Do academically gifted and nongifted students differ on the Big-Five and adaptive status? Some recent data and conclusions

Abstract This study examined a representative sample of academically gifted ( N =  374) and non-gifted ( N  = 428) Israeli high-school students in order to compare these different student populations on the Big-Five and adaptive outcomes. Consistent with prior research, gifted students scored higher than non-gifted peers on Openness to Experience but scored lower on Neuroticism. In addition, gifted students scored lower on state anxiety facets and were not reliably different from their nongifted counterparts on mental distress or subjective well being. Overall, the empirical data are consistent with recent research suggesting that when gifted students are compared with nongifted students on various socio-emotional and personality characteristics, the results are not unfavorable to gifted students.

[1]  C. Mueller,et al.  Protective Factors as Barriers to Depression in Gifted and Nongifted Adolescents , 2009 .

[2]  Eric D. Heggestad,et al.  Intelligence, personality, and interests: evidence for overlapping traits. , 1997, Psychological bulletin.

[3]  Antonio Terracciano,et al.  Personality trait development from age 12 to age 18: longitudinal, cross-sectional, and cross-cultural analyses. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[4]  J. Parker,et al.  Multidimensionality of state and trait anxiety: a cross-cultural study comparing american, canadian, israeli and german young adults , 1991 .

[5]  M. Zeidner,et al.  Test Anxiety: The State of the Art , 1998 .

[6]  G. Matthews,et al.  Intelligence and personality , 2004 .

[7]  A. Poropat.  A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and academic performance. , 2009, Psychological bulletin.

[8]  R. Sternberg,et al.  Handbook of Intelligence , 2000 .

[9]  Schleyer,et al.  The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect for Academic Self-Concept, Test Anxiety, and School Grades in Gifted Children. , 1999, Contemporary educational psychology.

[10]  L. Massé,et al.  Gifts and Talents as Sources of Envy in High School Settings , 2002 .

[11]  Duane F. Shell,et al.  Self-efficacy, attribution, and outcome expectancy mechanisms in reading and writing achievement: Grade-level and achievement-level differences. , 1995 .

[12]  A. Furnham,et al.  Personality traits and academic examination performance , 2003 .

[13]  J. Plucker,et al.  Looking outside and inside: Self-Concept Development of Gifted Adolescents , 2001 .

[14]  Roza Leikin,et al.  Creativity in Mathematics and the Education of Gifted Students , 2009 .

[15]  F. A. Karnes,et al.  CPQ personality factors of upper elementary gifted students. , 1983, Journal of personality assessment.

[16]  N. Milgram,et al.  Personality characteristics of gifted Israeli children. , 1976, The Journal of genetic psychology.

[17]  P. Ackerman,et al.  Personality-intelligence relations: assessment of typical intellectual engagement , 1992 .

[18]  P. Costa,et al.  Gender differences in personality traits across cultures: robust and surprising findings. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[19]  R. Hembree.  Correlates, Causes, Effects, and Treatment of Test Anxiety , 1988 .

[20]  R. Robins,et al.  PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Personality Predictors of Academic Outcomes: Big Five Correlates of GPA and SAT Scores , 2007 .

[21]  T. Judge,et al.  Are measures of self-esteem, neuroticism, locus of control, and generalized self-efficacy indicators of a common core construct? , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[22]  G. Matthews,et al.  Assessing emotional intelligence in gifted and non-gifted high school students: Outcomes depend on the measure , 2005 .

[23]  Donald H. Saklofske,et al.  International Handbook of Personality and Intelligence , 2010 .

[24]  Murray R. Barrick,et al.  Conscientiousness and performance of sales representatives: Test of the mediating effects of goal setting. , 1993 .

[25]  L. McDonald,et al.  Implications of risk and resilience in the life of the individual who is gifted/learning disabled , 2005 .

[26]  L. Terman.  Mental and physical traits of a thousand gifted children , 1926 .

[27]  B. Tabachnick,et al.  Using Multivariate Statistics , 1983 .

[28]  P. Costa,et al.  Normal Personality Assessment in Clinical Practice: The NEO Personality Inventory. , 1992 .

[29]  J. Ware,et al.  The structure of psychological distress and well-being in general populations , 1983 .

[30]  M. Schonlau,et al.  Mental Disorders Among Gifted and Nongifted Youth: A Selected Review of the Epidemiologic Literature , 2010 .

[31]  Maureen Neihart.  The Impact of Giftedness on Psychological Well-Being: What Does the Empirical Literature Say?. , 1999 .

[32]  Tracy L. Cross,et al.  The Psychology of Gifted Adolescents as Measured by the MMPI-A , 2008 .

[33]  Ann S Masten,et al.  Childhood personality foreshadows adult personality and life outcomes two decades later. , 2003, Journal of personality.

[34]  P. Olszewski-Kubilius,et al.  Personality Dimensions of Gifted Adolescents: A Review of the Empirical Literature , 1988 .

[35]  John W. Boudreau,et al.  Effects of personality on executive career success in the United States and Europe. , 2001 .

[36]  Kristy J. Lauver,et al.  Do psychosocial and study skill factors predict college outcomes? A meta-analysis. , 2004, Psychological bulletin.