People Differ in their Sensitivity to the Environment: An Integrated Theory and Empirical Evidence

Abstract

People differ in their sensitivity to similar experiences with some being generally more and some less sensitive. Several theories have been developed over the years to describe such differences in Environmental Sensitivity and a growing number of studies provide empirical evidence that some people are indeed more affected than others by environmental influences. Sensitivity has been associated with temperament traits in children as well as a number of biological factors. In this paper, we provide new experimental evidence that self-reported sensitivity predicts differences in the response to negative as well as positive experiences, after introducing a short sensitivity questionnaire for adults, building on the original Highly Sensitive Person scale (Aron & Aron, 1997), and investigating its psychometric properties as well as associations with the Big Five personality traits. Results across the five individual studies (total N = 1,140) suggest that individual differences in sensitivity to the environment can be assessed with the newly developed measure (HSP-12), validated by two experimental studies according to which the scale predicts heightened reactivity to both negative and positive experiences. Furthermore, sensitivity reflects a continuous spectrum from low to high along which people fall into three distinct sensitivity groups (low, medium, and high). Finally, sensitivity was found to fit a specific personality profile characterised by both high Neuroticism and high Openness to Experiences. We conclude that adults differ substantially in their sensitivity to environmental influences and that such differences can be measured reliably with a short and easily applicable sensitivity questionnaire.

Environmental Sensitivity in Adults: Psychometric Properties of the Japanese Version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale 10-Item Version

“…Consequently, the parallel analysis recommended seven factors, the MAP test one factor, and the scree plot three factors. Based on previous studies (Pluess et al, 2020;Smolewska et al, 2006), we determined that the short version of the scale consists of three factors: EOE, LST, and AES. Based on three factors the Exploratory Factor Analysis finally retained 10 items with factor loadings exceeding 0.50 (Table 1).…”

“…The first is to determine whether the HSP-J10 created in Study 1 statistically supports the bifactor structure using the newly collected data. Several studies with Western samples have reported that the HSP scale consists of three subscales plus a General Sensitivity factor that explains all items (Lionetti et al, 2018;Pluess et al, 2020). Hence, we expected the bifactor structure to be reproduced using data from the adult Japanese population.…”

“…The purpose of Study 1 was to create a brief version of the HSP-J19 consisting only of items with high factor loadings. We started by identifying the optimal number of factors, and the results suggested that the same three-factor structure (i.e., EOE, LST, and AES) as in previous studies (Pluess et al, 2020;Smolewska et al, 2006) was appropriate. The newly developed HSP-J10 showed almost the same mean score as that of the HSP-J19 (M = 4.24 vs. 4.21), and also exhibited a very high positive correlation between the two (r = .94).…”

“…To develop a psychometrically robust scale, we began by performing an Exploratory Factor Analysis and only included items with high factor loadings in the scale. If prior findings from the Japanese population can be replicated (Takahashi, 2016;Yano et al, 2020), it is expected that the concise version of the scale can be composed of three subscales (EOE, LST, and AES) that have also been identified in Western populations (Pluess et al, 2020;Smolewska et al, 2006).…”

“…In order to develop the short version of the HSP-J19 scale with sufficient psychometric properties, we aimed to select items with factor loadings of 0.50 or higher in previous studies (Pluess et al, 2020). Consequently, the 10-item brief version of the scale (HSP-J10) was constructed, including a 5-item EOE subscale, a 3-item LST subscale, and a 2-item AES HIGHLY SENSITIVE PERSON 8 subscale.…”