How Are the Gifted? Point of View of University Students

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyze the conceptions of giftedness of average university students as they influence attitudes and behaviors that positively or negatively influence the emotional, academic and social wellbeing of the gifted. The study design was mixed method; the sample was non-probabilistic with 74 participants who answered an open-ended question about the characteristics and behaviors of the gifted. The results showed that conceptions of giftedness are formed by socioemotional characteristics and intellectual characteristics. Some students reported a single category of characteristics, whilst other students showed a combination of components from both categories. The socioemotional characteristics were perceived by some students as negative, whilst others were positive, and some presented a mixture of these two valences. The above-average intelligence was related to the ease, speed and passion for learning and the negative socioemotional characteristics of the gifted.