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Chapter 3 - Individual Differences in Response to the Environment

From Diathesis-Stress to Differential Susceptibility and Vantage Sensitivity

from Part I - Historical Background and Theoretical Foundations of Jay Belsky’s Work in Evolutionary Developmental Psychology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2025

By
Michael Pluess
Edited by
Satoshi Kanazawa
Satoshi Kanazawa
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
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Summary

The notion that individuals differ in their response to environmental influences has become an important concept in the field of psychology. Since Belsky’s first proposition – based on evolutionary considerations – that individuals might vary in their susceptibility to their rearing environment, similar theories emerged and the last thirty years have seen a steady increase of empirical work confirming differential susceptibility. In this chapter, I am reviewing the development of Belsky’s differential susceptibility hypothesis including consideration of early precursors of individual differences in environmental sensitivity, and the development and contribution of diathesis-stress as well as vantage sensitivity. After summarising the current state of knowledge, several outstanding questions are discussed. This chapter concludes that Belsky’s notion of differential susceptibility has led to a paradigm shift in the field of developmental psychology and represents an example of how application of evolutionary theory can innovate and advance knowledge in psychology.

Keywords

Diathesis-stressdifferential susceptibilityvantage sensitivityenvironmental sensitivity

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Genes, Environments, and Differential Susceptibility
Current Topics in Evolutionary Developmental Psychology
 , pp. 58 - 80
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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