One Reason Why You Don’t Experiment with Your Life
A conscious decision of a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).
While every day each of us makes thousands of decisions — what to eat for breakfast or which route to take to work, it may be more difficult if you are an HSP. You want to experiment and seek novelty, but at the same time, you are aware of risks.
You have one foot on the brake and one on the gas, which leads to “decision paralysis”. But, if you are aware of HSP traits and the risk-averse pattern, you can use it as your strength.
“Sensitive people like a slower pace of life. We like pondering all our options before making a decision and regularly reflecting on our experiences. We hate busy schedules and rushing from one event to the next.”
Jenn Granneman
Sensory Processing Sensitivity — Expensive Evolutionary Advantage
Currently one of the most popular psychology concepts on social media and psychology research is HSP.
You may have heard that people with HSP often feel overstimulated by the bright lights, sounds and social gatherings. But did you know that they adopt a risk-averse strategy?
Due to sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), an innate trait reflected as a stronger response to internal and external stimuli, they absorb external and internal stimuli to make better decisions. Be prepared in case of a potential threat and see an escape route.
From an evolutionary perspective, it is an advantage that increases the survival rate, but it comes with a metabolic cost.
Only 20% of the population or 1 in 5 have HSP for a reason.
For example, if you are in the shop and have to decide what to buy, your HSP friend will know what you need, how you feel and how to make a better choice. As they have strong processing of depth and empathy, are great at visuospatial tasks. For instance, prior to going to this shop, they will analyse all the options.
Unfortunately, it will require more attention and energy, thus more cognitive effort. While it is an advantage at the workplace to have a creative and empathetic colleague, we see that HSP is the minority.
Neural Correlates of HSP
Although social media brings attention to HSP, it can be misunderstood and oversimplified. Researchers worldwide try to understand how HSP processes information and make decisions.
Neuroscientific studies show a positive correlation between HSP scores and brain areas associated with attention, empathy and integration of sensory information (Acevedo et al., 2014; Jagiellowicz et al., 2011).
Jagiellowicz et al. (2011) recruited sixteen participants, who completed the HSP questionnaire and then underwent fMRI while completing the change detection task. The results showed the first evidence of an association between sensory processing sensitivity and greater activation in occipitotemporal and posterior parietal regions as well as the right cerebellum.
Imagine, that you are connecting puzzle pieces. Your friend has one big piece of the puzzle, but you have five of them. The challenge is that they are smaller in size, thus there are multiple ways how to connect them and get a different image.
This is what happens when HSP has to solve a problem. They receive and process more stimuli, reaching deeper levels of analysis.
Why HSP Are Better Team Leaders and Gamblers?
Each morning is an experiment for you. You want to make it perfect. However, you may feel overstimulated when it comes to the right moment.
Decision paralysis.
When you have to make a quick decision, you take a pause.
This is HSP’s strategy, as they have to stop responding to environmental stimuli. Previously, this behaviour was considered as a trait of introversion or emotional individuals but Aron (1997) showed that SPS is an independent trait.
That’s why when it comes to teamwork, taking care of others, and taking initiative, HSP do it extremely well. By careful planning, high empathy and the ability to notice little things, HSP may take the project to a higher level.
While quick decisions are admired in modern society, as we are always busy and have to react fast in high-speed reality, HSP has to get an overview of other elements. It may include a deep analysis of other people emotions with a minimum risk of upsetting others.
Do It Right and Do It Once
At first, it may look that HSP is a negative trait — children require more attention, cry frequently and seem to be irritated by the subtle noise. They process all emotions deeply and have greater intensity both of positive and negative emotions.
However, when individuals with higher HSP perform on standard visual search tasks, they have better performance. A study by Gerstenberg (2012) used a laboratory visual search task and found that HSP individuals have faster responses and make fewer errors.
Do we know why?
Finally, being sensitive to the discomfort, disapproval, or anger of others probably made you quick to follow every rule as perfectly as possible, afraid to make a mistake ― Elaine N. Aron, The Highly Sensitive Person
One of the explanations may be increased perceived stress and a paradigm in mind “ do it right and do it once. You won’t have another chance’’. This strategy reflects reactive behaviour and responsiveness towards stimuli, including both external and internal.
While 80% of the population will choose a simple path — “Go for it. If wrong, go for it again” — it won’t be a natural response for HSP.
According to empirical findings, there are more than 100 species have different personality traits, such as boldness, the aggressiveness of responsiveness.
Researchers created a model, demonstrating responsiveness as advantageous when it is rare, not common frequently. In contrast, when it presents for a longer time, is it too costly. For example, some flies will sit as quickly as possible, while others will fly around a few times and then choose their location.
Overall, HSP sense more, hear better and take risks based on the big picture they are able to capture. That’s why they are better at gambling, as they consider risks, take time, and choose wisely.
Summary
Still, we don’t know how individuals with HSP make decisions and what are the brain mechanisms involved. But learning and educating others about HSP may bring value.
Thus, when next time your HSP friend asks for more time, accept it, as they have more little pieces of puzzles than you.
And when they stop scared of decision, ask them this:
How will you feel going to your grave without having tried? ― Elaine N. Aron
