If you're sensitive, you have much more information to process than your average person. You probably need a bigger processor – i.e. a higher level of general intelligence – to do this. Maybe your sensitivity led to you developing higher processing powers – your high intelligence.
The good news is that highly sensitive people aren't more or less emotionally intelligent than others. They just use emotional intelligence differently.
Since HSPs think and process things deeply, they often have a rich and complex inner world. They often have deep thoughts and strong feelings to go with them, as well as having vividly realistic dreams.
Highly sensitive people tend to be conscientious and empathetic and may notice subtle changes in their interactions and environment. Some benefits include: Social skills: HSPs tend to notice things others do not. Picking up on body language and other subtle cues may help them develop strong social skills.
In addition to being great listeners, highly sensitive people also have excellent memories. They remember all the details, especially those they believe are important to their companions and to their relationships.
She discovered that 87% of gifted people are also highly sensitive.
Famous Highly Sensitive People
Elton John, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, Elanor Roosevelt, Robert Frost, and Emily Dickinson are just a few popular people with whose outward personas line up with the highly sensitive personality.
Most highly sensitive people display rare strengths in key areas of emotional intelligence, also known as emotional quotient (EQ) — the ability to recognize and understand emotions in themselves and others. These strengths including self-awareness and social-awareness.
INFJs are highly sensitive to the words and deeds of those close to them. INFJ is regarded as the most sensitive personality type. Some estimates suggest that 80 to 90% of people who test as INFJs also test as highly sensitive people, because the traits of the two overlap so much.
The introverted (I) intuitive (N) types (“INs”)—INFJ, INFP, INTJ and INTP—are among the most “sensitive” of the personality types. This is especially true of those who are more turbulent than assertive.
Overall, sensitivity is a heightened “ability to perceive, process, and respond deeply to one's environment,” which means sensitive people absorb more sensory information (often unconsciously), think more deeply, and find more interconnections among disparate things than less sensitive people typically do.
Highly sensitive people may be more affected by certain situations such as tension, violence, and conflict, which may lead them to avoid things that make them feel uncomfortable. You might be highly touched by beauty or emotionality. Highly sensitive people tend to feel deeply moved by the beauty they see around them.
HSPs often struggle with overthinking, feeling like an imposter, and feeling like they are always doing something wrong.
Created with Sketch. High sensitivity is thought to have genetic roots, and some specific gene variants have been associated with the trait. But early childhood environments may play a role as well; evidence suggests that early experiences may have an epigenetic effect on the genes associated with sensitivity.
It is therefore not surprising that many highly gifted contemporaries recognize themselves in the characteristics of (high) sensitivity (reference bogg). However, this does not mean that all (high) sensitive people are also highly gifted while most highly gifted people seem to be high sensitive.
Gifted people are usually also highly sensitive and intense. They are more aware of subtleties; their brain processes information and reflects on it more deeply. At their best, they can be exceptionally perceptive, intuitive, and keenly observant of the subtleties of the environment.
1. ESFJ. People who fit the ESFJ personality type can usually be recognized by their big hearts and kindly manner. ESFJs are warm and welcoming and their love of tradition means they value good old-fashioned manners highly.
Those who are extroverted, sensing, feeling, and judging are often identified as one of the kindest types by experts. "ESFJs have extroverted feeling as a dominant cognitive function," Gonzalez-Berrios says. "This makes them rule by their hearts. They are kind, polite, friendly, and sensitive."
And it's important to know that being a highly sensitive person isn't considered a mental health disorder — and that there's no official way to diagnose someone as HSP and there's no official highly sensitive person test (though there's this quiz from the doctor who coined the term “highly sensitive person.”)
HSPs' emotions are extra vivid due to a part of the brain called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). The vmPFC is involved in emotion regulation, especially the vividness of emotions. The emotional vividness is not of a social nature (unlike mirror neurons).
Being highly sensitive is an invaluable trait that comes with many advantages. HSPs are known to be highly observant, intuitive, thoughtful, compassionate, empathetic, conscientious, loyal, and creative. In fact, managers consistently rate people with higher sensitivity as their top contributors.
Sensitivity is often seen as a sign of weakness in our culture, especially when a sensitive person experiences too much stress. We can easily become overwhelmed by too much sensory input, doing too much and ignoring our limits or just by being surrounded by too many people.
Although one role of a leader is to oversee projects, being sensitive to the emotional needs of your followers is key to maximizing your leadership effectiveness. Despite what some may think, being sensitive does not mean being a doormat.
A highly sensitive leader will be deeply engaged with everyone, asking thoughtful questions while also sharing information about themselves. HSP leaders rely on their natural empathy to build bridges of mutual understanding and respect.