Elaine Aron and high sensitivity: some curiosities

In 1991, Dr. Elaine Aron made a great discovery: high sensitivity. Since then, his international best-selling book The highly sensitive person It has been translated into 17 languages.

His research is published in top-tier peer-reviewed journals, such as The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Brain and Behavior Journal. Elaine Aron discovered evidence that not only 1 in 5 people is highly sensitive, but that the trait occurs in the same percentage in more than 100 other species. He defends that it is an innate trait that is found in 20% of the population and explains why it should be of interest to everyone.

There was a time when we all lived in small groups, where we naturally knew who was sensitive and who was not. We valued what each one contributed to the survival of the group. We have lost that mutual knowledge and we need to recover it. In particular, the 80% have lost the understanding of the 20%, leading to many missed opportunities for both groups.

Psychology doctor Elaine Aron

Psychologist and PhD Elaine Aron conducted systematic research on high sensitivity and how it works in humans in the 1990s. She wanted to share her knowledge with the general public and emphasize the positive aspects of high sensitivity, which for a long time was falsely synonymous with introversion, inhibition, anxiety, shyness and depression.

Trained at the CG Jung Institute in San Francisco, Elaine N. Aron is a psychotherapist and psychology researcher. She is internationally recognized for her work on hypersensitivity and has published several bestsellers on the topic, like Hypersensitive, knowing yourself better to accept yourself and My son is very sensitive.

High sensitivity, according to Aron

Highly sensitive person, or HSP, is a term coined by psychologist Elaine Aron. According to Aron’s theory, HSPs are a subset of the population that has a high personality trait known as sensory processing sensitivity or SPS.

Those with high levels of SPS They show greater emotional sensitivity, greater reactivity to external and internal stimuli (pain, hunger, light and noise) and a complex inner life. In general, it is believed that between 15 – 20% of the population is highly sensitive.

Additionally, HSPs are thought to be more disturbed than others by violence, tension, or feelings of overwhelm. As a result, they can make concerted efforts to avoid situations where such things are likely to occur.

Introversion and extraversion in PAS

High sensitivity is not synonymous with introversion, but Many HSPs (about 70%, according to Aron) identify as introverts. Introversion refers to a personality trait in which someone “recharges” themselves by being alone, while high sensitivity encompasses emotional, physical, and sensory sensitivity.

Although high sensitivity most often overlaps with introversion, Aron argues that up to 30% of HSPs are actually extroverted, although others may perceive them as shy.

DOES or the 4 pillars

To better remember the characteristics that encompass this temperament trait, Dr. Elaine Aron created the acronym DOES:

D – Depth of processingO – Overstimulation or understimulationE – Emotional response/empathy or emotional empathy/receptivityS – Sensitive to subtleties

This acronym is therefore synonymous with “high sensitivity” and every highly sensitive person has something (more or less) of each letter. It is true that anyone can be empathetic (E), but if that person does not become overstimulated quickly (O), he is not very sensitive.

1. Deep information processing

Research with magnetic resonance imaging of the brain shows that the highly sensitive person processes sensory information more frequently, for longer, and more thoroughly than the average person.

For example, when you want to remember a credit card code (because you have nothing to write it down), you do a lot of mental tricks because you don’t want to forget it: you repeat the code, you try to find logic in it, you make comparisons with other things. The highly sensitive person does this all the time, consciously or unconsciously (that is, also while sleeping).

When you make a decision without knowing how you got there, it is your unconscious deep processing that is speaking to you. It’s called intuition and The highly sensitive person generally has very good intuition. And when you make a conscious decision, you may be slower than others (but not always); That’s because you weigh the pros and cons very carefully, which is also deep processing.

2. Overstimulation

The highly sensitive person is characterized by perceiving every small detail in a situation. If the situation is complicated (several things happen to remember at the same time), intense (noise, crowds) or takes too long (two hours of public transport every day) it seems logical that You get tired faster than the average person because you have to think deeply about everything you perceive around you.

In fact, the highly sensitive person It is quickly overstimulated and its stress tolerance threshold is generally quite low. Many very sensitive people (also extroverts) have learned to avoid overly stimulating situations.

Stimulation is not necessarily physical, it can also be social and can be a consequence of intense emotions (and the new thoughts they generate).

3. Empathy or emotional receptivity

The highly sensitive person is characterized by having more intense emotions. Other studies with magnetic resonance imaging of the brain show that They react more than others to negative circumstances, but also to positive ones.

In fact, they react more than a person who does not have high sensitivity, especially to images with a positive connotation (birthday cake, puppy, kitten, etc.). This is even more true if the highly sensitive person had a “good” childhood (acceptance, emotional attachment, sense of security, etc.).

According to studies by Dr. Elaine Aron, a highly sensitive person who has had a “difficult” childhood (lack of emotional attachment, abandonment, etc.) is at risk of developing shyness, depression or anxiety. And an adult who leads a very stressful life with possible trauma is at risk of having problems.

Highly sensitive people are skilled at tuning into the social and emotional realities of others.

4. Sensitivity to subtleties

The highly sensitive person It is characterized by capturing more information with its five senses (at least 80% enters through the eyes). The body language (non-verbal signals) of the other, their mood, their authenticity or credibility.

Now, not all highly sensitive people have heightened five senses. Many people think that having all five senses is the core of high sensitivity, but this is not true. It’s what the brain does with the stimuli that matter.

Sensitivity to subtleties is useful for many things and is part of an HSP survival strategy (observe dangers, take advantage of opportunities). On the other hand, when the highly sensitive person is tired, he doesn’t really notice much and only has one thing on his mind: resting without additional stimulation.

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