Openness to experience and overexcitabilities in a sample of highly gifted middle school students

Abstract

A sample of 108 highly gifted middle school students participated in a study of the relationships between Big Five factors and overexcitabilities. Students completed the NEO-FFI and Overexcitabilities Questionnaire-II (OEQ-II). A cutoff score applied to the OEQ-II created a threshold for overexcitability, ensuring only extreme responses. Analysis groups were based on the number of OEs students possessed based on the cutoff score. An analysis of variance assessed differences in students’ NEO-FFI scores according to the number of OEs they reported. Students with three or more overexcitabilities had significantly higher scores on NEO-FFI openness to experience than students with fewer overexcitabilities. Gifted females had significantly higher scores on NEO-FFI neuroticism scale than gifted males. The results hold implications for understanding the academic and social-emotional needs of highly gifted students and justify use of the Big Five model and overexcitabilities together to further understand the relationship between intelligence, personality, and giftedness.