How to Develop Social Sensitivity

What Is Social Sensitivity?

Social sensitivity is a psychological term for the ability to see and understand how others are feeling based on their actions, body language and other subtle cues. Everyone has this ability to some extent. It comes more naturally to some than others, but it is a skill that you can develop.

In this article, you’ll learn exactly what social sensitivity means, why it matters, how to assess your own social sensitivity and develop it further.

Social-Affective Sensitivity

Taking that emotional understanding and using it to inform your own behavior is known as “social-affective sensitivity.” This is how you transform your understanding into beneficial actions, like expressing empathy, asking helpful questions or offering support.

Social-affective sensitivity involves three elements:

• Recognition: identifying emotions through facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and other non-verbal cues.
• Interpretation: understanding what emotional signals mean and why someone might be feeling a certain way. This involves putting yourself in their position and considering their context.
• Response: reacting appropriately. This could mean offering support, showing empathy, or adjusting your own behavior.

Social-affective sensitivity is the link between empathy and social skills, which contribute to strong Emotional Intelligence.

Why Does Social Sensitivity Matter?

High social sensitivity is a skill that allows you to empathize with others, recognize and interpret social dynamics and better navigate social complexities.

As a manager, there are plenty of specific benefits to developing your social sensitivity, including:

• Improved communication: socially sensitive managers can better understand their team members' perspectives and emotions, which can result in clearer and more effective communication.
• Increased levels of trust and engagement: demonstrating social sensitivity helps to build strong, trusting relationships with your team members. When they feel understood and valued, they’re more likely to be engaged and motivated.
• Improved team dynamics: recognizing and addressing your team members’ emotional needs can foster a positive work environment. This can reduce conflict and boost collaboration within your team.
• Improved wellbeing: showing empathy and support can significantly impact people’s mental and emotional wellbeing. This, in turn, can reduce stress and burnout, leading to higher productivity and job satisfaction.
• Enhanced problem solving: socially sensitive managers are better equipped to handle interpersonal issues and conflicts. By understanding underlying emotions and motivations, you can resolve problems more effectively.

Examples of Social Sensitivity

Scenario 1

You take part in an online meeting with a team member whose demeanor you recognize as uncharacteristically combative when you ask them some questions about the data they've just presented.

You’re empathic enough to interpret this as defensive behavior, and consider why they might feel under threat. You remember that they recently struggled to meet a deadline and that they have a sick child at home.

You consider how that combination of circumstances could leave them feeling tired, stressed and insecure, so you respond by asking how their child is doing, letting them know you understand their situation.

You ask whether their current workload is manageable. You also offer them a more flexible schedule while their child recovers.

In doing this, you’ve reduced the stress on your team member, let them know that you care about them as a person and offered practical support. Your empathic reaction will help to foster a trusting relationship between you, meaning they’re more likely to open up to you in future when they’re struggling.

Scenario 2

You bring your team together for an in-person teambuilding event. You recognize that two team members who usually get on well are actively avoiding one another. And this is starting to cast a shadow over the fun day that was planned.

You know the pair have recently worked together on a demanding project and interpret that this has caused some conflict between them.

A socially sensitive response would be to privately ask about the cause, listen to both sides and mediate a solution that helps the two overcome their differences. This requires you to understand both people involved and to help them see each other’s perspectives.

Social sensitivity can not only defuse difficult situations, it also builds trust and creates relationships that prevent them from happening in future.

How Can I Assess My Social Sensitivity?

Understanding your current, innate level of social sensitivity is a strong starting point for developing it further. There are a number of ways to do this.

Self-Assessment

You can take the social sensitivity assessment as part of the Mind Tools guided Skill Bite course, Developing Your Social Sensitivity. Access the Skill Bites catalog here.

Self-Reflection

Keep a journal where you record and reflect on situations where you had to navigate situations using your social sensitivity. What worked well? What were the outcomes? What did you find easy, and what was difficult? You could also ask trusted friends or family for their input.

One-on-One Feedback

During individual meetings with team members, you could ask open-ended questions such as:

• How do you feel about our communications?
• To what extent do you feel heard and understood?
• How comfortable do you feel coming to me with problems?
• What could I do to help support you?

Anonymous Feedback

You might find you get more honest feedback if team members can be anonymous. This can be tricky in smaller teams, where individual responses could identify them, but it might still be worth trying. You could ask a peer to manage the survey if that helps to maintain anonymity.

Or, you could ask for specific questions to be added to a 360-degree feedback survey. Questions might include:

• How well does your manager recognize and respond to your emotions?
• Do you feel comfortable expressing your thoughts and feelings to your manager?
• Can you provide an example of a time when your manager showed empathy?
• Do you feel psychologically safe in the team environment?

How Can I Improve My Social Sensitivity?

Once you understand your current level of social sensitivity, you can focus on improving it.

Watch the video interview with emotional intelligence expert, Phil Wilcox, on the subject then read our tips below.

Make a conscious effort to look out for these behaviors from others:

• Observe body language cues, facial expressions and tone of voice.
• Listen to the emotions behind what team members say, not just their words.
• Notice any sudden changes, like withdrawal, irritability or decreased productivity.
• Observe how team members interact with each other. Look for signs of positive engagement or, conversely, tension and conflict.
• Take note of feedback and complaints – they can indicate underlying emotional issues or team dynamics that need addressing.

Try to foster and demonstrate these behaviors yourself:

• Show that you're actively listening during conversations by maintaining eye contact (if you feel comfortable doing this), nodding and reflecting back what you hear.
• Acknowledge and accept your team members’ emotions.
• Create a safe environment where team members feel comfortable expressing their feelings and concerns.
• Offer support and assistance when team members are experiencing difficulties.
• Recognize and celebrate the successes and efforts of your team members.
• Address conflicts promptly and fairly, in a way that respects everyone's emotions and perspectives.
• Be consistent in your actions and responses.
• Reflect on your own emotions and how they affect your interactions.

To improve, you could also ask a peer or superior who you recognize to be socially sensitive to mentor you, or look for formal professional development opportunities, like workshops and training sessions on emotional intelligence.

Let's Act

Commit to reflecting on, and writing down your observations, thoughts and feelings about the interactions you have with others over the course of the next week. These could include in-person or virtual meetings with your team, one-on-ones, management meetings and interactions with clients or other stakeholders.

Ask yourself:

• What did I find easy, difficult or surprising about these situations?
• Which suggestions and approaches from this article was I able to bring to each, and what impact did they have?
• How could I use this knowledge to improve my social sensitivity in future?