Social and emotional issues in the lives of gifted students
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To discuss social and emotional issues in the lives of gifted students, one must first consider what giftedness means: "Giftedness consists of an interaction among three basic clusters of human traits—these clusters being above-average general abilities, high levels of task commitment, and high levels of creativity. Gifted and talented children are those possessing or capable of developing this composite set of traits and applying them to any potentially valuable area of human performance. Children who manifest or are capable of developing an interaction among the three clusters require a wide variety of educational opportunities and services that are not ordinarily provided through regular instructional programs." This is Joseph S. Renzulli's definition (1984).
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Isolation
One of the challenges faced by gifted students in normal schools is feeling isolated. Hoping to gain popularity, profoundly gifted children will often try to hide their abilities instead of being an outcast. "Gifted students may actively attempt to minimize the visibility of their giftedness to fit in better at school and to obtain social approval." Strategies include underachievement and the use of less sophisticated vocabulary when among same-age peers than when among family members or other trusted individuals (Swiatek, 1995). This is often more common in girls. Also, "In this culture, there appears to be a great pressure for people to be 'normal' with a considerable stigma associated with giftedness or talent." (Plucker & Levy, 2001). This represents the thought that isolation in gifted students is not the result of giftedness itself. Instead, it results from society's response. An answer to this problem is to create a peer group for the student based on common interests and abilities. The earlier this occurs, the more effective it is likely to be in preventing social isolation (Robinson, 2002).
Perfectionism
As for perfectionism, "When perfectionism refers to having high standards, a desire to achieve, conscientiousness, or high levels of responsibility, it is likely to be a virtue rather than a problem. Perfectionism becomes a problem as it frustrates and inhibits achievements. Perfectionism becomes desirable when it stimulates the healthy pursuit of excellence." (Parker & Mills, 1996).
Perfectionism is another problem found often among gifted students. D. E. Hamachek identified six specific, overlapping behaviors associated with perfectionism. They include (1) depression, (2) a nagging "I should" feeling, (3) shame and guilt feelings, (4) face-saving behavior, (5) shyness and procrastination, and (6) self-deprecation (Schuler, 2002). As with isolation, gifted girls tend to be perfectionists more than boys.
There are many ideas that try to explain the correlation between perfectionism and giftedness, including the fact that gifted students set standards that would be appropriate to their mental age (the level at which they think), but then can't meet them because they are trapped in a younger body; also the fact that gifted students have tended to be successful in all they do because they've been under-challenged, and consequently try to avoid failure. Luckily, there are ways to address perfectionism's negative manifestations. Gifted children and adolescents need assistance from parents, teachers and counselors to help them realize that it's okay to want to achieve at a high level, but with that comes stress that they will need to deal with by learning to set priorities, reflect on the value of mistakes, relax, and pursue their passion (p. 76).
Underachievement
Another problem among gifted children is underachievement. Many gifted students will continually do well on achievement or reasoning tests, but will fail to turn in assignments or attend or participate in class. Overall, they will be disengaged from the educational process. This can result from under-challenging schools, peer pressure for conformity, social isolation, and family dysfunction (Reis & Renzulli, 2004). Other times it can result from other factors within the individual including depression, anxiety, failure-avoidance, rebelliousness, irritability, nonconformity, or anger (Reis & McCoach, 2002). One apparently effective way to attempt to reverse underachievement includes enrichment projects based on students’ strengths and interests (p. 86).
Depression
One issue that must be mentioned is depression. It has been thought in the past that there is a correlation between giftedness and depression or suicide. This has not been proven. Reis and Renzulli (2004) mentioned "With the exception of creatively gifted adolescents who are talented in writing or the visual arts, studies do not confirm that gifted individuals manifest significantly higher or lower rates or severity of depression than those for the general population...Gifted children's advanced cognitive abilities, social isolation, sensitivity, and uneven development may cause them to face some challenging social and emotional issues, but their problem-solving abilities, advanced social skills, moral reasoning, out-of-school interests, and satisfaction in achievement may help them to be more resilient." Also, no research points to suicide rates being more common in gifted adolescents than other adolescents (Neihart, 2002). However, a number of people have noted a higher incidence of existential depression, depression due to highly abstract ideas such as the finality of death, the ultimate unimportance of individual people, and the meaning(or lack thereof) of life. They are also more likely to feel existential anxiety. See [ http://www.sengifted.org/articles_counseling/Ellsworth_AdolescenceAndGiftedAddressingExistentialDread.shtml ]
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are issues that do plague gifted students and/or are associated with them, but there are also many ways to deal with these issues or even avoid them entirely. Getting together peer groups can help with isolation; parents, teachers, and counselors can teach a child to tone down his/her perfectionist tendencies if need be; extra projects that appeal to a child’s interests can work towards fixing underachievement; and compassion and understanding can help the child work through depression.
References
- Neihart, M. (2002). Risk and Resilience in Gifted Children: A Conceptual Framework. In M. Neihart, S. Reis, N. M. Robinson, & S. M. Moon (Eds.) The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children. (pp. 113-124). Waco, Texas: Prufrock Press, Inc.
- Parker, W. D. & Mills, C. J. (1996). The Incidence of Perfectionism in Gifted Students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 40, 194-199.
- Plucker, J. A., & Levy, J. J., (2001). The Downside of Being Talented [Electronic version]. American Psychologist, 56, 75-76.
- Reis, S. M. & McCoach, D. B. (2002). Underachievement in Gifted Students. In M. Neihart, S. M. Reis, N. M. Robinson, & S. M. Moon (Eds.). The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children (pp. 81-91). Waco, Texas: Prufrock Press, Inc.
- Reis, S. M. & Renzulli, J. S. (2004). Current Research on the Social and Emotional Development of Gifted and Talented Students: Good News and Future Possibilities. Psychology in the Schools, 41, published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com).
- Renzulli, J. S., (1984). What Makes Giftedness. Phi Delta Kappan, 60, 127-130. Phi Delta Kappan Educational Foundation.
- Robinson, N. M. (2002). Introduction. In M. Neihart, S. M. Reis, N. M. Robinson, & S. M. Moon (Eds.) The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children. Waco, Texas: Prufrock Press, Inc.
- Schuler, P. (2002). Perfectionism in Gifted Children and Adolescents. In M. Neihart, S. M. Reis, N. M. Robinson, & S. M. Moon (Eds.). The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children (pp. 71-79). Waco, Texas: Prufrock Press, Inc.
- Swiatek, M. A. (1995). An Empirical Investigation Of The Social Coping Strategies Used By Gifted Adolescents. Gifted Child Quarterly, 39, 154-160.
External links
- Daring to be different in Norway (http://www.jacobsen.no/anders/blog/archives/2004/11/03/on_daring_to_be_different_in_norway.html) - about egalitarian treatment of gifted students in Norway