Is Being Gifted a Social Handicap?

• Published in: Journal for the education of the gifted Vol. 37; no. 1; pp. 5 - 17
• Main Authors: Coleman, Laurence J., Cross, Tracy L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.03.2014; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Academically Gifted; Adolescent Attitudes; Adolescents; Behavior; Change Strategies; Cognitive Ability; Coping; Extracurricular Activities; Flow Charts; Gifted; Gifted children; High School Students; Individual Characteristics; Interpersonal Relationship; Interviews; Learning; Magnet schools; Peer Groups; Phenomenology; Social Attitudes; Social Desirability; Social Psychology; Student Attitudes; Student Characteristics; Student Experience; Students; Summer Programs; Talent; Teenagers; Tennessee; Tennessee
• ISSN: 0162-3532; 2162-9501
• DOI: 10.1177/0162353214521486

The paper explores the question of how gifted and talented adolescents experience being gifted in high school. Fifteen subjects were interviewed twice while attending a special summer program in order to answer this general question. The data were analyzed and interpreted using a set of research questions which postulated that the subjects would voice feelings of difference and would make statements indicating recognition that being gifted interfered with full social acceptance. The results support the notion that many, but not all, gifted and talented adolescents experience giftedness as a social handicap. The data also suggested that some students manage information about themselves to minimize their visibility as gifted students to others.