A qualitative exploration of individual differences in wellbeing for highly sensitive individuals
A qualitative exploration of individual differences in wellbeing for highly sensitive individuals
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DOI：
10.1057/s41599-020-0482-8
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发表时间：
2020-06-02
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Kern, Margaret L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Black, Becky A.;Kern, Margaret L.
文化显性地和隐性地创造和强化社会规范和期望，这影响到个人如何理解和体验他们在该文化中的位置。许多研究发现，在一系列行为和认知指标上，被称为“西方的、受过教育的、工业化的、富裕的和民主的(怪异)”社会和非怪诞文化之间存在着实质性的差异。事实上，围绕幸福的世俗观念和社会规范倾向于强调社交外向和高度唤醒的积极情绪，而内向和负面情绪则被轻视甚至病态。然而，这种以外向为中心的幸福感并不适合生活在奇怪社会中的许多人，研究发现，这种不匹配可能会对他们的幸福感产生有害影响。有必要更好地理解幸福感是如何由大量的人创造和体验的，这些人的幸福感以不同的方式表现出来。这项研究调查了一种这样的表现--感觉加工敏感性(SPS)的人格特征--定性地调查了敏感的人如何在一个奇怪的社会中体验和培养幸福感。12名成年人参加了半结构化访谈。研究结果表明，高度敏感的人认为幸福源于多个维度的和谐。受访者强调低强度的积极情绪、自我意识、自我接纳、通过独处时间平衡的积极社会关系、与自然的联系、冥想练习、情绪自我调节、练习自我同情、有意义和希望/乐观。幸福的障碍包括身体健康问题和对他人说不的挑战。这项研究提供了SPS幸福感的丰富的具体表现，强调了不同的途径，这些途径可能会导致个人的幸福感，其表现方式与他们所处的更广泛的社会叙事相矛盾。
Cultures explicitly and implicitly create and reinforce social norms and expectations, which impact upon how individuals make sense of and experience their place within that culture. Numerous studies find substantial differences across a range of behavioral and cognitive indices between what have been called "Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD)" societies and non-WEIRD cultures. Indeed, lay conceptions and social norms around wellbeing tend to emphasize social outgoingness and high-arousal positive emotions, with introversion and negative emotion looked down upon or even pathologized. However, this extravert-centric conception of wellbeing does not fit many individuals who live within WEIRD societies, and studies find that this mismatch can have detrimental effects on their wellbeing. There is a need to better understand how wellbeing is created and experienced by the large number of people for whom wellbeing manifests in alternative ways. This study investigated one such manifestation-the personality trait of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS)-qualitatively investigating how sensitive individuals experience and cultivate wellbeing within a WEIRD society. Twelve adults participated in semi-structured interviews. Findings suggest that highly sensitive individuals perceive that wellbeing arises from harmony across multiple dimensions. Interviewees emphasized the value of low-intensity positive emotion, self-awareness, self-acceptance, positive social relationships balanced by times of solitude, connecting with nature, contemplative practices, emotional self-regulation, practicing self-compassion, having a sense of meaning, and hope/optimism. Barriers of wellbeing included physical health issues and challenges with saying no to others. This study provides a rich idiographic representation of SPS wellbeing, highlighting diverse pathways, which can lead to wellbeing for individuals for whom wellbeing manifests in ways that contradict the broader social narratives in which they reside.