These are more interesting studies, from various dates. I am still catching up.
1.Role of Childhood Adversities and Environmental Sensitivity in the Development of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in War-Exposed Syrian Refugee Children and Adolescents.
Karam, E. G., Fayyad, J. A., Farhat, C., Pluess, M., Haddad, Y. C., Tabet, C. C., … & Kessler, R. C. (2019). Role of childhood adversities and environmental sensitivity in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder in war-exposed Syrian refugee children and adolescents. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 214(6), 354-360.
This is a fascinating study. The participants were over 500 Syrian refugee children (7-17) living and going to school in Lebanon. Michael Pluess and his co-authors assessed for high sensitivity, childhood adversity, and intensity of negative war events they had experienced, from being unable to leave the house because of gunfire and knowing of friends’ homes having been destroyed to being tortured or seeing a family member killed. The question was, how would prior childhood adversity (e.g., having had parents who hit or neglected them, who fought with each other or screamed at the child, or having had abusive siblings, etc.) change the effect of war stress on children with various levels of sensitivity?
Differential susceptibility (that HSPs do better in life if they had good childhoods but worse with bad ones) and common sense might predict that with better childhoods, sensitive children would handle war stress better than non-HSCs. But they did not. If a child was highly sensitive, the better the childhood, the more PTSD.
Once you digest this result, I am sure you can think of several reasons for it. Basically, more sheltered HSCs must have found wartime events more shocking. This makes sense, given the difficulty for HSCs making transitions and dealing with overstimulation. In contrast, those with prior childhood adversity at home were used to hell. War was more of the same.
One might also wonder if the HSCs with bad childhoods had developed what is called an avoidant attachment style, taking the self-protective attitude that “I don’t need anyone—I can do fine on my own.” They detached early in their lives or were fully dissociated, so that maybe they did not fully feel new trauma.
Or perhaps dangers or injuries befalling family members might not have distressed them as much. It might have even oddly helped them—their abusive family members were distracted or might even be entirely gone from their lives. Meanwhile, the sensitive child with a happier family life would feel more dependent on their family members and fear more for their safety.
This study also reminds me of one of Israeli soldiers being studied for their likelihood of suffering PTSD. The researchers used the short serotonin allele (sometimes thought of as one genetic source of SPS) as a likely predictor of PTSD after exposure to battle. They found, however, that while soldiers with this allele were more distressed by training, in battle they were less distressed, or at least not as prone as others to PTSD. I have always imagined that during training they were very anxious about how they would survive and paid close attention to everything they could learn that would help them. Hence in actual battle they were a little calmer and more confident (and safer) than those who had not taken their training so seriously.
That could suggest that, similarly, maybe the HSCs with adverse childhoods had simply developed “street smarts” early and were not surprised or unprepared when things got even tougher in their lives. When bombs started falling, they had well-rehearsed ideas and skills about how to survive.
Bottom Line: That’s science. The question was, do HSPs with good childhoods suffer less PTSD from war? We might have thought the answer was yes, they were protected, but it was no. That answer opens up a dozen new hypotheses to test. Or just things to ponder with a more open mind–in this case, about what it means to be an HSC in this crazy world.
2. Predictors of Psychological Risk and Resilience Among Syrian Refugee Children
Meanwhile, hot off the press: Popham, C. M., McEwen, F. S., Karam, E., Fayyad, J., Karam, G., Saab, D., … & Pluess, M. (2022). Predictors of psychological risk and resilience among Syrian refugee children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
This study continued to look at Syrian children in refugee camps in Lebanon, this time 1,528, seeking to find out how children differed in their response to the trauma and ongoing difficulties in their lives. About 19% had only a few symptoms or problems, the rest did have significant difficulties. As we would expect, being highly sensitive was one variable that was associated with more symptoms. Note that this study was not looking at differences among the childhoods of highly sensitive children.
Bottom Line: As you would expect, in general being highly sensitive (not considering prior history as in the study above) is one risk factor for suffering from being a refugee, although the study shows that very few children do well in this situation.
3. Sensory Processing Sensitivity and Entrepreneurial Intention: The strength of a Weak Trait.
Harms, R., Hatak, I., & Chang, M. (2019). Sensory processing sensitivity and entrepreneurial intention: The strength of a weak trait. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 12, e00132.all
Harms, Hatak, and Chang have done research (using methods from business research) on those with the intention and sense of having the ability to start one’s own business (entrepreneurial intention). Previous research has associated entrepreneurial intention with a “heroic,” extraverted, not-very-sensitive type. However, these researchers found HSPs have also been found to have a strong entrepreneurial intention, being skilled at recognizing opportunities (depth of processing, aware of subtle stimuli, creativity, etc.) and motivated to be self-employed, so that they can manage their own energy and resources.
Bottom Line: This seems a perfect description of why HSPs can do so well running their own business.
4. The Sensitive, Open Creator; Sensitive Individuals are More Creative
Bridges, D., & Schendan, H. E. (2019). The sensitive, open creator. Personality and Individual Differences, 142, 179-185.
Bridges, D., & Schendan, H. E. (2019). Sensitive individuals are more creative. Personality and Individual Differences, 142, 186-195.
The first of these two articles reported a study involving 288 participants and finding sensitivity associated with several highly regarded measures of creativity, finally providing evidence (we never say “proving”) that HSPs are more creative, on at least some measures, than those without our trait. The second article is an in-depth review of similar research and an explanation of why sensitivity is a key overlooked factor in creativity.
Bottom Line: How nice to have this research to back up what we thought—HSPs are unusually creative.
5. Do Overwhelmed Expatriates Intend to Leave? The Effects of Sensory Processing Sensitivity, Stress, and Social Capital on Expatriates’ Turnover Intention.
Andresen, M., Goldmann, P., & Volodina, A. (2017). Do overwhelmed expatriates intend to leave? The effects of sensory processing sensitivity, stress, and social capital on expatriates’ turnover intention. European Management Review, 15(3), 315-328.
You may remember the lovely, charming, brilliant Maike Andresen from her appearance in the film Sensitive: The Untold Story. I visited her in Germany and taught for a day her students in the department of Human Resource Management at the University of Bamburg, Germany (one of the most prestigious in Europe), where she is a full professor and chair of the department. Her specialty is global careers and expatriation, and in this study, she looked at how being an HSP affected the “turnover intentions” (either to resign or a company’s intention to “let them go”) of employees working abroad.
The researchers found that HSPs were more often sent overseas on important assignments, but were higher on turnover-intention measures, with stress being the reason. Since organizations sent more than average numbers of HSPs to these positions, they apparently thought HSPs were especially suited for these jobs in other cultures (with their empathy, conscientiousness, etc.). Hence the conclusion was that more preparation and support, to help them deal with the stress, would allow them to be retained in these roles.
Bottom Line: How often HSPs are promoted into more responsible positions because of all their good qualities, but they exhaust themselves and/or perform less well than expected because the position as it is designed is too stressful for them. Wonderfully, Maike is saying, don’t give up on them, but prepare and support them better.
Number 3 & 4 really hit home for me! I am an introvert HSP & started my own business 20 years ago, a professional pet sitting service. I enjoy being self-employed so much, doing something I love. It also allows me to use my creativity more fully as I design & create all of my business forms & materials, I write regularly on a blog, do newsletters and design my own websites. I have a part-time side business as well. Being an entrepreneur fits me perfectly!
The study of Syrian refugee children is indeed fascinating. As an HSP with childhood trauma, I fully relate to the results of the study. It is true that we can adapt to stress or abuse and it changes us.
Regarding “3. Sensory Processing Sensitivity and Entrepreneurial Intention: The Power of a Weak Trait. I really think that HSPs are much better at dealing with business relationships and leading a team, as they understand and care more about people rather than material things. The more satisfied and valued employees, the better they do their job. However, HSPs need to know who they are and what their power is in order not to fall into an emotional hole and to control the influence of the company and people on HSPs.
Thank you for your work and for sharing it with us! As a psychologist and HSP, I am grateful for the opportunity to learn more about myself and other HSPs. I hope one day I can contribute and get involved or do research about HSP.
Hi Elaine,
Thank you for sharing these research updates!
On that same line, I am wondering if you could address the work of Emanuel Jauk about HSPs and “vulnerable narcissism” in a future post? Or maybe other HSPs with more research experience on the topic have some familiarity with the work and can help me understand whether or not it fits into the rest of the research on HSPs? I’ve started to see a bit of online discussion on the article that’s distressing, but I feel like it’s overstating the findings (and I also wonder if the author is making statements/conclusions possibly unsupported by the data). The gist seems to be the assertion that there is some overlap between traits of vulnerable narcissism and HSPs traits (not that the two are the same), but the author also suggests that HSP traits could be limiting personal growth (i.e. that HSPs feel “entitled to avoid discomfort”). Your work has always done a wonderful job in guiding us HSPs towards balance (being not to much out, not too much in), so I feel like this ignores the potential of HSPs to grow when made aware of their trait and how to nurture the positives and mitigate the negatives.
This post was deeply upsetting to me; it’s hard enough to have my sensitivity taken seriously: https://medium.com/@smcnett/highly-sensitive-person-is-an-ableist-sham-653fabd0bc52. I get that highly sensitive people and autists have a lot of overlap, but in no way does that mean HSP don’t exist!
On the other hand, I thank you for doing this work and research and letting us HSP be seen.
Hello. As a child I had some traits of a HSP, but I also had pretty severe ADHD, which made me crash through my perceptions & a family without any HSPs, where my sensitivity was laughed at or dismissed Can a person become more highly sensitive through maturation, a decrease in another disorder,or forced isolation due to chronic illness or do those processes just make you more aware of your sensitivity? I went from a social butterfly to basically, a loner, who has a rich inner life ( always had incredible, vivid & emotional dreams) has lost interest in most social gatherings, as I find smalltalk almost intolerable and am terrible at it. I have always been hyperaware and sensitive. I became more sensitive to others’ feelings as I matured. I am writing this in case others have always been HSP but dealt with it differently depending on age, mental & physical status. I also had bouts of depression. Exogenous & endogenous, the endogenous has been alleviated through a food additive which allows B vitamin methylation. Not sure if depression is a problem for HSPs, but it would seem likely, as we see through facades, into some harsh truths. My life has been painful and I believe one huge reason is because I’m HSP. I wrote this with concern, for others who have found living difficult.
Pam, I am 76 years old with over50+ years of treatment for depression and anxiety. Life has been painful, and at times seemed intolerable. Only recently did I find this book about being highly sensitive. O.M.G. they wrote this book about me. I couldn’t believe it. I was NOT crazy, not weird, not flawed , which I have felt since being a preschooler. I know exactly what you have experienced throughout your life. I also have concerns for others that are struggling and I hope they are identified as HSP and just being normal. And receive appropriate support and help when it is needed. Hopefully the young children will see a big improvement in their lives.
I had read an article years ago on HSP, was very interested as it described many of my symptoms. I was born in 1938, so during WW2. My Father was drafted into the army. Don’t know if this would have contributed. Though l lived in the United states, l heard much talk about the war. I have always been empathetic. Of course l was bullied in school, because people picked up on my sensitivity. I am grateful for this report. I also have had vivid and emotional dreams. Relationships are sometimes difficult, even with my adult children, as they don’t understand. I also have vivid memories of my young years, do have problems with my short time memory. I also have concerns for others, that find living difficult.
An HSP for 76 years. I thought that I had a serious mental disorder. Over50+ years of treatment for depression and anxiety. I have a M.A. degree in psychology. Was a licensed counselor in Florida until a series of physical health problems put me into the disabled population at the age of 52. First a stroke, heart disease, kidney disease, chronic pain, neuropathy, arthritis, strobismus, etc, etc, etc, and the medical community continues to pile on more. I strongly believe that many of these problems are partially due to many years of stress due to being HSP . I pushed myself hard through 3 marriages and divorces, 8 years of college, trying to raise2 children with no help from anyone. I literally fell apart mentally and physically. And all of this started before I started elementary school, thinking that I was “weird” , different, with many flaws.