Sensitivity type (Highly Sensitive Person)

How deeply your nervous system registers and responds to your surroundings — from subtle beauty to stress and other people's moods.

Sensory-processing sensitivity (SPS) is a temperament trait measured by Aron & Aron's Highly Sensitive Person Scale (1997). The trait shows up as Aron's DOES profile — depth of processing, overstimulation, emotional reactivity and sensitivity to subtle stimuli. The three sensitivity groups — dandelions, tulips and orchids — were empirically identified by Lionetti, Aron, Aron, Burns, Jagiellowicz & Pluess (2018), building on the differential-susceptibility 'orchid and dandelion' metaphor (Boyce & Ellis, 2005). A reflective self-ID, not a clinical assessment, and distinct from introversion — roughly a third of highly sensitive people are extroverts. (Sensory-processing sensitivity / Highly Sensitive Person Scale (Aron & Aron))

Groups

• Dandelion (low sensitivity) — You take most environments in your stride — resilient and steady, rarely thrown by noise, change or other people's moods, and not greatly swayed by very good or very harsh surroundings alike.
• Tulip (medium sensitivity) — You sit between the two — you notice and respond to your surroundings, but are seldom overwhelmed by them. This is where most people fall.
• Orchid (high sensitivity) — You process experience deeply and pick up on fine detail and subtlety. Rich surroundings and kindness nourish you, while noise, time pressure and conflict can overwhelm — you feel both the lows and the highs more keenly.

References

• Aron, E. N., & Aron, A. (1997). Sensory-processing sensitivity and its relation to introversion and emotionality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
• Boyce, W. T., & Ellis, B. J. (2005). Biological sensitivity to context: I. An evolutionary–developmental theory of the origins and functions of stress reactivity. Development and Psychopathology
• Lionetti, F., Aron, A., Aron, E. N., Burns, G. L., Jagiellowicz, J., & Pluess, M. (2018). Dandelions, tulips and orchids: evidence for the existence of low-sensitive, medium-sensitive and high-sensitive individuals. Translational Psychiatry
• Greven, C. U., Lionetti, F., Booth, C., Aron, E. N., Fox, E., Schendan, H. E., Pluess, M., Bruining, H., Acevedo, B., Bijttebier, P., & Homberg, J. (2019). Sensory Processing Sensitivity in the context of Environmental Sensitivity: A critical review and development of research agenda. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Related topics

• Temperament & Character Inventory (Cloninger)
• Fisher Temperament (neurochemical)
• Keirsey Temperament Sorter
• The Four Temperaments (classical humours)
• Type A / Type B personality
• Temperament type (Thomas & Chess)
• Sensation seeking

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