Are you a seeker? Our sensory profile: Who we really are

How we react to smells and sounds all but defines us

You think you know who you are, but do you really? You know you are Type A, aggressive, demanding, sometimes on the edge of exploding. You know you are an Aries, alive with creative ideas you just must express.

But can you say definitively that you're a sensory seeker or avoider? A bystander or sensor? Do you even know?If not, maybe you should. They address what may be defining characteristics of people, and knowing them and how they work together, or clash, can make your personal and professional life a lot easier.

Seeker, avoider, bystander and sensor are terms that have emerged from the study of sensory experiences: how people relate to sounds, such as rock music, and tastes, such as the sourness of lemonade, and touch, the feel, for example, of silk between the fingers. Turns out, people have all sorts of reactions to sensory experience, sometimes relishing it but not always. Some sensory experience can be a huge turnoff for some people, such as the clash of cymbals or the sound of chalk on a blackboard.How people react to sensory experience often dictates how they behave, what they like and dislike and, most important, who they'll get along well with.All this comes out in a new book, “Living Sensationally,” by Winnie Dunn, a professor and chair of the department of occupational therapy education at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

"I think that the reason that it is important to understand these reactions is that every single human relies on sensory information to guide decisions every day,” says Dunn. “If we can understand the reactions, it can help us to become more accepting of each other.”
Each day life pummels us with sensory experiences from the moment our alarm clock starts the day, says Dunn, but people's reactions to that experience vary wildly.

For instance, one person might love the feeling of walking on a beach, while another might find the grittiness of the sand stressful. One person might love loud concerts while such events may unsettle another. Some people are fussy eaters, while others need the buzz of new flavors.
How folks react to those experiences puts them in one of four groups: seekers, bystanders, avoiders and sensors. Dunn's books aims to help readers figure which group they belong to and how that can make life more fulfilling.Seekers love sensation. They want spicier food, louder music. Bystanders are less sensitive to sensor experience. They need a bigger input of sensory information before they notice things. Being a bit oblivious, they tend to be easy going and not much bothered about structure and scheduling.

Avoiders, as the term suggests, make their lives manageable by avoiding unnecessary sensory experiences. They choose orderly, scheduled lives. They’ll keep the curtains drawn in the day, leave a room if it gets crowded, and eat a limited range of foods.

Sensors are also highly sensitive to everything but have clear ideas about how to handle their reactions. They have adjusted well to their sensory experiences, understanding their reactions to certain experiences and building their lives around them.

But of course these are broad categories, and Dunn cautions that a person may fall into different categories for different senses. Sensory profiling may show they are a seeker for one sense, yet an avoider for another.

Dunn believes that understanding your own sensory responses and those of your spouse, co-workers and children, can help ease the path through life.

That’s because once identified, the behavior patterns are easy to spot, allowing people to find ways to find solutions to flash points in relationships. Says Dunn: “It is not abstract and obscure. We can see it in our husband and our kids and if we understand it, it turns these reactions from irritating into charming.”