Elaine N. Aron is an American clinical research psychologist and author. Aron has published numerous books and scholarly articles about inherited temperament and interpersonal relationships, especially on the subject of

sensory processing sensitivity Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is a temperamental or personality trait involving "an increased sensitivity of the central nervous system and a deeper cognitive processing of physical, social and emotional stimuli". The trait is characteri ...

, beginning with ''The Highly Sensitive Person'' (1996), which has sold over a million copies.

Education

20190807 SPS block diagram from Greven et al 2019

Aron graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and later earned a Master of Arts in

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...

from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

(Toronto) and a Ph.D. in clinical depth psychology at

Pacifica Graduate Institute Pacifica Graduate Institute is a private for-profit graduate school with two campuses near Santa Barbara, California. The institute offers masters and doctoral degrees in the fields of clinical psychology, counseling, mythological studies, dep ...

(Santa Barbara, California). She interned at the C. G. Jung Institute in San Francisco.

Professional practice and personal life

Aron maintains a psychotherapy practice in

Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

. Aron is married to SUNY-Stony Brook psychology professor

Arthur Aron Arthur Aron (born July 2, 1945) is a professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is best known for his work on intimacy in interpersonal relationships, and development of the self-expansion model of motivation i ...

, with whom she collaborates in studies of the interaction of childhood environment with

SPS SPS may refer to: Law and government * Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the WTO * NATO Science for Peace and Security * Single Payment Scheme, an EU agricultural subsidy * The Standard Procurement System, fo ...

in predicting adult functioning. In nearly 50 years of studying love, the couple developed a 36-question list, since used in hundreds of studies, to create closeness in a lab setting, to break down barriers between strangers, and improve understanding between police officers and community members. Aron's son is television writer Elijah Aron.

Published works

Books

* ''The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You'' (1996) * ''The Highly Sensitive Person's Workbook'' (1999) * ''The Highly Sensitive Person in Love: Understanding and Managing Relationships When the World Overwhelms You'' (2001) * ''The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them'' (2002) * ''The Undervalued Self: Restore Your Love/Power Balance, Transform the Inner Voice That Holds You Back, and Find Your True Self-Worth'' (2010) * ''Psychotherapy and the Highly Sensitive Person: Improving Outcomes for That Minority of People Who Are the Majority of Clients'' (2010) * ''The Highly Sensitive Parent: Be Brilliant in Your Role, Even When the World Overwhelms You'' (2020)

Scholarly journal articles

* * Note 3 (p. 195) cites Chen ''et al.'' (1992) re social and cultural unacceptability adding to environmental stressors. * Aron, Elaine N., Ph.D., (July 21, 2011
"Understanding the Highly Sensitivity Person: Sensitive, Introverted, or Both? , Extraverted HSPs face unique challenges"
() ''

Psychology Today ''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. It began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The ''Psychology Today'' website features therapy and health professionals direct ...

''. * * *

Magazine articles

References

External links

The Highly Sensitive Person: An Interview with Elaine Aron
Uploaded February 1, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Aron, Elaine Living people York University alumni American women psychologists 21st-century American psychologists University of California, Berkeley alumni 1944 births 21st-century American women 20th-century American psychologists