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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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Too optimistic about the power of optimism?

in Work Psychology by

Picture

“We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan*Think about your last job interview. No doubt you wanted to project a positive image. I’m sure you didn’t highlight your shortcomings. Like the time you doubted a decision you had made or the time you fretted over a trivial issue.

And, of course, you were being deliberately positive, telling yourself that all those challenges of the new job are easily overcome with a bit of elbow grease and clever ideas.I’ve been on the other end as an interviewer. In one interview, the young man projected an air of optimism, referring to the excitement and opportunities he would find in a government job. When we asked him why, he said, ‘I don’t know. That’s what my mum said.’

Immediately, the aura of optimism faded.

Research shows that even when the playing field is even, we are biased towards thinking optimistic people will attain more success than those who are pessimistic.

The researchers also showed that optimistic people performed no better on several tasks compared to their pessimistic counterparts. Nevertheless, participants who observed these activities consistently thought the optimistic groups would overcome the odds and succeed.

In other words, those who were observing the tasks were overly optimistic about the benefits of optimism.

Perhaps this is why most people tend to be overly optimistic about their future, a phenomenon called the optimism bias. This bias leads us to believe that we are less susceptible to disease and illness and other unfortunate events.

It’s a particular mindset that makes people less open to changing counter-productive behaviours, which has plagued efforts to improve health and safety. This is one of the reasons why health and safety campaigns have become more extreme and even grotesque.

Of course, you may be thinking, ‘This is all interesting for all those deluded and non-rational people but it doesn’t really apply to me.’

You might think this but there’s another surprise behind door number three: Black Spot Bias. It sounds like some rare and nasty disease but it is simply the condition where we assume that we are not susceptible to the same biases as others.

Unfortunately, you may not believe this either. After all, you may have a black spot for the Black Spot Bias. Either that or you may just be too optimistic.

*Poem by John O’Brien, Said Hanrahan, which deals with pessimism in an amusing fashion.

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