The Psychology and Science of Highly Sensitive People (HSP) and Empaths

What is the difference between a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) and an empath? An HSP is a term coined by Elaine Aron, Ph.D., an American Psychologist and the author of the book The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When The World Overwhelms You. Aron began researching the similarities and differences in HSPs in 1991. Aron also calls HSP by the scientific term Sensory-Processing Sensitivity (SPS) and continues her research and reports that 15-20% of the general population are thought to be highly sensitive.

According to Aron, you may be an HSP if you:

• Are easily overwhelmed by strong sensory input.

• Are aware of subtleties in your environment.

• Other people’s moods affect you.

• Tend to be very sensitive to pain.

• Find yourself self needing to withdraw during busy days, into bed or a darkened room or any place where you can have some privacy and relief from stimulation.

• Are particularly sensitive to the effects of caffeine.

• Are easily overwhelmed by things like bright lights, strong smells, coarse fabrics, or sirens close by.

• Have a rich, complex inner life.

• Are made uncomfortable by loud noises.

• Are deeply moved by the arts or music.

• Your nervous system sometimes feels so frazzled that you just have to go off by yourself.

• You are conscientious.

• You startle easily.

• You get rattled when you have a lot to do in a short amount of time.

• Find it uncomfortable in a physical environment, you tend to know what needs to be done to make it more comfortable (like changing the lighting or the seating).

• You are annoyed when people try to get to you and do too many things at once.

• You try hard to avoid making mistakes or forgetting things.

• You make a point to avoid violent movies and TV shows.

• You become unpleasantly aroused when a lot is going on around you.

• Find being very hungry creates a strong reaction in you, disrupting your concentration or mood.

• Find changes in your life that shake you up.

• Notice and enjoy delicate or fine scents, tastes, sounds, or works of art.

• Find it unpleasant to have a lot going on at once.

• Make it a high priority to arrange my life to avoid upsetting or overwhelming situations. You are bothered by intense stimuli, like loud noises or chaotic scenes.

• Must compete or be observed while performing a task, You become so nervous or shaky that you do much worse than you would otherwise.

• When you were a child, your parents or teachers seemed to see you as sensitive or shy.

Highly sensitive people are typically introverts, while empaths can be introverts or extroverts, although most are introverts.

According to Judith Orloff, MD, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA and the author of The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People, 1-2% of people are empaths with the ability to feel and absorb other people’s emotions and physical symptoms because they are highly sensitive and intuitive.

Orloff says that empaths share the following traits:

• They are highly sensitive.

• They absorb other people’s emotions.

• Many empaths are introverted.

• They are highly intuitive.

• They need alone time.

• They can become overwhelmed in intimate relationships.

• They are targets for energy vampires.

• They become replenished in nature.

• They have highly tuned senses.

• They have huge hearts but sometimes give too much.

The Psychology and Science of Empaths and HSP

What does psychology and science research tell us about empaths and HSP? You may be surprised that the psychological and neuroscience communities have been researching empaths and HSP extensively during the last 30 years. Below are some of their findings.

Synesthesia and Mirror Neurons

One of the first cases of research occurred in the 1980s when scientists examined whether there is an actual basis supporting the science behind empaths. This research occurred when Italian researchers came across an unusual reaction in the brains of macaque monkeys. They found that the same neurons in the brains of monkeys fired when one monkey reached for a peanut and another monkey watched.

One extraordinary ability some people possess is the ability to simultaneously perceive things through more than one of the senses. For example, these individuals can “see sounds” or “taste words” or “feel smells.” In some cases of synesthesia, the person may perceive letters, numbers, symbols, or shapes with the sensory perception of color, smell, or flavor.

In recent years, research has identified a set of neurons in the brain referred to as mirror neurons which has increased our understanding of empaths. Mirror neurons allow us to read, interpret and understand each other’s emotions by processing them through our own emotions (Iacobani, 2008). Mirror neurons create a link between us and other people through direct neurological connections. When we observe a person doing something, the same regions in our brains become activated. For empaths, this occurs when we witness another person’s emotions and feel them as if they are our own feelings. Mirror-touch and pain synesthesia are types of this phenomenon that causes the empath to feel a similar sensation in the same area of their body as another person.

Neuropsychological research has shown that humans empathize with each other to varying degrees. Researchers believe that empaths have a more active mirror neuron system allowing them to absorb other people’s energy and emotions without consciously being aware they are doing this. Mirror-touch synesthesia is the scientific term for having an overactive mirror neuron system. One example of how this works is that when an empath watches another person get touched, the empath senses this touch on their body.

Emotional Contagion

Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung observed many decades ago “Emotions are contagious.” The concept of emotional contagion is a concept that explains that when people synchronize their attitudes, behaviors, and speech, they have an innate tendency to consciously and unconsciously mimic and synchronize their facial expressions, vocalizations, postures, movements, and emotions with others and merge emotions with others (Hatfield, Cacioppo & Rapson, 1994).

Research has shown that people unconsciously mimic the emotions of others and we feel the same emotions. Emotional contagion is thought to be important in personal relationships. It fosters behavioral and emotional synchronicity even when done unconsciously.

While emotional contagion is primarily unconscious and bypasses our conscious mind, empathy, or what some psychologists call “mentalizing” or “perspective-taking” involves more intention and refined cognitive processes (Decety and Svetlova, 2012). It requires you to be observant of one’s own perspective and at the same time, put yourself in another’s shoes and understand their emotions.

Research shows that emotional contagion is just as prevalent on social media as it is in everyday life. Facebook researched emotional contagion in 2012 for one week by exposing people to negative or positive posts in their news feeds. The findings were that people were influenced by negative or positive content. This who viewed negative posts used more negative words in their own posts. People who were exposed to positive posts used more positive words in their own posts.

Sensory Processing Disorder

Some empaths suffer from sensory overload called Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). This is also the case with people on the autistic spectrum. People with SPD often have difficulty coping with the overwhelming information from the senses. They find bright lights, loud noises, certain colors, coarse fabric, and the textures of food overwhelming. SPD is caused by abnormalities in the brain and may explain why empaths are sensitive to other people’s emotions. Researchers in San Francisco identified abnormalities in the white brain matter of children with SPD.

Electromagnetic Fields

You may be aware that our brain generates an electromagnetic field, but in fact, our heart generates the greatest electromagnetic field in the body. In reality, our heart generates a field 60 times greater than the brain that can be detected from several feet away.

Research from the Heartmath Institute study “The Electricity of Touch: Detection and Measurement of Cardiac Energy Exchange Between People” showed that when people touch or are close together, a transference of the electromagnetic energy generated by the heart occurs This field in one person could be detected and measured in the other person seated about three feet away (McCraty, et al., 1998).

Dopamine Sensitivity

Empaths have an innate sensitivity to emotions, physical pain, moods, and feelings. One study related to dopamine levels supports the science of empaths (Gong, et al., 2014). Empaths are so sensitive to people around them and the world which causes them to experience everything at a much higher frequency. It is hypothesized that empaths need less dopamine, the pleasure neurotransmitter to make them feel happy. Research has also shown that lower dopamine levels improve one’s ability to predict other people’s behavior.

Conclusion

Psychology and science are giving us a better understanding of empaths and HSP. Do you believe empaths are real? Are you an empath or a highly sensitive person? I would love to hear your comments below.

To join our growing Facebook group for empaths please visit here.

Sources Cited:

Aron, Elaine. “The Highly Sensitive Person.” The Highly Sensitive Person Blog. Retrieved May 28, 2022 from https://hsperson.com

Decety, Jean & Svetlova, Margarita. (2012). Putting together phylogenetic and ontogenetic perspectives on empathy. Developmental cognitive neuroscience. 2. 1-24. 10.1016/j.dcn.2011.05.003.

Gong, P., Liu, J., Li, S., & Zhou, X. (2014). Dopamine beta-hydroxylase gene modulates individuals' empathic ability. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 9(9), 1341–1345. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nst122

Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1994). Emotional contagion. Cambridge University Press; Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme.

Iacobani, M. (2008). Mirroring people: the science of empathy and how we connect with others. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

McCraty, Rollin, Atkinson, Mike, Tomasino, Dana, B.A., and Tiller, William A (1998). The Electricity of Touch: Detection and Measurement of Cardiac Energy Exchange Between People In: Karl H. Pribram, ed. Brain and Values: Is a Biological Science of Values Possible. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 1998: 359-379.

McCraty, Rollin (2004). The Energetic Heart: Bioelectromagnetic Communication Within and Between People in Clinical Applications of Bioelectromagnetic Medicine, edited by P. J. Rosch and M. S. Markov. New York: Marcel Dekker, 2004: 541-562.

Orloff, Judith. “The Difference Between Empaths and Highly Sensitive People.” Judith Orloff MD Blog. Retrieved May 28, 2022 from https://drjudithorloff.com/the-difference-between-empaths-and-highly-sensitive-people/