What Personality Research Says About Gifted Children

Personality types play an amazingly big role in gifted child outcomes!

Personality typing has been used for years in various personal and career counseling situations because it helps people understand their motivations and needs compared to those of others with whom they live and work. But many of us has found how strongly parent-child and teacher-child personality differences can affect gifted child outcomes.

Additional experiences have contributed to my interest in the topic of personality types among the gifted. During my initial studies of high intelligence, I realized many people in the field assumed high intelligence and altruism go hand in hand, that it is part of the moral sensitivity that the gifted share (Dąbrowski, 1964; Gross, 1993; Hollingworth, 1942; Lind, 2000; Lovecky, 1997; Piechowski, 2006; Renzulli, 2002; Silverman, 1993; Terman, 1925; Webb, Meckstroth, & Tolan, 1982).

Silverman (1993) suggests “the cognitive complexity and certain personality traits of the gifted create unique experiences and awareness that separate them from others. A central feature of the gifted experience is their moral sensitivity, which is essential to the welfare of the entire society.”

O’Leary (2005) wrote, “Moral reasoning as an indicator of giftedness and the advanced moral…