Attitudes of Gifted Students Part 2

Table

Mean

Students

Scale

Intimacy-Mother

(range

Intimacy-Father

(range

Intimacy-Best

(range

Social

(range

Family

(range

Overall

(range

Self-Esteem

(range

Depression

(range

Risk-Taking

Danger-related

(range

Sports-related

(range

Drug

(range

[TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 3 OMITTED]

Greater intimacy with friends and less family responsibility-taking may reflect precocious social development. As children, these gifted students would likely have had more developed cognitive and verbal abilities, which might, in turn, have led to an earlier psychological separation from parents and increased intimacy with peers. As increased association with peers and separation from parents occurs, adolescents may experience greater pressure to take risks (Irwin & Millstein, 1986), as evidenced in this gifted sample's higher perceived risk- taking.

Relative to their nongifted peers, the gifted students felt they had average or above average self-esteem. Their superior academic self- image (and their teachers' agreement on this factor) would be expected. Surprisingly, however, they also reported having the same or better social skills. This finding is contrary to reports of less social competence in gifted students (Kerr et al., 1988; Ross & Parker, 1980). Gifted students in the present study may simply have been more accepted (even valued) by their peers than were those in earlier studies. The gifted students' responses on the Unhappy with Giftedness subscale were not negative even though their teachers thought they were less happy than they themselves indicated. Future research should examine this question, as well as the possibility that social attitudes among gifted students and their peers are changing.

The authors would like to thank the students and teachers who participated in this study. This research was supported by an NIMH Research Scientist Award (#MH00331) and an NIMH Research Grant (#MI-I40779) to Tiffany Field.

REFERENCES

Berndt, D., Kaiser, C., & Van Aalst, F. (1982). Depression and self- actualization in gifted adolescents. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, 142-150.

Blyth, D. A., Hill, J.P., & Thiel, K. S. (1982). Early adolescents' significant others: Grade and gender differences in perceived relationships with familial and nonfamilial adults and young people. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 11, 425-450.

Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297-334.

Field, T., & Yando, R. (1991). Adolescents' Self-Perceptions Scales. Unpublished scales.

Irwin, C. E., Jr., & Millstein, S. G. (1986). Biopsychosocial correlates of risk-taking behavior during adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 7, 825-865.

Janos, P. M., Fung, H. C., & Robinson, N.M. (1985). Self-concept, self-esteem, and peer relations among gifted children who feel "different." Gifted Child Quarterly, 29, 78 - 82.

Karnes, F., & Wherry, J. (1981). Self-concepts of gifted students as measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Psychological Reports, 49, 903-906.

Kelly, K.,

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