An investigation of increased specificity of reinforcement sensitivity

Reinforcement sensitivity is generally divided into two main subtypes; a sensitivity to reward and a sensitivity to punishment. These individual differences have been shown to be related to a variety of mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, addiction, autism, and ADHD. However, it has recently been argued that reinforcement sensitivity should be split into multiple subtypes based on primary drives rather than conceptualized as broad categories. When reinforcement sensitivity was proposed by Jeffrey Gray, he envisioned it as related to extraversion. The current study uses this assumption to assess whether a general reward sensitivity is as related to extraversion as both food reward sensitivity and social reward sensitivity. It is accomplished by developing a new social reward sensitivity questionnaire with Item Response Theory using a demographically representative sample. General reward sensitivity is measured by the BIS/BAS scale, food reward sensitivity with the Power of Food scale, and social reward sensitivity with the developed social reward sensitivity questionnaire. It is expected that social reward sensitivity will be more related to extraversion than food reward sensitivity and general reward sensitivity. Increased specificity of reinforcement sensitivity might further increase the predictive value of reinforcement sensitivity and could potentially show new areas for treatment.