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Project

Personality of the Orchid: Unravelling the Personality of the Highly Sensitive Person

This dissertation focuses on understanding the human trait of Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) in terms of the Five-Factor Model of personality (FFM) before exploring its relevance in the workplace. SPS is seen as the trait manifestation of environmental sensitivity, i.e. the extent to which an individual is able to perceive and process external stimuli. First coined by Aron and Aron (1997), SPS includes greater awareness of subtleties, deeper information processing, increased emotionality and empathy, ease of overstimulation, and sensitivity to bodily stimuli. Thus far SPS has been mostly assessed using the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) scale with different versions for different age groups (e.g., the Highly Sensitive Child scale; HSC). However, the HSP scale has not been developed by operationalising different aspects of SPS theory, but is primarily based on participant interviews. As a result some aspects of SPS, such as depth of processing, are underrepresented in the scale.

The first objective aimed to unravel the SPS FFM profile, which was done in three steps. In the first step, we looked at the associations between the HSP/HSC scale and the NEO-PI-3/HiPIC (two FFM instrument, one primarily for adults, the other for children), in two community samples of young adults and early adolescents. Especially facets regarding internalising tendencies (Neuroticism) and – in older adolescents and young adults – openness to aesthetics (Openness to Experience) showed strongest associations with SPS. In the second step, we asked self-identified highly sensitive persons to complete the NEO-PI-3. Six facets in particular stood out: participants scored high on facets Fantasy, Aesthetics, Feelings (Openness to Experience); Anxiety, Depression (Neuroticism); and low on the facet Gregariousness (Extraversion). In the third step, expert researchers in the field of high sensitivity were asked to report on the 30 NEO-PI-3 FFM facets, as a prototypical highly sensitivity person. This resulted in 15 facets, again facets of Neuroticism (three facets) and Openness to Experiences (five facets), but also facets of Extraversion (one facet), Agreeableness (three facets) and Conscientiousness (three facets).

The second objective aimed to verify the SPS FFM personality profiles created in the first objective. This was done by investigating moderation effects of the HSP-12 scale and the different FFM personality profiles in job demand/resource – work burnout associations. The Community profile from the first step was shown to be especially promising, as it moderated both the job demand-burnout and the job resource-burnout association.

The third objective aimed at applying the SPS trait and investigating its consequences further in the workplace. This was done by investigating the role of SPS in work burnout, i.e. direct and moderation associations. SPS was positively associated with burnout symptoms. Results showed that the association between workload and burnout symptoms was stronger for more sensitive individuals and that emotional load was predictive of burnout for more sensitive leaders.

In sum, by studying SPS within the FFM of personality, this project brought new insights into the personality of the HSP. In addition, different contexts and age groups were examined: from general, unspecific contexts to workplace contexts; and from children to adults.

Date:15 Oct 2018 →  15 Oct 2022
Keywords:environmental sensitivity
Disciplines:Biological and physiological psychology, General psychology, Other psychology and cognitive sciences
Project type:PhD project