HSP som kulturell kompensation : Känslighetens språk och konsekvenser – en diskursanalys av psykologisk praktik och samtida kultur

Sammanfattning

This thesis explores the cultural and psychological discourses surrounding the concept of the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). Through a discourse analytical approach grounded in the the-ories of Laclau and Mouffe as well as Michel Foucault. The study examines how emotional sensitivity is articulated, legitimized and positioned within contemporary Swedish psychology and public culture. The empirical material consists of qualitative interviews with licensed psy-chologists, supplemented by texts and public commentary authored by the same professionals. The analysis reveals how HSP functions as a nodal point that structures meaning around emo-tional experience, vulnerability, and identity. Furthermore, the study discusses how notions of trauma, neurodivergence, and giftedness converge within the HSP discourse, creating both validation and limitations for those who identify with the term. A key finding is that while the HSP concept can offer relief and recog-nition, it may also contribute to fixed self-understandings and hinder emotional self-regula-tion when treated as an essential personality trait. The study highlights how culturally dominant narratives around sensitivity risk replacing relational dialogue with self-referential identification. The thesis contributes to ethnological research on emotional cultures by problematising how diagnostic language shapes self-under-standing, while also calling attention to the affective consequences of categorising sensitivity as a trait rather than a process. Suggestions for further research include the role of gender in sensitivity discourse and the potential of culturally embedded forms of validation.