A Study On The Structure, Characteristics And Related Factors Of The Middle School Students’ Interpersonal Sensitivity

Interpersonal sensitivity is a personality that’s too sensitive to others’behaviors, recognition and feeling. People with high interpersonal sensitivity often keep vigilance and suspicion to others’responses, are too sensitive and worrying to the perceived or actual critism and rejection from others, lack confidence, feel uncomfortable, and have strong separation anxiety and need for approval. The interpersonal sensitivity measure (IPSM) has been widely used to assess interpersonal sensitivity, to study the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and parenting styles, depression, anxiety and so on.On the basis of a great deal of literature, we mainly studied the structure of interpersonal sensitivity, the development characteristics of interpersonal sensitivity (n=2107), the relationship between parenting styles and interpersonal sensitivity (n=2070), the relationship and mechanisms between interpersonal sensitivity and explicit aggression (n=2107), the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and implicit aggression (n=160), in the middle school students. By analyzing the results of the research, the general conclusions were as follows.(1) The interpersonal sensitivity of middle school students is consisted of seven sub-factors, that is, fragility, need for approval, vigilance, separation anxiety, inferiority, suspicion and introversion. The interpersonal sensitivity questionnaire for middle school students (IPSQ-MSS) appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for its assessment in interpersonal sensitivity of middle school students.(2) On the whole, the level of interpersonal sensitivity was low in the middle school students, and there was no significant difference on the level of interpersonal sensitivity between students from single-child families and students from multiple-child families. Girls’interpersonal sensitivity was higher than boys’. The level of interpersonal sensitivity became lower as the students grew up. The quality of parent-child relationship and parents’relationship could affect the level of students’interpersonal sensitivity.(3) Over protection and rejection from parents were significantly associated with interpersonal sensitivity of the middle school students. Over protection from parents and rejection from mother could positively predict middle school students’ interpersonal sensitivity. Besides, the relationship between parenting styles and students’ interpersonal sensitivity might change in different genders and families (single-child families or multiple-child families.(4) Interpersonal sensitivity was correlated positively with explicit aggression in the middle school students. Compared with the students lower interpersonal sensitivity, the students with higher interpersonal sensitivity had a higher level of explicit aggression. Interpersonal sensitivity could positively predict explicit aggression in the middle school students.(5) Managing self-relevant emotions and perceived social support partially mediated the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and explicit aggression in the middle school students. However, the mediation effect of emotional intelligence between interpersonal sensitivity and explicit aggression was not significant in the middle school students.(6) There was no significant association between interpersonal sensitivity and implicit aggression in the middle school students. There was no gender difference in implicit aggression in the students with higher interpersonal sensitivity. The research also supported the view that implicit aggression and explicit aggression belonged to different systems in the students with higher interpersonal sensitivity.