Guilt in young children: development, determinants, and relations with a broader system of standards. , 2002, Child development.

[55]  B. Ellis,et al.  Biological sensitivity to context: II. Empirical explorations of an evolutionary–developmental theory , 2005, Development and Psychopathology.

[56]  Aaron W. Lukaszewski,et al.  The Origins of Extraversion: Joint Effects of Facultative Calibration and Genetic Polymorphism , 2022 .

[57]  G. Kochanska.  Multiple pathways to conscience for children with different temperaments: from toddlerhood to age 5. , 1997, Developmental psychology.

[58]  E. Aron.  High sensitivity as one source of fearfulness and shyness: Preliminary research and clinical implications. , 1999 .

[59]  Michael W. Eysenck,et al.  Handbook of individual differences : biological perspectives , 1992 .

[60]  Daniel Tranel,et al.  Amygdala damage impairs emotional memory for gist but not details of complex stimuli , 2005, Nature Neuroscience.

[61]  B. Ellis.  Timing of pubertal maturation in girls: an integrated life history approach. , 2004, Psychological bulletin.

[62]  H. Gough,et al.  Positive, Negative, and Balanced Shyness Self-Definitions and the Reactions of Others , 1986 .

[63]  M. Rothbart,et al.  Temperamental sensitivity : Two constructs or one? , 2008 .

[64]  G. Edman,et al.  Interaction effects of extraversion and neuroticism on detection thresholds , 1979, Biological Psychology.

[65]  J. Kagan.  The concept of behavioral inhibition to the unfamiliar. , 1989 .

[66]  Franz J Weissing,et al.  On the coevolution of social responsiveness and behavioural consistency , 2011, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[67]  C. Carver,et al.  Negative childhood accounts, sensitivity, and pessimism: a study of avoidant personality disorder features in college students. , 2000, Journal of Personality Disorders.

[68]  J. Kagan,et al.  Galen’s Prophecy , 2018 .

[69]  Alasdair I. Houston,et al.  Evolution of trust and trustworthiness: social awareness favours personality differences , 2008, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[70]  Michael D. Robinson,et al.  Neuroticism and responsiveness to error feedback: adaptive self-regulation versus affective reactivity. , 2010, Journal of personality.

[71]  Ahmad R. Hariri,et al.  Genetic Sensitivity to the Environment: The Case of the Serotonin Transporter Gene and Its Implications for Studying Complex Diseases and Traits , 2010 .

[72]  K. Campbell,et al.  Extraversion and Auditory Sensitivity to High and Low Frequency , 1974, Perceptual and motor skills.

[73]  Jay Belsky,et al.  Differential Susceptibility to Rearing Influence: An Evolutionary Hypothesis and Some Evidence. , 2005 .

[74]  Denis Réale,et al.  Behavioural reaction norms: animal personality meets individual plasticity. , 2010, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[75]  S. Hofmann,et al.  Sensory-processing sensitivity in social anxiety disorder: relationship to harm avoidance and diagnostic subtypes. , 2007, Journal of anxiety disorders.

[76]  S. D. de Boer,et al.  Coping styles in animals: current status in behavior and stress-physiology , 1999, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[77]  D. Wilson,et al.  Shyness and boldness in pumpkinseed sunfish: individual differences are context-specific , 1998, Animal Behaviour.

[78]  J. Gabrieli,et al.  Cultural Influences on Neural Substrates of Attentional Control , 2008, Psychological science.

[79]  R. Hogan,et al.  Explorations in behavioral consistency: properties of persons, situations, and behaviors. , 1991, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[80]  D. Paulhus,et al.  Perceptions of intelligence in leaderless groups: the dynamic effects of shyness and acquaintance. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[81]  A. Mehrabian.  A questionnaire measure of individual differences in stimulus screening and associated differences in arousability , 1977 .

[82]  S. Gosling,et al.  Personality Dimensions in Nonhuman Animals , 1999 .

[83]  R. McCrae,et al.  An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. , 1992, Journal of personality.

[84]  D. Wilson,et al.  Shy-bold continuum in pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus): An ecological study of a psychological trait. , 1993 .

[85]  J. Belsky,et al.  Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: and evolutionary theory of socialization. , 1991, Child development.

[86]  H. Eysenck.  A Model for Personality , 1981 .

[87]  W T Boyce,et al.  Psychobiologic Reactivity to Stress and Childhood Respiratory Illnesses: Results of Two Prospective Studies , 1995, Psychosomatic medicine.

[88]  A. Kjellgren,et al.  Altered States of Consciousness and Mystical Experiences during Sensory Isolation in Flotation Tank: Is the Highly Sensitive Personality Variable of Importance? , 2009 .

[89]  B. J. Fine.  Field-Dependent Introvert and Neuroticism: Eysenck and Witkin United , 1972, Psychological reports.

[90]  Shelley E. Taylor,et al.  5-HTTLPR moderates effects of current life events on neuroticism: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences , 2010, Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry.

[91]  A. Vingerhoets,et al.  Psychobiologic reactivity to stress and childhood respiratory illness: results of two prospective studies. , 1996, Psychosomatic medicine.

[92]  A. Tellegen,et al.  An alternative "description of personality": the big-five factor structure. , 1990, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[93]  I. B. Myers.  The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: Manual (1962). , 1962 .

[94]  F. Craik,et al.  Levels of Pro-cessing: A Framework for Memory Research , 1975 .

[95]  D. Shelton,et al.  The mediating effects of psychophysiological reactivity and recovery on the relationship between environmental stress and illness. , 1989, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[96]  N. Fox,et al.  Neural Correlates of Reward Processing in Adolescents With a History of Inhibited Temperament , 2009, Psychological science.

[97]  D. Funder.  Global Traits: A Neo-Allportian Approach to Personality , 1991 .

[98]  E. Aron.  Revisiting Jung's concept of innate sensitiveness. , 2004, The Journal of analytical psychology.

[99]  E. Aron,et al.  The trait of sensory processing sensitivity and neural responses to changes in visual scenes. , 2011, Social cognitive and affective neuroscience.

[100]  B. Meyer,et al.  Sensory sensitivity, attachment experiences, and rejection responses among adults with borderline and avoidant features. , 2005, Journal of personality disorders.

[101]  R. Parritz,et al.  Behavioral inhibition and stress reactivity: the moderating role of attachment security. , 1996, Child development.

[102]  C. Jung,et al.  THE COLLECTED WORKS OF C. G. JUNG , 2018, Psychology of the Transference.

[103]  J. Kagan,et al.  Shyness and olfactory threshold , 1989 .

[104]  Marc H. Bornstein,et al.  Social, emotional, and personality development , 1988 .

[105]  J. Gray,et al.  A Critique of Eysenck’s Theory of Personality , 1981 .

[106]  Claus Lamm,et al.  Meta-analytic evidence for common and distinct neural networks associated with directly experienced pain and empathy for pain , 2011, NeuroImage.

[107]  Grant Benham.  The Highly Sensitive Person : Stress and physical symptom reports , 2006 .

[108]  J. Belsky,et al.  Differential susceptibility to rearing experience: the case of childcare. , 2009, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[109]  B. Sahakian,et al.  The effects of acute tryptophan depletion and serotonin transporter polymorphism on emotional processing in memory and attention. , 2007, The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology.

[110]  G. Kochanska,et al.  Toddlers' Sensitivity to Standard Violations. , 1995 .

[111]  J. W. C. Fox,et al.  Individuality in Pain and Suffering , 1968 .

[112]  P. R. Wiepkema,et al.  Consistent individual differences in early exploratory behaviour of male great tits , 1994, Animal Behaviour.

[113]  W. Damon,et al.  Social, emotional, and personality development , 1998 .

[114]  I. Sigel,et al.  HANDBOOK OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY , 2006 .

[115]  J. Strelau.  The concepts of arousal and arousability as used in temperament studies. , 1994 .

[116]  S. Nichols,et al.  Reflectivity and learning from aversive events: toward a psychological mechanism for the syndromes of disinhibition. , 1993, Psychological review.

[117]  M. Rothbart,et al.  Developing a model for adult temperament , 2007 .

[118]  R. Stelmack,et al.  Extraversion, attention, and habituation of the auditory evoked response , 1985 .

[119]  A. Kjellgren,et al.  Searching for placebo Effect: Do Sensitive Personality and Breathing Instructions Influence the Experience of Flotation-REST (Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique)? , 2009 .

[120]  J. Bates,et al.  Temperament: Individual differences at the interface of biology and behavior. , 1994 .

[121]  J. Beitchman.  Biology of Personality and Individual Differences. , 2009 .

[122]  J. Kagan,et al.  Temperament and allergic symptoms. , 1991, Psychosomatic medicine.

[123]  A. Craig,et al.  How do you feel — now? The anterior insula and human awareness , 2009, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[124]  S. Gosling.  From mice to men: what can we learn about personality from animal research? , 2001, Psychological bulletin.

[125]  Shelley E. Taylor,et al.  Culture, serotonin receptor polymorphism and locus of attention. , 2010, Social cognitive and affective neuroscience.

[126]  Erika Friedmann,et al.  Physiological Correlates of Human Behavior , 1986 .

[127]  Franz J. Weissing,et al.  Evolutionary emergence of responsive and unresponsive personalities , 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[128]  H. Goldsmith,et al.  Early temperamental and family predictors of shyness and anxiety. , 2010, Developmental psychology.

[129]  A. Aron,et al.  Sensory-processing sensitivity and its relation to introversion and emotionality. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[130]  Sarah L. Master,et al.  Neurocognitive components of the behavioral inhibition and activation systems: implications for theories of self-regulation. , 2007, Psychophysiology.

[131]  Jay Belsky,et al.  Beyond diathesis stress: differential susceptibility to environmental influences. , 2009, Psychological bulletin.

[132]  Albert Mehrabian,et al.  Analysis of personality measures in terms of basic dimensions of temperament. , 1980 .

[133]  T. Groothuis,et al.  Avian personalities: characterization and epigenesis , 2005, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[134]  Judy Stamps,et al.  The development of animal personality: relevance, concepts and perspectives , 2010, Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.

[135]  A. Evers,et al.  High sensory-processing sensitivity at work. , 2008 .

[136]  E. Woody,et al.  A psychometric evaluation of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale: The components of sensory-processing sensitivity and their relation to the BIS/BAS and “Big Five” , 2006 .

[137]  V. De Pascalis,et al.  On the Psychophysiology of Extraversion , 2004 .

[138]  J. Kagan,et al.  Biological bases of childhood shyness. , 1988, Science.

[139]  R. Baumeister,et al.  The nature and function of self-esteem: Sociometer theory , 2000 .

[140]  E. Shirtcliff,et al.  Quality of early family relationships and the timing and tempo of puberty: Effects depend on biological sensitivity to context , 2011, Development and Psychopathology.

[141]  D. Siddle,et al.  Relation of visual sensitivity to extraversion. , 1969 .

[142]  J. Kagan,et al.  Taxonic Structure of Infant Reactivity: Evidence From a Taxometric Perspective , 2000, Psychological science.

[143]  Jennifer R. Mailloux,et al.  The relationships between sensory processing sensitivity, alexithymia, autism, depression, and anxiety , 2008 .

[144]  R. Edelmann,et al.  Behavioural inhibition and symptoms of anxiety and depression: is there a specific relationship with social phobia? , 2002, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[145]  R. Stelmack.  Toward a paradigm in personality: Comment on Eysenck's (1997) view. , 1997 .