Highly Giftedness

The aim of this study is to provide – first theoretically and, subsequently, through an empirical analysis – a rationale for including the concept of overexcitability in talent research, beyond the five-factor model personality traits. Moreover, the empirical part of this study makes use of an innovative statistical method to address the problem of a frequentist approach to statistics in complex trait models which are based on personality questionnaire data. This study offers insight into the differential significance of overexcitability in relation to the established personality traits, emphasizing Dabrowski’s dynamic approach to personality and the key contribution of overexcitability in the developmental process. Furthermore, implications for the field of giftedness are discussed.

Die Frage, wem die Auszeichnung „Genie“ gebühre, wurde vor hundert Jahren in unterschiedlichen geisteswissenschaftlichen Disziplinen und in literarisch-philosophischen Texten, unter anderem von Walter Benjamin, Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Julian Hirsch, Jakob Wassermann, Otto Weininger und Edgar Zilsel, hitzig debattiert. Die Monographie wirft einen Blick auf die glorifizierenden Zuschreibungen und epistemologischen Funktionen, die der Wissensfigur „Genie“ in der damaligen Scientific Community zugewiesen wurden. Sie untersucht, wie sich Vertreter vor allem neuerer Fachdisziplinen mithilfe der Geniefigur ihrer eigenen intellektuellen und schöpferischen Potenz versicherten, welche politischen, rassistischen und geschlechterspezifischen Implikationen das „Genie“ in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts transportierte und wie sich der geisteswissenschaftliche Geniekult um 1900 in der späteren Populärkultur, ausgewählten Spielfilmen ab Mitte der 1980er Jahre, widerspiegelt.

Background: Psychological and neuropsychological characteristics of gifted children and adolescents, especially their predisposition to creativity, are analysed. Aims: 108 students of 4 different 10 th forms of secondary school participated in a pedagogical project including special educational measures aimed at developing creativity, communication and teamwork. Methods: The results were evaluated with the help of a mixed-methods design, combining cognitive tests, psychometric scales exploring coping strategies, anxiety and aggression, expressive tests and external evaluation criteria. Comparative pretest-posttest, correlational and multidimensional analyses were computed using non-parametric statistical procedures. Results: Whereas highly gifted normal achievers largely took advantage of the project, there were diverging results in different subgroups of highly gifted students, depending on their personality traits and their former school performance. Discussion and Conclusion: The concept of mentalization allowed creating meaning and understanding the ambiguities of the results. Pedagogical and psychotherapeutic measures could be drawn out of the study, as well as tracks for future research.