Reward sensitivity
Also known as: BAS sensitivity, Reward responsiveness
How strongly cues of reward energize a person's pursuit and approach.
What it means
Reward sensitivity is the individual difference in how strongly a person detects, responds to, and is motivated by cues signaling reward. In Gray's reinforcement sensitivity theory it reflects the behavioral approach system (BAS), a neurobehavioral system — tied to dopaminergic reward circuitry including the ventral striatum — that drives approach, appetitive motivation, and positive anticipation. High reward sensitivity is associated with extraversion, impulsivity, and sensation seeking, and with greater susceptibility to addiction, overeating, and risk-taking when paired with weak inhibition. Its counterpart is punishment sensitivity (the behavioral inhibition system), linked to anxiety and avoidance. It matters because reward sensitivity helps explain who is most responsive to incentives, most prone to appetitive disorders, and most influenced by reward-based nudges and gamification.
Examples
Highly reward-sensitive shoppers are pulled hard by 'limited-time bonus' offers that barely register for someone with low reward responsiveness.
Two colleagues get the identical commission scheme: one starts working weekends chasing the bonus, the other barely notices it is there and works exactly as before.
A game's loot boxes hold one player for hours chasing the next drop while a friend shrugs and logs off, the same flashing reward cue landing completely differently.
First described in Jeffrey Gray, reinforcement sensitivity theory (1970s–1990s); Carver & White BIS/BAS (1994).