Signs of a highly sensitive person: what research has found, and common myths

In psychology, a “highly sensitive person” (HSP) is someone high in sensory-processing sensitivity. Through seven studies, Elaine and Arthur Aron built the 27-item HSP Scale to measure it and showed that the trait overlaps with, but is partly independent of, social introversion and emotionality (Aron & Aron, 1997). Researchers treat it as a temperament trait that varies from person to person, not a disorder (Greven et al., 2019). How common it is has its own guide, what percentage of people are highly sensitive.

Online lists of “signs of a highly sensitive person” mix what the scale actually asks, what the theory proposes and what has little evidence behind it. This guide separates the three: the signs the research scale asks about, the four features the theory describes, what experiments and surveys have found, research on getting more out of good environments, and common myths.

One thing first: most of these studies used small samples or looked at correlations at one point in time. They are better used to understand why certain situations wear you out than as a checklist for judging a person.

The HSP Scale asks about reactions to a range of stimuli, including caffeine, art, loud noises, smells and fabrics (Greven et al., 2019). Its items include “Are you easily overwhelmed by things like bright lights, strong smells, coarse fabrics, or sirens close by?”, “Are you made uncomfortable by loud noises?”, “Do you startle easily?”, “Do other people’s moods affect you?”, “Do you find yourself needing to withdraw during busy days into bed or into a darkened room or any place where you can have some privacy and relief from stimulation?”, “Are you deeply moved by the arts or music?” and “Do you seem to be aware of subtleties in your environment?” (Aron & Aron, 1997).

Later studies found the items fall into three groups: ease of excitation (being easily overwhelmed by internal and external stimuli), low sensory threshold (sensitivity to subtle external stimuli) and aesthetic sensitivity (openness to, and pleasure in, aesthetic experiences) (Smolewska et al., 2006, as summarised in Greven et al., 2019). In other studies, the first two were moderately associated with negative emotionality, anxiety and depression, while aesthetic sensitivity was associated with positive affect and self-esteem (as summarised in Greven et al., 2019).

These three groups were not designed but emerged from analysis, and recent work supports a model with one general sensitivity factor alongside the three groups (Greven et al., 2019). Apart from the aesthetic items, most items are also worded negatively, so a high score can mix sensitivity as a temperament trait with difficulties you are going through right now.

The theory of sensory-processing sensitivity proposes four features: depth of processing, ease of overstimulation, emotional reactivity and empathy, and sensing the subtle. Aron’s popular books sum them up with the acronym DOES, and a critical review by researchers treats all four as hypothesised features (Greven et al., 2019).

The same review points out that pausing to check or taking time over decisions, the core behaviours of depth of processing, are not sufficiently covered by the HSP Scale. It adds that fMRI findings suggest the existing scale may already capture some depth of processing, and notes that, as of 2019, behavioural studies had not yet directly addressed depth of processing, empathy and overstimulation, although some findings pointed that way. A later survey of 296 adults found that higher sensitivity went with higher self-reported empathy (β = 0.43), in a sample with many highly sensitive people (Laros-van Gorkom et al., 2024). So “highly sensitive people think deeply and empathise easily” is better read as the theory’s description than as an established finding.

Noticing subtle changes. In a functional MRI study of 16 people, higher HSP scores went with more activity in brain areas involved in high-order visual processing when people detected small changes in photographed scenes. The result held after controlling for neuroticism and introversion, but the authors called the study exploratory (Jagiellowicz et al., 2011). In an experiment where 222 people had to detect visually degraded words, the HSP Scale’s positive subscale predicted detection and identification beyond the Big Five traits (Williams & Blagrove, 2024).

Responding to others’ emotions. In a study that scanned 18 people (13 of them again a year later) while they viewed photos of their partners’ and strangers’ facial expressions, higher HSP scores went with more activity in regions involved in attention and action planning across all conditions, and, for happy and sad photos, in regions involved in awareness, integration of sensory information and empathy, with neuroticism partialled out. The authors noted that the sample was largely homogeneous and that labelling brain regions as “empathy” areas oversimplifies (Acevedo et al., 2014).

What is inherited. In a study of 2,868 adolescent twins in the UK, genetic factors explained 47% of the differences in sensitivity; the remaining 53% came from environments not shared by the twins and from measurement error (Assary et al., 2021).

Links with other traits. In a meta-analysis, sensitivity in adults correlated r = .40 with neuroticism and r = .14 with openness, and was not related to extraversion, agreeableness or conscientiousness (Lionetti et al., 2019). It overlaps a good deal with neuroticism without being the same trait, and a critical review concluded there is reasonably good evidence that sensitivity is a distinct construct (Greven et al., 2019).

The critical review’s conclusion runs both ways: high sensitivity raises the risk of stress-related problems in negative environments, but also brings greater benefit from positive and supportive experiences (Greven et al., 2019).

In a study of 11-year-old girls from an at-risk population in England, 166 who received a school depression-prevention programme and 197 in a control cohort were followed for up to 12 months. The programme reduced depression scores in the girls high in sensitivity but was not effective at all in those low in sensitivity (Pluess & Boniwell, 2015).

In a survey of 198 teachers, higher sensitivity also went with more burnout, especially under high perceived stress. Yet in a positive, supportive school climate, the highly sensitive teachers reported less burnout (Sperati et al., 2024). So the research fits better with treating sensitivity as information for choosing and shaping environments that suit you than as a flaw to fix. Practical steps are in how to cope as a highly sensitive person.

“Highly sensitive people are especially intuitive.” Studies that directly measure intuition in sensitive adults are hard to find. Similar wording appears in Aron’s parent-report questionnaire for children (“My child seems very intuitive”), which has not yet been validated (Greven et al., 2019).

“Highly sensitive people are creative.” The evidence is all correlational at one point in time. In a laboratory study, sensitivity and openness each predicted creative achievement and ideation with the Big Five and negative affect controlled (Bridges & Schendan, 2019), and in a survey of 296 adults higher sensitivity went with more creative ideas (β = 0.29). That survey also recruited through practices specialising in high sensitivity, so its average scores were high, and the authors said it cannot show cause and effect (Laros-van Gorkom et al., 2024).

“Highly sensitive people are conscientious.” The HSP Scale does include “Are you conscientious?”, but in a meta-analysis sensitivity was not related to the Big Five trait of conscientiousness (Lionetti et al., 2019).

The mind.io sensitivity (HSP) test does not reuse the research scale’s items; it uses 18 items written by mind.io, answered from 1 to 5. There are 6 items each for “Easily overwhelmed”, “Depth of processing” and “Sensory sensitivity”, and each group and the total are shown on a 0–100 scale. A total of 0–39 reads as “Takes things in calmly”, 40–64 as “Sensitive in some situations” and 65–100 as “Highly sensitive (HSP traits)”; these are reading aids, not research cut-offs.

The “Depth of processing” group includes items on the theory’s depth of processing, such as “Before I decide something, I like to weigh it up carefully in my head.” As noted above, this is the area the research scale is said not to cover well, so read that group’s score lightly, alongside the theory’s description.

If your “Easily overwhelmed” score is high, start with how to cope as a highly sensitive person; if you mix it up with introversion, read HSP vs introvert. But if anxiety or a low mood has lasted a long time, don’t put it all down to sensitivity: check in with the anxiety check-in (GAD-7) or the depression check-in (PHQ-9).

Q. Is being highly sensitive a disorder? A. No. Researchers treat sensory-processing sensitivity as a temperament trait that varies from person to person, not a disorder. In negative environments it can raise the risk of stress-related problems, though, so if you are often worn out, look at your surroundings and routines too (Greven et al., 2019).

Q. Are you born highly sensitive? A. Partly. In a study of adolescent twins, genetic factors explained 47% of the differences in sensitivity. The rest came from environments not shared by the twins and from measurement error (Assary et al., 2021).

Q. Are highly sensitive people introverts? A. Not necessarily. From the first study that built the scale, sensitivity was found to be partly independent of social introversion, and in a meta-analysis of adults it was not related to extraversion (Aron & Aron, 1997; Lionetti et al., 2019). A fuller comparison is in HSP vs introvert.

Q. What if I feel completely worn out and overwhelmed? A. Talk to someone you trust or to a professional. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, reach out to a crisis line right away: 988 in the US and Canada (call or text), Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, or findahelpline.com elsewhere. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services.

References: Aron, E. N., & Aron, A. (1997), Sensory-processing sensitivity and its relation to introversion and emotionality, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 73(2), 345-368, https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.73.2.345; Smolewska, K. A., McCabe, S. B., & Woody, E. Z. (2006), A psychometric evaluation of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale, Personality and Individual Differences 40(6), 1269-1279, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.09.022; 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 98, 287-305, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.01.009; Jagiellowicz, J., Xu, X., Aron, A., Aron, E., Cao, G., Feng, T., & Weng, X. (2011), The trait of sensory processing sensitivity and neural responses to changes in visual scenes, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 6(1), 38-47, https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsq001; Williams, J. M., & Blagrove, M. (2024), An investigation testing the perceptual advantage of Sensory Processing Sensitivity and its associations with the Big Five personality traits, Journal of Research in Personality 113, 104539, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2024.104539; Acevedo, B. P., Aron, E. N., Aron, A., Sangster, M.-D., Collins, N., & Brown, L. L. (2014), The highly sensitive brain: An fMRI study of sensory processing sensitivity and response to others’ emotions, Brain and Behavior 4(4), 580-594, https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.242; Assary, E., Zavos, H. M. S., Krapohl, E., Keers, R., & Pluess, M. (2021), Genetic architecture of Environmental Sensitivity reflects multiple heritable components: A twin study with adolescents, Molecular Psychiatry 26(9), 4896-4904, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-020-0783-8; Lionetti, F., Pastore, M., Moscardino, U., Nocentini, A., Pluess, K., & Pluess, M. (2019), Sensory Processing Sensitivity and its association with personality traits and affect: A meta-analysis, Journal of Research in Personality 81, 138-152, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2019.05.013; Pluess, M., & Boniwell, I. (2015), Sensory-Processing Sensitivity predicts treatment response to a school-based depression prevention program: Evidence of Vantage Sensitivity, Personality and Individual Differences 82, 40-45, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.03.011; Sperati, A., Persico, M. E., Palumbo, R., Fasolo, M., Spinelli, M., Pluess, M., D’Urso, G., & Lionetti, F. (2024), The role of individual differences in environmental sensitivity in teachers’ stress and burnout at work, Stress and Health 40(6), e3491, https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3491; Bridges, D., & Schendan, H. E. (2019), The sensitive, open creator, Personality and Individual Differences 142, 179-185, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.09.016; Laros-van Gorkom, B. A. P., Damatac, C. G., Stevelmans, I., & Greven, C. U. (2024), Relationships of sensory processing sensitivity with creativity and empathy in an adult sample, Frontiers in Psychology 15, 1465407, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1465407.