The University of Tokyo · Psychology
Professor Shuhei Iimura's research lab specializes in adolescent developmental psychology, with a focus on individual differences in susceptibility to environmental influences. The lab investigates how traits such as sensory-processing sensitivity and the Big Five personality dimensions interact with life transitions—particularly the high school transition—to shape socioemotional well-being. Using longitudinal and experience sampling methods, the lab explores mechanisms underlying differential adaptation, emphasizing the role of resilience, environmental sensitivity, and personality in adolescent development. Their work contributes to the understanding of vantage and vulnerability sensitivity, advancing person–environment interaction theories in youth development.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Prior work has indicated that female adolescents mature more quickly than males with regard to the various personality dimensions. From the developmental perspectives, this study aimed to explore gender differences in the relationships between resilience and the Big Five personality traits in Japanese adolescents. Middle school students ( N = 310, 155 females, age range = 14-15 years) participated in an online survey. The results demonstrated that females had higher Conscientiousness than males.
Some researchers indicate that the transition to high school deflects adolescent developmental trajectories. Others assert that it provides a new possibility for the promotion of adolescents' socioemotional well-being. One critical view missing in such claims is that individual variabilities interact with environmental influences. We employed the framework of Differential Susceptibility Theory, which postulates that individual susceptibilities moderate external influences for better and for wors
Recent research into Person × Environment interaction has supported the view that sensitivity to environmental influences is a susceptibility factor rather than a vulnerability factor. Given this perspective, this study examined the role of the adolescent's sensory-processing sensitivity in the context of weekly life events and weekly socioemotional well-being. In the study, 114 adolescents repeatedly self-reported their sensitivity, recent life events, and recent socioemotional well-being in fo
<i>Environmental Sensitivity</i>, which explains individual differences in the tendency to respond more to both positive and negative environmental influences, can be measured by the self-reported Highly Sensitive Person scale. This paper introduced psychometric properties of a brief Japanese version of a 10-item measure of sensitivity (HSP-J10) developed by four studies involving 2,388 adults. The results showed that (1) the newly created HSP-J10 supported the bifactor structure (i.e., Ease of
Our findings suggest that high sensory processing sensitivity is associated with physical health. Some of the potential causes of this are also discussed.
Although the transition from junior high or middle school to high school can be a stressful turning point for youth socio-emotional development, the role of individual differences in susceptibility to the transition in adolescents' socio-emotional well-being remains unclear. The current study examined the developmental relation between how central the high school transition is to a student's identity or life course (i.e., event centrality) and socio-emotional well-being after transition. High sc
Environmental Sensitivity, which explains individual differences in the tendency to respond more to both positive and negative environmental influences, can be measured by the self-reported Highly Sensitive Person scale. This paper introduced psychometric properties of a brief Japanese version of a 10-item measure of sensitivity (HSP-J10) developed by four studies involving 2,388 adults. The results showed that (1) the newly created HSP-J10 supported the bifactor structure (i.e., Ease of Excitat
高校受験は, 多くの中学生にとってストレスフルな出来事である一方で, 生徒に心理的な成長をもたらす可能性もある。本研究では, パーソナリティ特性と知覚されたサポートが高校受験を通じたストレス関連成長に及ぼす影響を検討する。対象者は中学3年生（男子96名, 女子87名）であり, パーソナリティ特性, 知覚されたサポート, およびストレス関連成長で構成される尺度に回答した。階層的重回帰分析の結果, パーソナリティ特性と知覚されたサポートは, ストレス関連成長の全分散の30-50％程度を説明した。男子では, パーソナリティ特性と知覚されたサポートの交互作用がストレス関連成長と関連を示し, 女子では, パーソナリティ特性と知覚されたサポートの主効果のみが確認された。以上の検討から, パーソナリティ特性と知覚されたサポートの効果は, 生徒の性別や両要因の組み合わせによって異なることが示唆された。
Some researchers indicate that the transition to high school deflects adolescent developmental trajectories. Others assert it provides a new possibility for the promotion of adolescents’ socioemotional well-being. One critical view missing in such claims is that individual variabilities interact with environmental influences. We employed the framework of Differential Susceptibility Theory, which postulates that individual susceptibilities moderate external influences for better and for worse. In
Our study indicates that high environmental sensitivity can be a risk factor for inflammation and gut permeability, when the gut microbiota diversity is low, suggesting a brain-gut-microbiota axis interaction.
Based on the Differential Susceptibility Theory, we examined whether the relationship between pubertal maturation and depressive symptoms can be moderated by individual differences in environmental sensitivity. The current article used the three-wave data collected from Japanese adolescents aged from 12 to 15 years (girls = 111, boys = 98). Consequently, a significant Sensitivity × Pubertal Development interaction was observed in 12- to 13-year-old boys, but not girls. Sensitive boys who experie
Environmental sensitivity is a meta-concept that describes individual differences in susceptibility to both positive and negative environmental influences and has been repeatedly reported to correlate with other established personality traits, including the Big Five. The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between the general factor of environmental sensitivity (GFS) and the general factor of personality (GFP). A total of 1,046 adult participants (52% female; <i>M</i><sub>age </
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