Perfectionism

Gifted children strive for excellence, precision and exactness, and have a strong will to minimise errors. This can cause much anxiety and worry and may therefore be termed “bad or misguided perfectionism.” In light of this it is important that parents and teachers do not invoke unrealistic expectations. Failure to reach their expectations will have a severely negative effect, causing excessive self-criticism and self-doubt.

Sense of Humour

Gifted individuals typically have an alternative sense of humour. They generally are amused by the perceived distinctions they see between then ordinary and everyday, and their philosophical outlook on life. They laugh at things that don’t amuse the majority. They are also willing to laugh at themselves, an attribute not applicable to most people.

Consistency

Gifted people endeavour to maintain constancy between what they believe in and their actions. It relates to their heightened moral concern.

Introversion

There is a long association between intelligence and introversion, which implies that greater intelligence, indicates greater introversion. This has been a wild and unfounded assumption made of gifted individuals, the source of which can be easily understood. Gifted children tend to experience difficulties finding individuals who share similar interests in their peer group. The child may as a result display introvert behaviours, when they cannot connect with another. The authors argue that it is only really possible to accurately determine introversion by watching the person in the company of similarly gifted individuals.

That said not all gifted individuals display introverted characteristics when with their peer group, and many who are extroverted and gifted happily sit in the society around them. Those who exhibit introverted behaviours can find it tough socialising within their peer group. These individuals find it hard to open up emotionally and their tendency to think and then act, (distinct from the normal behaviour of act and then think) can cause them to feel insecure and vulnerable.

Over-Excitability

The Polish psychologist Dabrowski studied individuals who were artistically, intellectually and creatively gifted, and he concluded that intensity was a predominant feature of their psychological make-up. He found that gifted individuals have a heightened response to stimuli, or what he terms, over-excitability. Not all gifted individuals exhibit all five responses, but usually in varying degrees. He proposed five mental actions where gifted individuals display this intensity or over-excitability:

1. Psychomotor

Physical activity and movement tends to be quite energetic – fast talking, hand gesturing when speaking, pacing, and sometimes nervous tics.

2. Sensual

Sensitive to sensual experiences, enthusiasm for sensory experiences; to touch, smell, taste and oftentimes a keen aesthetic awareness. Highly responsive to negative sensory inputs, such as loud noises, bright lights, harsh sound etc. Tolan (1999) gives some examples;
“the ‘cut the label out of my shirt’ demand, the child who limps as if with a broken leg when a sock seam is twisted…a baby who cries when the wind blows in his face… a toddler who cries at the feel of grass on bare legs and feet…a child who is awed to breathlessness at the sight of a beautiful sunset.”

3. Imaginational

Children who are strong visual thinkers. Those who like to use allegories in their speech. Children who daydream, who remember their dreams and sometimes react strongly to them, children believe in magic (those who take a long time to grow out of Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, etc.).

4. Intellectual

This is what is typically thought of as giftedness. Children who love brain teasers, who love to analyse and question, to reason and work things out. Children who love learning new things and delight in abstractions.

5. Emotional

Gifted individuals experience heightened emotional responses – extreme sadness when upset, elation when they are happy, fuming when they are angry. They require strong relationships with other people or animals. If they are unable to find friends, they will fill this void by inventing imaginary friends or cope with stuffed animals etc. They are naturally empathetic and compassionate. “A child who needs a committed relationship will think herself betrayed by a child who plays with one child today and another tomorrow and refers to both as friends” (Tolan, 1999). This reaction can make gifted individuals vulnerable to depression, loneliness and anxiety.

References

• Mindfocus (2006). Characteristics of Gifted Children and Adults [online]. Available from: http://self-improvement.mindfocus.net/ [Accessed 26 November 2009]
• Tolan, S. (1999). Dabrowski’s Over-excitabilities, A Layman’s Guide [online]. Available from: http://www.stephanietolan.com/dabrowskis.htm [Accessed 26 November 2009]