Polyvagal Theory, developed by Stephen Porges, provides a neuroscience framework that explains many aspects of people-pleasing in terms of the nervous system's safety-detection mechanisms.
The Three States of Polyvagal Theory and People-Pleasing
Ventral vagal (safe and social): Optimal state for connection, learning, and people-pleasing management
Sympathetic mobilization (fight or flight): Anxiety-type people-pleasing responses
Dorsal vagal shutdown (freeze/collapse): Depression and dissociation-type people-pleasing
Neuroception and People-Pleasing
Neuroception — the body's unconscious safety-detection — can be dysregulated in people-pleasing, causing false alarms (sensing danger when safe) that drive people-pleasing responses.
Polyvagal-Informed People-Pleasing Treatment
Therapy that acknowledges the body's state — helping clients move into ventral vagal 'safe and social' — transforms people-pleasing management.
Safe relationships, co-regulation, and body-based practices are particularly emphasized.