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.