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Sensitivity - what is it in psychology? Sensitivity is increased sensitivity to certain factors.

Sensitivity (from Latin sensus - feeling, feeling) is a personality trait that manifests itself in hypertrophied sensitivity to current events, which is accompanied by an increased level of anxiety about the future

External expressions of sensitivity are timidity, strong impressionability, low self-esteem and a tendency to excessive self-criticism. A sensitive person experiences the events that happened for a long time and, as a rule, has a pronounced inferiority complex.

Typically, with age, sensitivity gradually decreases, which is associated with the development of self-control and the ability to overcome one’s own anxiety. Sensitivity can be caused by both congenital traits, for example, a weak type of nervous system or brain damage during fetal development, and the characteristics of the child’s upbringing. In psychology, synonyms for sensitivity are “sensitivity” and “sensitivity.”

The opposite phenomenon also occurs, which is expressed in the fact that a person practically does not show emotional reactions to current events, other people, etc. This is expressed in a lack of attention to others, some tactlessness, as well as indifference.

Sensitivity in psychology

Psychologists understand the phenomenon under consideration as a feeling of hypertrophied susceptibility, accompanied by an inferiority complex. Sensitive people often feel misunderstood and lonely.

When turning to a psychotherapist, such patients express complaints about the indifferent attitude towards themselves on the part of loved ones, their unfriendliness, and the inability to establish warm relationships with other people.

Often sensitive people believe that they are unworthy of attention and success. Due to their own constraint, lack of self-confidence, vulnerability and sensitivity, it is difficult for them to cope with daily affairs and problems.

Sensitivity, expressed in a person’s personal characteristics, that is, vulnerability, hypersensitivity and conscientiousness, can be a permanent characteristic of an individual or appear only from time to time. Unfortunately, the condition in question can become a serious obstacle to social adaptation, because a sensitive person believes that the whole world is against him.

Such people acutely feel their own inferiority and inadequacy, and therefore are afraid to meet others, are terrified of public speaking, and try in every possible way to avoid actions related to interaction with others.

The symptoms described above often become the reason for turning to psychotherapists. An experienced specialist can quickly determine the root of the problem and choose the right treatment methods that will alleviate the condition of a sensitive patient. This condition may be one of the symptoms of neurotic disorders, stress, depression, endogenous mental illness, etc.

The degree of expression directly depends on the characteristics of a person’s temperament. The level of expression is determined by the influence of what force is required to trigger a certain psychological reaction. The same event can cause different reactions in different people. Choleric and melancholic people are characterized by maximum impressionability, so they are more often sensitive than sanguine and phlegmatic people, who tend to ignore potentially alarming situations.

Age sensitivity

Age-related sensitivity is the emergence at certain stages of an individual’s development of susceptibility to various influences. Developmental psychology and pedagogy study this phenomenon.

Knowledge of the age at which a person becomes most susceptible helps to draw up programs for the development of certain skills and abilities. For example, at the age of two or three, children are receptive to languages, so it is at this point that it is advisable to develop speech skills.

If you ignore the sensitive period, then it will be impossible to return to it, so in the future serious problems may arise with the formation of important abilities.

Sensitive periods last for a certain time and end regardless of whether the person has managed to acquire new knowledge and skills. At the same time, it is impossible to consciously influence the onset of a sensitive period.

Therefore, parents should know at what point the child becomes most receptive to mastering new experiences: this will make learning as successful and productive as possible. In order not to miss the onset of a sensitive period, you should observe the child’s characteristics as carefully as possible, noticing the onset of any changes in his character and behavior.

This will not only make learning effective, but also predict the onset of the next sensitive period, which will make it possible to create a favorable developmental environment.

It is interesting that sensitive periods are universal: they do not depend on cultural characteristics, nationality and other factors. For all children in the world, these periods begin and end at approximately the same time.

Of course, the onset of a sensitive period is individual, so the ideas of frontal training have shown to be inappropriate. We can say that only individual training and development programs are truly effective.

The dynamics of the sensitive period are of no small importance: for all children, the periods of greatest sensitivity occur differently, which is important to take into account when drawing up educational programs. All age-related sensitive periods develop gradually and their onset is not always easy to notice.

It is easiest to observe the stage of maximum intensity of the sensitive period: at this time, the child’s receptivity reaches its peak. After this, the successful period gradually fades away.

Sensitivity training

The concept of sensitivity includes the ability to predict the emotions, thoughts and actions of people around us. This ability is necessary in order to interact more consciously with others. You can gain effective interaction skills through special training on developing sensitivity.

Psychologist G. Smith identified several main types of sensitivity:

  • observational, which consists in the ability to see and remember the appearance and actions of others;
  • theoretical: the use of psychological theories to explain the behavior of people around them;
  • nomothetic, that is, understanding a person as a representative of a particular group;
  • ideographic sensitivity, the meaning of which is the awareness of the individuality and uniqueness of each human person.


Sensitivity training

The main objective of the training is to develop the ability to understand and predict the actions of others. The training also has other goals, which are divided into two groups: immediate and highly organized.

Immediate goals:

  • increasing the level of awareness of training participants associated with gaining knowledge about the peculiarities of people’s perception of each other;
  • increasing sensitivity to group processes and the actions of others, developing the ability to perceive communication signals;
  • creating conditions that promote effective group dynamics;
  • development of interpersonal skills;
  • development of skills to engage in group and interpersonal processes.

Highly organized goals:

  • mastering a new behavioral repertoire;
  • developing the ability to form authentic relationships with other people;
  • gaining knowledge about the personal characteristics of other people;
  • developing the ability to cooperate.

The interaction between the people participating in the training and the analysis of the relationships that develop between them help achieve the above goals. In this regard, sensitivity training resembles classical types of group psychotherapy.

Very often, sensitivity training is used to train psychotherapists. The training promotes the development of sensitivity to group dynamics, allows you to learn to evaluate the actions of training participants, as well as effectively identify their problems and intrapersonal conflicts.

Sensitivity development training uses a variety of exercises and role-playing games, which can be divided into three types.

The first type includes exercises, in which all training participants take part. Usually these are warm-up exercises, as well as games that prepare participants for subsequent work.

Second type of exercise allows you to create contact between participants.

These exercises help develop mindfulness and the ability to understand the thoughts and behavior of people around you.

Finally, the third type of exercise aimed at receiving feedback.

During these exercises, strong emotional bonds are formed between group members.

In English, the term sensitivity has two meanings. The first meaning, better known to the public, is the sensitivity of a neurotic personality, in the sense of vulnerability, vulnerability to criticism. The vulnerability of a neurotic personality is the other side of the coin from. The second meaning of the term sensitivity - the ability to experience the fullness of feelings - is less known to the public. It was used by Abraham Maslow in his works on studying psychologically healthy (he used the term “self-actualizing”) individuals. We use the interpretation of sensitivity as Abraham Maslow understood it. We also replaced the term “self-actualizing” with “authentic”, due to the difficulty of pronouncing the former linguistically and due to the fact that the essence of these concepts is close.

A high level of sensitivity is also a characteristic of young children. Both of them are distinguished by an easy perception of existential reality, are able to discern beauty and charm in everyday life and are subject to frequent peak experiences.

Authentic individuals often experience peak experiences

Each peak experience caused by the awareness of the true beauty and diversity of the surrounding world is a step towards health. Psychologically prosperous, healthy people are better able to have fun, love, laugh, rejoice, paying tribute to humor, tomfoolery, and whims; they are distinguished by great imagination and the ability to commit pleasant “madness.” (This gives us every reason to assume that supporting and nurturing these qualities in a child can help improve his health).
Abraham Maslow, who studied the psychology of mental health, notes that the average person feels fear and awe of mysterious phenomena and seeks knowledge to reduce their anxiety. However, for people prone to peak experiences (“peakers”), and especially for “transcenders” (whose level of maturity is higher than that of authentic people), mystery is attractive: it challenges, not frightens. Thus, the desire for knowledge in authentic individuals has a different motivation than for people with neurosis, and in mystery and reverence there is a reward for them, not a punishment.

Sensitivity of the neurotic personality

A neurotic person does not understand well what feelings he is experiencing. Confuses fear and anger, anger and resentment, sadness and confusion, and so on. In the inner world of such a person, emotions have no name: instead of “I’m angry,” “my neck hurts,” instead of “I’m offended by you,” I have “a lump in my throat.”

For many neurotic individuals, it is a discovery that feelings can actually be identified by muscle tension. Fists clenched, neck muscles tensed, abdominal muscles in the solar plexus area and muscles in the front of the thighs - anger. There was a feeling of “emptiness in the head,” dry mouth, tense shoulders and muscles between the shoulder blades—anxiety. But it’s painful to realize and experience true emotions, and it’s scary to radically change anything in life. Therefore, in a neurotic person, as a rule, emotions, especially negative ones, are simply hidden. To be a “good girl” or “good boy”, it is important to skillfully hide your irritation and always smile. And then - take it out on someone defenseless because of some little thing. And everyone is perplexed: “Why would this be?” After all, nothing foreshadowed an emotional explosion? After all, everything seemed to be fine, there was a silent, pleasing smile on his face...

In a neurotic personality, emotions are not used in the proper way. those. as a hint when making decisions. It is difficult for a person with neurosis to listen to his feelings and ask himself: “How do I feel thinking about this trip? About this friend? About such a future? How do I feel when I am treated like this? A neurotic person does not understand that each emotion has its own role in communication and its own reason for its occurrence. Why is the mood sad? Because you break up with someone, you distance yourself from someone. Why did anger arise? Because someone very rudely violated personal boundaries, tried to insult, reject, humiliate.

A neurotic person often does not take his own emotions into account at all. The main thing is to do what is considered “correct” and “ideal” so that “they don’t think badly of me.” Yes, overt rudeness and orders to “finish the third portion of cake” are annoying, but if you please, be kind – these are distant relatives! Why go to such a place every weekend, where they humiliate, openly mock and grossly violate personal boundaries with tactless questions? “That’s how it should be. We have such a tradition."

A neurotic person has difficulty understanding his inner world

A neurotic person does not understand his needs, does not know what he wants from himself and from life. The most common question from such a person is: “How do I understand what I really want? How can I tell where my desires are and where the desires of my loved ones are?”

It is difficult for a person with neurosis to understand his purpose, his mission in this life. He does not understand who he really is, authentic and real, and is vaguely aware of why he came into this world. Due to a lack of understanding of his value system, his meaning in life, a neurotic person can make serious life decisions without understanding his motives. Study, work - for the company. The furniture is “like people’s”, the car is the coolest available. A profession and position are chosen not out of an internal need for self-realization and revealing one’s potential, but to “show off dust in the eyes.”

The neurotic person does not understand the struggle of his inner motives because the “true self” is very small. But the False Self is very developed, the goal of which is to receive praise and approval from other people.

And finally, the neurotic personality experiences “peak experiences” quite rarely. Painting, music, the beauty of the autumn forest, the endless expanse of fields, drops of May showers on the glass... all these things pass by the perception of such a person. Stopping dead in the middle of the forest and selflessly immersing yourself in the contemplation of every branch is something a person with neurosis rarely does. And it will seem dangerous to him, standing in the middle of a dense forest.

A neurotic person constantly experiences anxiety, but is not aware of it

A neurotic person tries to pacify constant, poorly realized anxiety by absorbing another type of information - namely disturbing information. Watching frightening news, thrillers, detective stories, “gang wars” and disaster films - the human brain perceives all this as useful information, supposedly giving knowledge on how to protect yourself from all the troubles of this world. This also includes voracious reading about diseases and how to diagnose them. Such a person no longer reads the most frightening information about diseases - he is too afraid.

Important clarification. A neurotic person does not like to actively seek information or understand the causes of problems that do not fit into the framework of the usual picture of the world. We can say that a person with neurosis prefers not to think with his own head, but repeats the opinion of experts. Accordingly, if another expert makes an opposing statement, then the opinion of a neurotic person will easily change. Since a neurotic person ignores the signals of the situation, even after realizing anxiety, concern about some problem, he will passively wait for something. A person with neurosis is fearful and has difficulty actively solving pressing problems. A neurotic person will not do anything, even if the situation requires active action.

In order to improve sensitivity indicators, it is recommended to work on the topic of emotional intelligence (exercises to increase the level of intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence), as well as perform exercises on self-reflection (awareness of one’s psychological processes) and recognition of one’s emotions.

P.S. We believe that the information about sensitivity posted in requires a slight correction. We see the reason for the discrepancy between the terms is that the information in the dictionary on this term was posted not by psychiatrists and psychotherapists, but by psychologists who do not have a medical education. For this reason, there are two inaccuracies in this definition that it would be desirable to correct: 1) an unambiguous, without reservations about the double meaning of the term, correlation of sensitivity and traits characteristic of anxiety-phobic neurosis 2) confusion of biological causes (psychopathy) and educational (accentuation character) with sensitivity. We hope that our colleagues will supplement their definitions and interpretations of terms taking into account the knowledge of medical psychotherapy.

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Commonly read with this article:

Sensitivity

(from Lat. sensus - feeling, sensation) - a characterological feature of a person, manifested by increased sensitivity to the events that happen to him, is usually accompanied by increased anxiety, fear of new situations, people, all kinds of tests, etc. Sensitive people are characterized by timidity, shyness, impressionability, a tendency to prolonged experiences of past or future events, a sense of personal insufficiency (see) , a tendency to develop increased moral demands on oneself and low level of aspirations(cm. ). With age, S. can be smoothed out, in particular due to the development in the process of education and self-education of the ability to cope with situations that cause anxiety. S. can be caused by both organic reasons (heredity, brain damage, etc.) and characteristics of upbringing (for example, emotional rejection of a child in the family). Extremely expressed S. is one of the forms of constitutional relations (see,).


Brief psychological dictionary. - Rostov-on-Don: “PHOENIX”. L.A. Karpenko, A.V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. 1998 .

Sensitivity

   SENSITIVITY (With. 538) (from Latin sensus - feeling) - special sensitivity, susceptibility to external influences. The term was proposed by the Italian teacher M. Montessori, who considered preschool childhood to be a “sensitive age,” i.e. the stage of greatest susceptibility to educational influences. Subsequently, this idea was clarified and specified. Studies by a number of teachers and psychologists have shown that throughout childhood special stages can be distinguished - the so-called sensitive periods, in which the child is especially sensitive to certain influences and susceptible to acquiring certain abilities. Thus, the sensitive period for speech development is 1-3 years. If a child at this age is brought up in a speech-poor environment, in conditions of insufficient verbal communication, this leads to a noticeable lag in speech development; it later turns out to be very difficult to compensate for this lag. It has also been established that at the age of about 5 years, children are especially sensitive to the development of phonemic awareness; after this period, such sensitivity decreases. The sensitive period for developing writing skills is 6-8 years.

Sensitive periods are optimal periods for the development of certain mental abilities. Starting learning (for example, writing) prematurely in relation to the sensitive period is ineffective; it also causes nervous and physical stress in the child, fraught with emotional breakdowns. But training started with a significant delay in relation to the sensitive period leads to low results; the normal level of the corresponding ability may not be achieved at all. Thus, in teaching and upbringing it is necessary to coordinate pedagogical influences with the age-related capabilities of the child.

Along with the described age-related sensitivity, psychology also distinguishes the so-called characterological sensitivity, which manifests itself in heightened emotional sensitivity to external influences of a certain kind. Such sensitivity, manifested, in particular, in special sensitivity to the moods and relationships of the people around them, serves as the basis for the ability to empathize and deeply understand personal manifestations. In this sense, it acts as a positive feature. But at the same time, characterological sensitivity makes a person more psychologically vulnerable; on its basis, painful vulnerability and resentment can develop, and in especially unfavorable cases, neurotic disorders.


Popular psychological encyclopedia. - M.: Eksmo. S.S. Stepanov. 2005.

Synonyms:

See what “sensitivity” is in other dictionaries:

    sensitivity- noun, number of synonyms: 2 psychotype (15) sensitivity (62) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary

    SENSITIVITY Encyclopedia of Sociology

    Sensitivity- a characterological feature of a person, manifested in increased sensitivity to events occurring to him, usually accompanied by increased anxiety, fear of new situations, people, all kinds of tests, etc. * * *… … Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

    SENSITIVITY- (from Latin sesibilis sensitive) English. sensitivity; German Sensitivitat. The characteristic feature of an individual, expressed in increased sensitivity and vulnerability, self-doubt, increased conscientiousness and a tendency to doubt... ... Explanatory dictionary of sociology

    Increased sensitivity to various influences. Age-related sensitivity is the optimal nature of the development of certain mental properties and processes inherent in a certain age period... Psychological and pedagogical dictionary of a naval unit teacher officer

    Sensitivity- a characterological feature of a person, manifested by increased sensitivity to current events, usually accompanied by increased anxiety, fear of new situations, people, all sorts of challenges, etc. (3) ... Glossary of terms on general and social pedagogy

    SENSITIVITY- (from Lat. sensus feeling, sensation) a characterological feature of a person, manifested in increased sensitivity to current events... Pedagogical dictionary

    SENSITIVITY- a characterological feature of a person, manifested in increased sensitivity to events occurring to him; usually accompanied by increased anxiety, fear of new situations, people, all kinds of tests, etc... Dictionary of career guidance and psychological support

    sensitivity- , social phobia are similar concepts: an individual experiences fear, very great anxiety in certain social situations: if you have to speak in public, interact with a stranger, etc. This largely depends on... ... Culture of speech communication: Ethics. Pragmatics. Psychology

    The optimal combination of conditions for the development of certain mental properties and processes inherent in a certain age period. Premature or delayed in relation to the period of S. century. training may not be effective enough... ... Great psychological encyclopedia

Sensitivity in psychology is a person’s feeling of increased sensitivity, uncertainty and vulnerability. This phenomenon is found at different levels of organization of living systems (from embryonic to social). In science stands out three levels of implementation this phenomenon: molecular, physiological and behavioral.

This problem was dealt with by: P. Bateson, R. Hynd and J. Gotlieb, modified by R. Aislin. In foreign psychology, the study of sensitivity is carried out mainly by ethologists (P. Bateson, J. Gotlieb, R. Hind, K. Lorenz, R. Aislina, etc.). In Russian psychology, this phenomenon is considered from the point of view of L.S. Vygotsky on the nature of sensitive periods as periods of increased susceptibility to external influences. B.G. Ananyev, A.V. Zaporozhets, L.N. Leontyev, N.S. Leites wrote about sensitive periods.

Two periods age-related sensitivity, have been studied quite fully, is a period sensitive for the development of the properties of visual perception (T.G. Beteleva, L.P. Grigorieva, D. Hubel, T. Wiesel, etc.), and a period sensitive for the formation of speech ( M. Montessori, A. N. Leontiev, A. N. Gvozdev, etc.). Sensitivity is a characteristic of certain stages of ontogenesis. SENSITIVE PERIOD OF SPEECH DEVELOPMENT, SENSITIVE PERIOD OF PERCEPTION OF ORDER,

SENSITIVE PERIOD OF SENSORY DEVELOPMENT, SENSITIVE PERIOD OF PERCEPTION OF SMALL OBJECTS,

SENSITIVE PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT OF MOVEMENTS AND ACTIONS, SENSITIVE PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL SKILLS

Sensitive periods last for a certain time and pass irrevocably.

Age sensitivity is often observed in children. There comes a moment in their life when the little person’s mental maturation occurs, facilitating his assimilation of certain functions. As a rule, the child’s environment presents him with a variety of opportunities for exercise.

Sensitive periods have several other basic characteristics.

They are UNIVERSAL, that is, they arise during the development of all children, regardless of race, nationality, pace of development, geopolitical, cultural differences, etc.

They are INDIVIDUAL, if we are talking about the time of their occurrence and duration in a particular child.

Susceptibility to external factors

Along with developmental psychology, the so-called characterological sensitivity. This is a phenomenon of increased emotional sensitivity to a certain kind of external influence. This state finds its manifestation in relationships with other people.

Many scientists have paid attention to the features of the sensitive period. So , C. Stockard believed that during the embryonic development of animals and humans there are periods of increased growth and increased sensitivity of individual organs and systems to external influences. And if for some reason development is inhibited, then this leads to a slowdown in the future. According to this point of view, if in childhood during the sensitive period some function does not develop, then its correction in the future is impossible.

MM. Koltsova, D.B. Elkonin, B.G. Ananyev hold the opposite point of view. In their opinion, it is possible to make up for lost time during the sensitive period at a later age, although this will require some difficulties. B.G. Ananiev, in laboratory conditions, established favorable periods for the development of attention, thinking, various types of memory and motor functions in children and adults. They have a wave-like character, that is, periods of active development are replaced by a slight decline.

L.S. Vygotsky introduced the concept of “critical period” into psychology. By it he understood global restructuring at the level of the individual and personality, occurring at a certain time. The critical period can be calm in development (lysis) or turning point (crisis).

Vygotsky identified several such periods:

1. neonatal period - The neonatal crisis is the direct process of birth.

2. the period of one year - the crisis of the first year of life - is associated with an increase in the child’s capabilities and the emergence of new needs.

3. a period of three years - a crisis of three years - a crisis of highlighting one’s “I”, increased independence

4. six to seven years - a crisis associated with the discovery of the meaning of a new social position - the position of a schoolchild

5. adolescence - Associated with the restructuring of the child’s body - puberty.

6.crisis 30 years

7.retirement crisis