Figure 15.4: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences In this figure, Individual A (the orchid child) possesses the “high sensitivity” trait and is thus more adversely affected by negative influences (the left side of the figure) but also more positively affected by positive influences (the right side of the figure). Individual B (the dandelion child) is less susceptible to environmental influences, so his or her psychological functioning is less affected by both positive and negative events. In actuality, one would not expect people with low susceptibility to environmental influences to be immune from either positive or negative events, but rather to be less affected by them than highly sensitive individuals,
(Adapted from Pluess & Belsky, 2012b.)
(Adapted from Pluess & Belsky, 2012b.)