1. The Psychosocial Concerns and Needs of Gifted Students
Dr. Elissa F. Brown
York County, VA
January 2019
Director, Hunter College Gifted Studies Center
Acting Admissions Director, Hunter College Campus Schools
Program Coordinator, Advanced Certificate in Gifted Education

2. Intellectual and Personality Characteristics
Exceptional reasoning ability
Intellectual curiosity
Rapid learning rate
Advanced cognitive development in one or more academic areas
Complex thinking
Lengthy attention span
Divergent thinking
Keen sense of justice
Capacity for reflection
Early language or reading development
Insightfulness
Developed sense of humor
Need for intellectual stimulation
Need for precision/logic
Intensity
Nonconformity
Questioning of authority, system
Tendency toward introversion
Highly sensitive
Highly self-critical
Perfectionist
Silverman, 1993, VanTassel-Baska, 2003

3. Common socio-emotional characteristics of gifted found throughout the literature
Concern for justice, fair play, morality & spirituality
Altruism
Acute sense of humor
High energy
Commitment
Intense interests, drives, passions
Heightened sensitivity-aesthetic, for others-world
Tendency toward introversion
Perfectionistic
Perseverance
Need for mental stimulation
Need for precision/logic/moral reasoning
Nonconformity-questioning rules, authority
Intensity
Silverman, 1993, VanTassel-Baska, 2003

4. Is able to work independently Is able to cope with multiple stressors
Just because their a child is labeled “gifted”, doesn’t mean that he/she….
Is smart in every area
Is mature
Is able to work independently
Is able to cope with multiple stressors
Is able to make long-term goals
Is able to make and keep friends
High levels of ability are not always accompanied by equally well-developed self-control or even maturity in understanding social situations

5. When they do have social/emotional issues, some of the causes are:
In general, gifted children are as well adjusted as most other children
When they do have social/emotional issues, some of the causes are:
Reactions to the gifted label
Failure of the educational system to address uniqueness of learning needs
Stress from self-criticalness, perfectionism, meeting other’s expectations, fear of failure, fear of success

6. What does the research tell us?
Most gifted students are well‐adjusted –But they can experience the same social and emotional 
problems in response  to life events as other students
Some problems result from students’ high abilities, developmental issues,  and/or feeling different
Most prevalent cause is mismatch of needs to academic 
services, school  climate, and lack of true peer
There are also psychological and personal traits that can 
increase risk in combination with a problematic environment
And, some groups of gifted students are more at risk than 
others for problems.  

7. Common Areas of Psychological Vulnerability
Idealism
Perfectionism
Achievement Orientation/fixed mindset
Peer Relations/Social skills
Asynchronous development
Sensitivities and Excitabilities

8. Perfectionism Multidimensional construct
Key elements include high/impossible standards, concern over mistakes, attribution of success and failure
Forms of perfectionism (Moon, 2008):
Self-oriented perfectionism
Other-oriented perfectionism
Socially prescribed perfectionism

9. Perfectionism: Pitfalls and Promises
Attributes of Dysfunctional Perfectionists
Anxiety about making errors
Extremely high standards for self
Questioning own judgments
Need for constant approval
Lack of effective coping strategies
Attributes of healthy Perfectionists
Need for order
Self-acceptance of mistakes
View of personal effort as important
Use of positive coping strategies with perfectionistic tendencies

10. Sensitivities and Excitabilities
Feeling everything more deeply than others
Emotionally intense gifted children often experience intense inner conflict, self-criticism, anxiety, and feelings of inferiority due to not living up to self or others’ expectation levels

11. HOW DOES JASPER DEFINE SUCCESS IN LEARNING?
Jasper worked late into the night to finish his history essay. His father asked why he was so frantic. Even though Jasper had made all his important points, he still had two pages to write to meet the length requirement for his assignment. When his father suggested he focus on important ideas and forget about the length, Jasper was aghast. “But I really like Mr. Everest!” he said. “I want to do well for him!” Jasper was completely in earnest… he thought the best way to please his teacher was by providing the right number of facts, missing completely the idea that he had already presented enough valuable ideas.
HOW DOES JASPER DEFINE SUCCESS IN LEARNING?

12. What can we do?

13. Kids who struggle with perfectionism often think others are perfect; Talk to them about your failures and the lessons you’ve learned from them.
Many things come easy to gifted kids, so by the time they find something that’s hard, they give up rather than fail;  Find something they’ll have to work at – an art class, stop motion animation – and sign them up. Practice with them between sessions. Teach them that great things come through hard work.

14. Gifted and perfectionistic children can be so hard on themselves; Take time to laugh with each other – especially when mistakes are made. Perfectionistic kids can be stymied from learning because of the expectations from the importance of performance and tests; set reasonable standards and emphasis the importance of the process-not product or outcome.

15. Characteristics and Matching Interventions
Love of learning
High verbal ability
Excellent memory
Good concentration
Become a partner in quest for knowledge
Play word games, puzzles
Provide exposure to new information, begin early to teach time management
Allow uninterrupted time, give 10-minute warning when changing activities

16. Relationship of affective characteristics to learning needs and home interventions
Justice, fair play
Understanding of complexity of issues associated with justice
Discussion of bill of rights, reading newspaper
Altruism
Opportunities to help others
Be responsible for younger siblings, service projects
Humor
Appreciate various forms of humor
Political cartoons, opportunity for down time
Attachment
Appreciation of Life Cycle
Family geneology, life cycle events
Perfectionism
Acceptance of fallibility
Safe risk-taking, model mistakes
High energy
Appropriate outlets for energy
Variety of experiences
Aesthetic sensitivity
Development of observing or performing skills
Exposure/support to fine arts

17. Achievement/Underachievement
A learning goal orientation in which individuals approach learning to gain and assume mastery of knowledge, skills, and behaviors
A performance goal orientation in which individuals are driven to perform at a desired degree in order to achieve positive judgments or avoid unfavorable judgments.
(Dweck & Elliot)

18. What Enhances Student Motivation?
Challenging work (“Flow”)
Emphasis on effort and ability
Constructive use of leisure time
Affective issues in balance
Emphasis on process (vs. product)
Matched skill level with interest
Supplemental programs

19. Meeting Emotional Needs: Some Suggestions for Parents
Be aware of child’s temperament
Provide role models of risk taking and coping with mistakes
Praise the child, not his/her accomplishments
Encourage empathy
Foster discussions related to perfectionism, being different
Don’t confuse intellect with ability in all areas
Listen for feeling and content in discussions

20. Meeting Social Needs: Some Suggestions for Parents
Provide opportunity for interaction with like-ability peers
Allow for individual differences; sibling uniqueness
Foster use of problem solving, decision-making, and prioritizing in social arenas
Model appropriate social interaction
Stay alert to stressors (e.g. peer pressure, competing expectations, lack of self-regulation)

21. Parental Role in School Success
Ask questions
Monitor homework
Encourage goal-setting
Provide a system for time management
Emphasize effort over ability in discussing school
Be a consistent advocate but pick your battles
Choose your language in parent/teacher conferences
Be a partner not an adversary
Rogers, 2003

22. Creatively gifted children and adults are emotionally intense and have rich inner lives…Emotional intensity is one of the personality concomitants of giftedness. It is strongly correlated with high intelligence. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that does not view heightened emotionality in a very positive way. The main lesson students learn in school is how to control, repress, deny their emotions, as part of the socialization process. We are in greater danger of emotional mediocrity than of intellectual mediocrity. -Silverman

23. For More Information
Guiding the Gifted Child: A Practical Source for Parents and Teachers (James T. Webb, Elizabeth A. Meckstroth, Stephanie S. Tolan)
Raisin’ Brains: Surviving My Smart Family (Karen L. J. Isaacson)

24. For More Information
Smart Girls: A New Psychology of Girls, Women and Giftedness (Barbara Kerr)
Emotional Intelligence
(Daniel Goleman)

25. Advocacy Organizations for Parents of the Gifted
National Association for Gifted Children (
Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (
Hoagies Gifted:
Virginia Association for the Gifted:
NAGC- DC
SENG- AZ
VAG- RIC

26. Some Useful Web Sites for materials and research
-- list of books for bibliotherapy on various topics, from children’s librarians in MA
-- generic website developed by parent of gifted child for other parents
-- list of books recommended by gifted children and their parents
-- Center for Gifted Education, College of William & Mary
National Research Center for Gifted & Talented

27. Thank you: Parents as Partners!
Dr. Elissa F. Brown
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC