Social Hypersensitivity, Self-Esteem, and Negative Interpretation Bias for Ambiguous Events

Social hypersensitivity (sociotropy) has been proposed as a personality vulnerability for depression (Beck, 1983). Multiple regression analyses across three research studies found that social hypersensitivity predicted negative interpretations of ambiguous statements. In addition, social hypersensitivity and the occurrence of ambiguous events in everyday life predicted state self-esteem.