The term “Interpersonal Sensitivity” refers to the ability that a person has to identify what they feel, think, need, what expectations they have and what the personality of the other person is like and, in this way, respond accordingly.
Thus, we are talking about the precision in the processing of signals and behaviors of other people and identity characteristics of the personality, within which we can find sexual orientation. This makes it easier to understand the intentions you have, as well as helps us anticipate the needs and desires you have.
Interpersonal Sensitivity (IS) is, from this perspective, an important social competence that consists of making inferences about the abilities, characteristics, and states of other people based on their nonverbal cues for which the meaning given to the previously observed non-verbal behavior is essential.
For Riggio, the ability to communicate non-verbally depends on the ability to correctly regulate (manage), send (encode) and receive (decode) information. Taking into account the previous definitions, we could say that the last of these three aspects is the one that would correspond to SI, that is, the ability to perceive this information.
The SI, in turn, can be divided into Non-Verbal Sensitivity, Emotional Sensitivity and Social Sensitivity The first includes reading signs of attitudes, intentions and interpersonal orientation (tastes, desires, etc.). While the second focuses only on emotional signals and the third on global social information.
Interpersonal Sensitivity and Emotional Intelligence
Interpersonal Sensitivity is at the core of theoretical models of Emotional and Social Intelligence, understanding that one must possess basic competencies in Sensitivity in order to be emotionally or socially intelligent. Thus, Mayer, Salovey, Caruso and Sitarenios and Cherniss included IS (emotional) as one of the defining elements of Emotional Intelligence.
In this way, IS is necessary for the development of functional Emotional Intelligence as it affects the ability to perceive, interpret and respond to other people’s emotions having great impact on emotional perception.
In this sense, there is evidence of the relationship between Emotional Intelligence and the SI perceived by the person themselves and by their peers, said Sensitivity being one of the ways by which Emotional Intelligence helps people interact with others effectively
Interpersonal Sensitivity and Empathy
Although at a theoretical level the concepts of Emotional Empathy and SI are related, their main difference is that theyn empathy requires a certain degree of concern (emotional reverberation) for the other person’s state ; In addition to understanding their point of view, it is a cognitive and emotional reactivity, while SI refers to the ability to read other people’s non-verbal signals and make correct judgments about abilities, characteristics and states.
So that, Being empathetic includes the ability to be interpersonally sensitive However, being interpersonally sensitive does not necessarily entail being empathetic.
How does Interpersonal Sensitivity affect us?
Sometimes conceptualized as a skill, it is central to proper social functioning. A clear example of this is that those children with higher SI are valued better by their peers at school, at the same time that having a highly sensitive teacher leads to an improvement in children’s learning levels (Bernieri, 1991), as well as leading to less social anxiety and better academic self-concept in preadolescents. Furthermore, low levels of Sensitivity are associated with worse personal and social adjustment in children.
According to Hoyle and Crenshaw, taking as reference the NPBEA (The National Policy Board for Educational Administration), in the context of education, having SI allows the person to perceive the needs and concerns of other people, negotiate tactfully with others, work with others in emotionally stressful situations or conflicts, manage conflicts, obtain adequate feedback, recognize multicultural differences and relate to people who have different backgrounds.
Also in the clinical population we found a relationship between social interaction difficulties and psychological adjustment with Interpersonal Sensitivity Specifically, certain psychopathologies such as major depression or schizophrenia are associated with problems in reading non-verbal signals in both children and adults.
Furthermore, Davis and Kraus found an association of high levels of SI with lower cognitive rigidity, higher internal locus of control, higher positive psychological adjustment, higher emotional empathy, higher levels of social intelligence, higher interpersonal trust, better relationships, and higher self-control.
So that, Those subjects with high Sensitivity have more positive interpersonal relationships being perceived as more available if their presence or help is necessary, that is, they are considered to have better social support.
For their part, Hall, Andrzejewski, and Yopchick saw a positive association of SI with seven positive personality characteristics: empathy, affiliation, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, tolerance, and internal locus of control.
Likewise, this variable was positively related to a series of social competencies, among which socioemotional competency and the quality of relationships stand out. On the other hand, they verified how SI is inversely related to some personality traits such as shyness or depression
It also allows for better functioning at the work and leadership level, in addition to influencing the high satisfaction of team members and their performance (Schmid Mast, Jonas, Cronauer and Darioly, 2012).
As can be seen, SI is related to a series of psychosocial variables, social competencies and other indicators of positive adjustment that lead to greater health and prevention of various psychological, social and physical problems.
Author: Borja Luque, General Health Psychologist and Sexologist at Vitaliza Health Psychology.
