This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Environmental sensitivity may be a misleading name for a personality trait that appears to have less to do with how people respond to their physical environments and more to do with how they are affected by social experiences and perceived threats.

A new Washington State University study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that people who score highly on measures of environmental sensitivity—often called highly sensitive people—are no more emotionally reactive to everyday conditions such as uncomfortable temperatures, unpleasant smells or noisy streets than their less sensitive counterparts.

Instead, the research suggests that highly sensitive people are particularly attuned to social cues and signs of safety or potential threats. For example, a street littered with trash or covered in graffiti might trigger a greater sense of unease, while a neighborhood where people interact warmly could provide a stronger emotional boost.

For people who identify as highly sensitive, the findings could be reassuring, said Kim Meidenbauer, an assistant professor of psychology at WSU and lead author of the study. Having the trait doesn't necessarily mean reacting more strongly to every aspect of one's surroundings.

"For people who do identify as highly sensitive, it's actually kind of nice to know that you're not necessarily going to have a stronger emotional response to all parts of your environment," Meidenbauer said.

Source link