A Longitudinal Study of the Social Nature of the Construct of Giftedness in Adulthood

Abstract

The theoretical premises behind the three studies on
giftedness in adulthood and its social nature, presented here,
included the concepts of differential, ipsative and coherent
stability of abilities and traits, their accessibility to valid
consensual peer assessment, and their cumulative lifelong
social consequences when abilities and traits are high. The
studies included groups of participants attending teacher
studies, students ending their studies and transitioning to
work, and teachers with full range of work experience. The
goal of Study 1, a longitudinal study conducted on three
occasions every two years on 76 students of teacher studies
transitioning to work, was to explore the predictive validity of
the consensual social judgments of peer-assessed ability and
creativity as the basic giftedness criteria for academic
achievement, quality prospective work in education and
initial career choices. The results of Study 2, with
psychodiagnostic data available for 50 students of teacher
studies, and Study 3, with 435 employed primary school
teachers as participants, corroborated and questioned the
findings of the longitudinal study. The discussion of the
results followed the theoretical model of the development of
giftedness across one's lifespan.