I'm sensitive! Adjust or leave everything as is?

Character accentuation is a psychological term that describes the most pronounced traits of a person. They prevail and determine the behavior of a particular individual. There are general patterns, so they talk about several accentuations that are inherent in large groups of people, albeit to varying degrees.

The sensitive personality type is an accentuation that was highlighted by Lichko (Leonhard did not have this type). Characteristic features are increased softness, vulnerability and sensitivity, kindness, dreaminess. It is difficult for such people to find themselves in life and in society. Especially if the person is a representative of the “stronger” sex, who is subject to additional stereotypical conditions. Often such people become the object of ridicule, and then quiet ostracism. These are classic outcasts for the most part.

No treatment as such is required. Still, accentuation cannot be called a disease. It's just a character trait. However, if you do not help the patient in any way, problems in life are possible. It is possible to correct the most acute character traits that interfere. To do this, you need the help of a qualified psychologist or psychotherapist.

Why does sensitive character accentuation develop?

There are several reasons for the development. In the vast majority of cases, there is a social component. The biological factor is of secondary importance. As for the immediate triggers.

Dominant mother

One of the main reasons why a sensitive type of character is formed. A tyrant mother tries to control the actions of her child. It doesn't matter whether it's a daughter or a son. As a result, self-doubt and fear develop. A person tries to please his mother so as not to become a victim of violence - verbal, and often physical in the early years. Sensitivity and sensitivity become a defensive reaction, one of the options. The child has to feel the mother’s mood very subtly, since a tyrannical woman depends on her mood. All her actions are impulsive. Often, especially if the mother is narcissistic, epileptoid, sensitivity reaches borderline personality disorder. Before real psychopathology. In this case, specialized treatment is needed.

Imperative type of education in general

Not only a mother can be a tyrant. A father or stepfather has an equally negative, destructive influence. Provided that he shows open aggression - he hits the child, scolds him with or without reason. Hidden aggression is also dangerous. Like “you upset me, try to guess why.” Often a narcissistic mother resorts to this style of behavior. Such manipulations do not end well, especially for young people. In the future, it becomes difficult to overcome your negative attitudes, habits and character traits. And in some cases it is almost impossible if we are talking about full-fledged psychopathy. When working with a psychologist, it is possible to achieve results in 95% of cases.

Permissiveness

The next type of negative parenting model. In this case, the diametrically opposite happens. Parents do not pay attention to the child at all, they turn him into an adult. He is forced to solve his problems himself. In this case, options are possible. Or a person becomes like an independent adult and takes on a role beyond his strength. Or he tries to get into the good graces of his parents, feel their mood and adapt to the situation. Both cases lead to devastating consequences for the psyche and the development of negative behavior patterns in the future. The only way to avoid developing negative traits is to give your child enough attention.

Negative experiences in the past

Applies more to teenagers. Children aged 9 to 18 years show aggression much more often. Irreconcilable and intolerant. Therefore, sensitive people and those prone to hypersensitivity often have problems. This is especially true for the male part of the population, since it is in such groups that rank wars occur. The weak, or those who seem so, are sure to find themselves on the sidelines, under ridicule. And that's the best case scenario. Physical violence, including serious injury, often occurs.

A person is unable to cope with this, so he withdraws and becomes a closed sensitive person, who is very difficult to draw out of his shell. A negative environment causes even greater social rejection in a man with sensitive accentuation. Personality traits become more acute. Severe psychopathology at the level of borderline development, psychopathy, is possible.

Congenital hereditary characteristics. Genetics

Often the reason for the accentuation of character, and any one, is congenital conditioning. Although personality is not directly passed on from parents and grandparents to children, certain tendencies are still inherited. This must be kept in mind during self-assessment or diagnosis by a professional psychologist.

Psychopathological conditions

In some cases, sensitivity may be confused with mental illnesses. For example, increased sensitivity is possible in some psychopaths, patients with schizophrenia in the early stages of the disorder. Neurotics also often find themselves in the same boat as other sensitive people. This also needs to be taken into account. First, a series of tests are performed to rule out psychopathology. Only then can we talk about the variant of the norm and the origin of the condition.

Low self-esteem

In some cases, cause and effect are reversed. A sensitive personality type does not always cause insufficient self-esteem. It also happens the other way around. In such a situation, a person feels flawed, unworthy of the attention of others or any benefits. Accordingly, negative feelings intensify and a negative worldview develops. The patient is prone to hypersensitivity. Although this does not always happen. It is possible to disguise one’s own personality and its features with imaginary aggression, feigned masculinity, masculinity. A sensitive person is a person of contradiction. Often he becomes an actor in order not to be a victim, to fit into society at least partially.

The classic example of a sensitive person from psychological literature is a melancholic person by temperament. He is constantly depressed and dreams most of the time. Responsive and kind to the whole world. Moreover, in some cases he is prone to veneration and servility.

Basic accentuations

Character accentuation is a psychological term that describes the most distinctive features.

The sensitive personality type is an emphasis highlighted by psychologist Lichko. Character traits:

• increased softness, vulnerability and sensitivity;
• kindness; daydreaming;

• inflated demands on oneself;
• low self-esteem;
• shyness;
• inability to refuse;
• excessive diligence and determination;
• tendency to hush up problems, touchiness, and tearfulness.

It is difficult for such people to find themselves in life and in society. Especially if the person is a representative of the “stronger” sex, since stereotypes come into play. Often sensitive people become the object of ridicule and then silent avoidance. It is worth noting the presence of seriously low self-esteem, even to the point of self-destructive thoughts and blaming oneself for all sins.

The main areas of interest are beauty, sophistication, art. As a rule, these people have good taste and aesthetic precision.

Sensitive personality type

By the way, among children the sensitive type is not found in its pure form. The development of accentuations occurs in a later period (14-19 years). A number of researchers believe that the presence of any accentuation is a deviation from the norm.

However, sensitivity should be accepted as one of the personality traits as long as it does not interfere with leading a quality lifestyle: being healthy, building happy relationships, advancing in your career, etc.

How does a sensitive personality type manifest itself?

The sensitive type according to Lichko is defined by a wide group of symptoms. If we can talk about such at all. Among the manifestations of accentuation:

Increased impressionability. A sensitive person is a psychotype who is easily unsettled by a rude word, an unexpected action, or a shocking scene. He has a reduced resistance to stress and does not tolerate it well. This is the main negative feature, which often interferes with life. Along with anxiety, which is worth mentioning separately.

Tendency to melancholy. Persistent or predominantly depressed mood. Feeling of sadness, hopelessness. The sensation is not as persistent as that of the dysthymic type, but still haunts the patient most of the time. It does not cause major difficulties, but in some cases it turns into full-fledged depression and mental disorders.

Often - sentimentality. A sensitive person may tear up at a scene in a movie or book. Because he deeply feels what is happening and has strong empathy. However, in this case he becomes fixated on the experience and derives some pleasure from it. Which is called sentimentality. Episodes of such “made”, artificial experiences are short-lived. They can be called a kind of entertainment.

Kindness. A sincere desire to help everyone. Despite the fact that patients of this type have a good sense of people, they are ready to extend a hand even to the unworthy. We are sure that there are no bad people. This is a positive feature, which, however, creates many problems. Sensitive people are often accused of insincerity and sycophancy. They perceive a noble impulse as an attempt to suck up and curry favor, to show themselves as a different person. Especially often if a person is in the wrong environment, among toxic elements.

Openness. Not always, you should immediately make a reservation. If the patient has experienced some kind of trauma or has a negative experience of social interaction, he closes down and becomes inaccessible to everyone. He sinks into the shell and doesn’t want to come out. You can cope with this, but it all depends on the time since the negative episode. The longer a sensitive person experiences his negative emotions, the more difficult it is from a therapeutic point of view.

Anxiety. Main feature. Almost a business card. Anxiety develops at the slightest provocation. Often the reasons are generally made up, like “what if it happens...”. This is the case when the patient screws himself up. In a system with impressionability and suspiciousness, these traits create a unique picture. Hypochondria, a fruitless search for imaginary diseases, often develops.

Conformity. Not always. The sensitive type of character accentuation is characterized by independent thinking. But this also happens. When the patient is inclined to think like everyone else and do like everyone else in order to fit into society and play by its rules. Conformity is not a typical trait. More like a way to disguise yourself for a certain period of time.

Problems in communication and social interaction. The noble impulses, thoughts and experiences of the psychotype remain misunderstood. Moreover, they cause aggression and rejection. In a negative scenario, this leads to total ostracism, forced loneliness and isolation. There is a way to deal with this. The main thing is to choose the right environment that will be close in spirit.

Vulnerability. It’s easy to offend a sensitive person. A sidelong glance, a rude word or a careless remark is enough. A person will experience resentment for a long time, almost like a stuck type.

Ambition. Which is quite unexpected, given the features described above. People with a sensitive type of accentuation crave recognition. They are persistent in achieving their goals and are ready to do anything to become part of society. This is the main motivation for patients of this type. At the same time, they play extremely honestly, and are not ready to go over their heads in order to achieve their goals. Most often they work where there is beauty. That is, tastes and interests lie in the sphere of art, science and the unknown.

Empathy. A distinctive feature of the psychotype. The ability to deeply feel the experiences of others and respond to them appropriately. This is a very valuable quality that allows you to be realized in many professions.

You can also name among the traits or symptoms compassion, a tendency to endure failures for a long time. The features mentioned above are the main ones.

What is sensitivity

In psychology, sensitivity is called the increased impressionability of an individual when perceiving certain life events and situations. This definition is synonymous with such concepts as “emotional sensitivity”, “susceptibility”.

Sensitive girl

The opposite characteristic for sensitivity is a person’s indifferent attitude to what is happening around him - resistance. In this case, the person is of little interest in the people and events around him. It is difficult for him to express his feelings. Even when communicating with loved ones, he shows emotional coldness, tactlessness, and selfishness.

Resistance

A person’s sensitive level is determined by factors such as:

• heredity (there are cases where, on the maternal or paternal side, hypersensitivity is passed on from generation to generation);
• type of temperament (the type of nervous system and the balance of processes of excitation and inhibition in it determine the degree of emotional sensitivity of a person);
• abnormalities in brain function (disruption of neural connections lead to pathological emotional reactions of a person to quite ordinary situations);
• deviations in the functioning of the nervous system caused by one or another disease (in this case, hyperimpressionability can be corrected with medication; it is better to entrust the selection of drugs and treatment technology to an experienced doctor);
• self-esteem of the individual (self-perception and self-attitude are projected onto the person’s activities and interpersonal relationships);
• features of upbringing in the family (from early childhood, the words of parents and their value judgments form a model of human behavior; as a result of overprotection and inflated demands, the child can react painfully to minor mistakes and situations, fearing condemnation from parents and punishment).

Such a character quality as sensitivity is more characteristic of choleric and melancholic people. As a rule, external influences do not make a strong impression on phlegmatic and sanguine people.

Hypersensitivity (too high sensitivity) leads to increased situational and personal anxiety.

With age, a person can learn to manage this personal trait, then the level of anxiety will be normal. By accumulating life experience, a person develops self-control skills and learns to relate more easily to certain emotional shocks.

Classification of related personality types

The closest personality type is schizoid. There are mixed accentuators, the so-called sensitive schizoids. They have almost all the personal qualities described above. At the same time, there is a complete lack of empathy. The patient is not able to experience the emotions of others, and even poorly understands his own feelings. Can't express emotions. Tends to be withdrawn and socially isolated.

Schizoids experience grievances much easier. They literally don’t care about other people’s opinions, criticism and praise. They are not so alarming. In all other respects, we can talk about similar personality traits.

Emotive, stuck types, and conformist personalities stand close together.

Type characteristics

Sensitive people are characterized by increased susceptibility, impressionability, and low self-esteem.

The key feature of such individuals is self-doubt.

This type of psyche can be observed in a person already in early childhood. Sensitive children are fearful and anxious. They are often afraid of the dark, loneliness, and animals.

They do not like large groups of peers and feel uncomfortable during various competitions and competitions. In the company of strangers they can become very shy and withdraw into themselves.

At first glance, it may seem that such children have certain mental problems . In fact, it is enough for them to become emotionally close to people in order to stop closing themselves off from them.

In a familiar environment, in the company of friends, they demonstrate good communication skills, openness and friendliness.

The school period is also not easy, since noisy classmates, bustle and fights can have a depressing effect on children. At the same time, they gradually become involved in the educational process, make friends, and begin to show interest in learning.

How to recognize a sensitive personality type

The psychotype examination is carried out under the supervision of a qualified psychologist. At the initial appointment, the specialist conducts a full diagnosis. In what ways:

• Oral survey. Plays a primary role. Through the manner of speech, the way of expressing emotions and one’s own thoughts, vocabulary, and intonation, you can understand a lot. What, in fact, is what a specialist does.
• Testing. Specialized testing for psychotype. Special questionnaires are used: Shmishek, Lichko and others. Age is taken into account. Depending on this, special modifications of the test material are selected.
• Tests of cognitive abilities. As a rule, sensitive people have developed intelligence and can easily cope with IQ tests of various types: according to Eysenck, Raven and others. At the same time, minor deviations in one direction or another are possible. Also, with the help of intelligence tests, a specialist checks the integrity of cognitive abilities. This is important to rule out mental disorders.

Often, more than one consultation is needed to make a conditional “diagnosis”. After the essence of the phenomenon is determined, the question of the need for treatment is decided. Often therapy in the truest sense of the word is not necessary. It is important to correct the main negative traits that interfere with life.

Personal relationships of the sensitive

In personal, intimate relationships, sensitivity is fully realized. Ideally, if there are no psychological traumas. There are certain features that can be used to describe this psychotype:

• Loyalty and devotion. Such a person will not cheat, succumbing to a base impulse. He will remain faithful to the last, even to his own detriment. Even when the spouse is openly “walking”. This kind of honesty in relationships gives them strength. At the same time, the opposite side does not always appreciate the sensitive person for these positive qualities. There is a tendency to look for unworthy people as partners.
• Dedication. Willingness to sacrifice one's own interests for the sake of a common cause. In particular, act in the interests of the family. For example, with good professional prospects, you can stay at home with your children and the like.
• Kindness.
• Delicacy.
• Willingness to compromise. Patients with this psychotype do not have conflicts. They try with all their might to prevent swearing. And if it starts, smooth out the conflict and extinguish it as quickly as possible. This is a very valuable quality that allows you to save a marriage for many years.

Negative traits include anxiety and some tediousness in connection with imaginary problems. Closed, sensitive people often remain lonely throughout their lives, never finding their place in society. Especially representatives of the stronger sex. Unfortunately, this trend prevails because such a man cannot live up to the archaic stereotypes of centuries ago.

The concept of a sensitive period

Sensitive periods - what is it in psychology?

This period is understood as a certain period of an individual’s life , during which conditions are present for the optimal development of a psychological quality or type of activity.

This process is explained by the fact that at every moment of a person’s life the sensitivity of his psyche to the perception of specific external phenomena increases.

Accordingly, development proceeds in the direction for which the most favorable conditions have been created at the current time.

Career and professional activities

People with sensitive accentuation realize themselves best and most effectively in professions related to art and intellectual activity. Most often they choose the following specialties:

• Artist.
• Musician.
• Writer.
• Actor.

With the help of art, the patient has the opportunity to express the fullness of his own emotions, throw them out without the risk of being judged by society and the environment. Among intellectual activities, those that give the opportunity to help people prevail:

• Doctor.
• Lawyer (advocate, not prosecutor).
• Social worker.
• Teacher or lecturer.

Among the professional qualities of an employee with sensitive accentuation:

• Increased performance. Willingness to obey orders and get the job done.
• Responsibility. Such people do not miss deadlines and always do everything conscientiously.
• High level of professionalism.
• At the same time, the level of initiative is low. You can’t expect “rationalization proposals” from them. Unless you give a special sanction for this.
• They are gentle in leadership positions. They cannot lead imperatively. But they cope well with persuasion and a democratic management style.

A career directly depends on the correct upbringing and future environment of a person. By creating the necessary conditions, you can achieve high productivity and impact.

What are sensitive periods

Sensitive periods are segments of ontogenesis during which personal sensitivity to the phenomena and events of life increases sharply. This means that throughout life a person’s attitude towards people and events can change. This process does not depend on a person’s religious, cultural or racial background. The onset of a sensitive period is determined by the individual characteristics of the individual. Based on this statement, science has developed such approaches to training and education as individual-oriented and person-centered.

Developmental psychology, psychophysiology and pedagogy deal with the study of the dynamics of impressionability at different stages of ontogenesis. Scientists have found that signs of the severity of such a character trait as sensitivity in a child are noticeable already at the age of 1.5 - 2 years. Little sensitive ones behave hesitantly when guests come to the house, covering their faces with their palms. They are reluctant to join a peer group, preferring to stay close to their mother.

Sensitive baby

According to psychologists, the peak of sensitivity as a character trait is observed in boys and girls during adolescence. This is partly due to the onset of the growing-up crisis.

The results of psychological, pedagogical and psychophysiological research help specialists in helping professions determine priority areas in personal development at a particular period of development.

The age from 0 to 5 years is considered the most favorable for the development of speech function in a child. In the period from birth to 1 year, the baby develops the prerequisites for mastering his native language. At the age of 2–3 years, children demonstrate high sensitivity to sound speech. This is manifested in the fact that they quickly memorize words, strive to repeat them many times, and relate them to a specific subject. This is why psychologists say that foreign language learning classes will be effective with such children.

By the time they enter school, children can communicate freely in their native language, use words in the correct form, and demonstrate basic knowledge of grammar and phonetics.

Asya Rakhovich

Psychologist with more than 7 years of experience.

Ask a Question

The period from 6 to 10 years is the most favorable period for the formation of universal general educational skills. At this age, brain structures are plastic, thanks to which children quickly learn new knowledge and learn with interest. Cognitive interest and high educational motivation create favorable conditions for the formation of writing, counting skills, and the development of abstract and logical thinking in younger schoolchildren.

At 10–15 years of age, the optimal time for the development of personal self-knowledge begins. It is during this period that teenagers actively try themselves in different types of creative activities, striving to self-realize and express themselves. Thanks to teenage romance, during this period many children quickly master the basic principles of playing the guitar.

In addition, during puberty, the formation of communication abilities occurs, which contribute to the favorable socialization of the individual. It is at this age that it is extremely important for an individual to be accepted into a group of peers. Therefore, teenagers pay a lot of attention to external attributes: clothes, accessories, hairstyles, because external similarity contributes to the emergence of interpersonal sympathy. In other words, during adolescence, the sensitivity of peers to the behavior patterns of their comrades intensifies. Every teenager strives to occupy a high socio-psychological status in the team, therefore he does not want to stand out from his comrades and uses the same attributes that are considered fashionable in this environment.

Impressionable teenager

Youth is a sensitive period for a person’s professional and personal self-determination. At this time, young people and girls complete the formation of a system of life values ​​and moral guidelines.

Certain abilities, abilities and skills are formed more quickly in a child when he is most receptive to specially organized educational influences. If developmental conditions are not created during this or that sensitive period, there is a high probability that the socially and personally significant qualities of the individual will not be able to fully develop. So, if a child aged 1–3 years is deprived of the opportunity to listen to his native speech, his speaking skills will not develop on their own.

A person cannot influence the onset of a sensitive period in any way. But he can learn to be attentive to himself and his needs. This approach will help you start mastering new activities in a timely manner.

Is special treatment needed? Features of correction of behavior and personality of a sensitive person

If you believe the recommendations of psychologists, the situation needs to be corrected only when the condition creates problems for a person and interferes with life. It is important to eliminate several negative traits. For example, anxiety, a tendency to feel sorry for oneself, hypochondria, conformity. Here several methods of therapy come to the rescue.

• Cognitive-behavioural. The goal is to find negative patterns and behaviors and eliminate them. This is not a one-day job. Perhaps not for a month. It is mainly carried out under the supervision of a psychotherapist, not a psychologist. So the efficiency is much higher.
• Personal therapy. They identify the very reasons that have become an obstacle to the development of positive personality traits. For example, childhood traumas, failures. They are working on them, precisely.

In some cases, methods of psychoanalysis and art therapy are indicated. At the discretion of the treating specialist. Family, if there is one, plays an important role. Acquaintances and friends. This is additional motivation for personal growth and development.

Types of sensitivity

The traditional approach to the classification of sensitivity is the theory of G. Smith, who identified the following types of this individual characteristic:

• observational sensitivity, which ensures a person’s ability to remember details of a person’s appearance, as well as his phrases after a short interaction with him;
• social sensitivity is associated with the fact that a person notices people’s reactions to his words or actions, but interprets them incorrectly; this has a significant impact on a person’s behavior, as it gives rise to intrapersonal complexes, numerous fears associated with the fact that he will not be able to justify expectations of others);
• emotional sensitivity, as a result of which the individual demonstrates vivid reactions to certain events (as a rule, he lives by the events of the past, is not able to accept them and treat them calmly);
• theoretical sensitivity, expressed in the fact that a person understands social psychology, but does not always use it in real life;
• organic sensitivity, manifested in the form of heightened functioning of the individual’s perceptual channels;
• sensitive temperament, which explains the natural impressionability of a melancholic person and the hot temper of a choleric person;
• nomothetic sensitivity helps a person predict the reactions of a particular person, focusing on typical patterns of behavior of representatives of a particular social or professional group;
• ideographic sensitivity, thanks to which a person is able to perceive and adequately evaluate the diversity of behavioral stereotypes of others.

Prevention of sensitivity in children and adults

A sensitive child requires additional attention. To prevent the worsening of pathological traits, it is enough to adhere to a moderate, democratic style of education. If we talk about specific preventive measures:

• Enough love and attention.
• Open expression of one's own feelings for the child. This is an important component of the successful development of a young representative of the psychotype.
• Minimum penalties. Strict rationality in the choice of methods and occasions. No physical or psychological violence.
• Involving a child in work. Also sufficient motivation.

Mandatory involvement in activities in the field of art.

Reasons for appearance

An increase in the level of sensitivity can be due to various reasons:

• age crises;
• mental disorders;
• stress;
• neuroses;
• depression;
• pathologies in the functioning of the brain caused by congenital diseases or injuries;
• psychotrauma suffered by an individual in childhood;
• physical or psychological violence;
• raising a child in a single-parent family;
• pedagogical mistakes of parents (excessive severity of parents, their use of cruel methods of education against the child).