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Aesthetics

5 benefits of being ‘too’ sensitive

in Work Psychology by

On the TV show Masterchef contestants sample from a large pot filled with a wide range of spices and other ingredients. One by one the contestants guess ingredients ranging from salt to squid ink and are eliminated when they make an error.

The real challenge boils down to whether they are sensitive. That is, can their senses decipher these wicked combinations of ingredients?

Sensitivity is generally associated with being too emotional. People who are too sensitive may constantly burst into tears, ‘crack’ under pressure or simply be touchy.

However, it all depends on what triggers your sensitivity. If you are sensitive to rewards and accomplishments, you may be easily aroused and experience bursts of excitement and enthusiasm.

And if you are sensitive to negative consequences, you may be quick to become anxious and worried.

Then there is sensitivity to aesthetics. This sensitivity relates to whether we are attuned to the subtleties in our environment, such as the comfort of a chair or the design of a room.

You can read more about ‘trait sensitivity’ here.

 

 

Five benefits of being sensitive

If you can weather the roller coaster of emotions, there are also benefits in being sensitive:

1. You can be more attuned to the underlying needs of others. This can help you in negotiations or in influencing others.

2. You may be better at designing effective solutions because you are more sensitive to the existing limitations.

3. You can have a greater appreciation for and enjoyment of the arts and entertainment.

4. The emotions of others feel contagious, which may help with bonding and in building relationships.

5. You can be more sensitive to your own quirks, making you more aware when you are unhappy and need to make a change. For example, you may have not really bought into the angle of this blog and will quickly switch back to your work. Log your emotion below to let me know. Don’t worry, I’ll try not to be too sensitive to your feedback.

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Aesthetics is more than just window dressing (except when you’re working on windows)

in Work Psychology by

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Steve Jobs knew instinctively that consumers would want to select their own typefaces or fonts. People don’t just want to read and deliver content. They also want it to look good too.

Since the early days of the Apple Macs, we now have more and more options on how to format and improve the attractiveness of our documents and presentations.Finally there’s research that validates all that tinkering around with fonts, borders, styles, layouts, headers, footers and clip art.

 

This research shows that working on these aesthetics—that is, the beauty and attractiveness of things—is one of the easiest ways to lower resistance to new ideas.To understand why this is let’s look at one of the main reasons why people resist change: well-ingrained behaviours, beliefs and values.

When the change appears to challenge who we are and what we believe, we react and can dismiss the ideas even if they sensible.

What appears to lower this resistance is getting people to actively think or talk about their personal values or what seems to interest them—called self-affirmation. Self-affirmation appears to anchor and solidify our sense of self so that we don’t feel as threatened when a change is proposed.

A universal value relates to aesthetics. In general, we all value beauty and attractiveness, even if it’s just on an unconscious level. So, by exposing individuals to something which is more aesthetic is a way of reaffirming one of their core values.

For example, in one study individuals were shown a university guidebook which described and showed the campus. One group of participants were exposed to an aesthetically pleasing campus. Another group looked at a campus with a focus on functionality and efficiency.

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Aesthetically pleasing

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Not aesthetically pleasing

After reviewing the guidebook, participants were presented with options that were either advocated by the researcher or not.Participants exposed to the aesthetically pleasing campus were more inclined to endorse the advocated option. In other words, they were more easily influenced after viewing the aesthetically pleasing material.

In a related study, the researchers found that being shown these aesthetically pleasing products led to increased openness. Participants stated they were more likely engage in certain behaviours like attending a service of a religion they did not practise.

So, spending that little bit of extra time working on the look and feel of a solution isn’t just for your own satisfaction. It could actually make the the difference in persuading someone to your cause.

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