Abstract
Background: Children differ significantly in their emotion recognition, which represents
an important component of social competence. According to theory and initial empirical studies
in adults, individual differences in the trait of environmental sensitivity have been associated
with emotion recognition, but this has not been studied in highly sensitive children yet. Highly
sensitive children are generally understood to perceive and process environmental stimuli,
including social ones, more easily and deeply than other children. We hypothesised that highly
sensitive children would perform better in an objective emotion recognition task and be rated as
more socially competent compared to low sensitive children. Methods: Ninety-seven 7–9-yearold UK primary school children (47% girls) completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test’s
child version (RMET-C) on a computer one-on-one with a researcher during school hours on
school premises. Teachers rated children’s sensitivity using the Highly Sensitive Child in School
scale and also reported on children’s social competence. Children completed the Highly
Sensitive Child scale. The data was collected in 2022. Results: Teacher-reported sensitivity
emerged as a significant predictor of RMET-C and social competence, while child-reported
sensitivity was not associated with emotion recognition. Teacher-reported overstimulation of
children was negatively associated with social competence. Conclusions: This study is the first
to report links between children’s environmental sensitivity, emotion recognition skills, and
social competence. Findings are consistent with theories on environmental sensitivity and
highlight the potential benefits of high sensitivity but will need to be replicated in more
ethnically diverse samples.