In light of claims made by Aron (1996, 2000; Aron & Aron, 1997), this dissertation tested the influence of sensory-processing sensitivity on communication via two sets of research questions. First, are highly sensitive persons more easily aroused by stimulation, and if so does this necessarily cause a decrease in affect recognition? Results of an experimental study (N = 342) indicate that highly sensitive persons (HSPs) were more distracted by audio stimulation, causing more errors in accuracy judgments on non-verbal decoding tests, most noticeably for facial expression detection. The implication is that, when aroused by stimulation in their environment, HSPs may be less interpersonally sensitive.
The question concerned with claims about highly sensitive men in relationships and their supposed feminine nature (Aron, 2000). Thus, it is asked, Are highly sensitive men (HSM) in romantic relationships, as compared to non-sensitive men, more expressive of their emotions and more understanding of partners, qualities which supposedly create greater gender role stress because they do not meet American norms for masculinity? Results demonstrate that HSM reported are expressive of negative emotions (e.g., being bothered) and experience greater gender role stress, qualities which may lead partners of HSM to report lower satisfaction. The implication is that if HSM are more easily bothered and more emotionally reactive, then they are more expressive of negative feelings, a quality which is detrimental for relationships if these complaints are viewed as criticisms (Gottman, 1990).
Overall, the studies suggest the communication behaviors of HSPs are influenced in mostly negative ways because of low thresholds for stimulation. Importantly, though, effects were generally small and hard to detect in the sample sizes reported here, and the current measure of SPS seems to be inappropriate for measuring the complete conceptual breadth of the construct. A number of intrapersonal, individual, and interpersonal directions for future research are suggested.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04262012-150423 |
| Date | 29 April 2012 |
| Creators | Gearhart, Christopher Charles |
| Contributors | Honeycutt, Jim, Pecchioni, Loretta, Bodie, Graham, Gresham, Frank, Garand, Jim |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04262012-150423/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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