The purpose of this study is to examine the underlying construct of overexcitabilities (OEs) and to identify individual and family-level factors that may explain gifted students' patterns of OEs. Data are collected from a convenience sample of identified gifted students (N = 143) and their parents (N = 161) using a Likert-type questionnaire, the Overexcitabilities Questionnaire II, developed to measure levels of the five intensities of the OEs. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance and hierarchical linear modeling are used to differentiate between gender and age groups and to explain between and within-group variance on the five subscales of the OEs: Psychomotor, Intellectual, Imaginational, Sensual, and Emotional. Results suggest that there were significant differences between gender and age groups and that most of the variance among students on the OEs was explained by family membership. This study represents an important step in our understanding of affective characteristics of giftedness and creativity.
Ackerman, C. M. (1997). Identifying gifted adolescents using personality characteristics: Dabrowski's overexcitabilities. Roeper Review, 19(4), 229-236.
2.
Baum, S., & Olenchak, F. R. (2002). The alphabet children: GT, ADHD, and more. Exceptionality,10(2), 77-91.
3.
Baum, S., & Owen, S. V. (1988). High ability/learning disabled students: How are they different?Gifted Child Quarterly,32, 226-230.
4.
Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.),Testing structural equation models (pp. 136-162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
5.
Cox, C. M. (1926). The early mental traits of three hundred geniuses. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
6.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: Harper Perennial.
7.
Dabrowski, K. (1964). Positive disintegration. London: Little, Brown.
8.
Dabrowski, K., & Piechowski, M. M. (1977). Theory of levels of emotional development: Vol. 2. From primary integration to self-actualization. Oceanside, NJ: Dabor Science.
9.
Dauber, S. L., & Benbow, C. P. (1990). Aspects of personality and peer relations of extremely talented adolescents. Gifted Child Quarterly,34, 10-15.
10.
Davis, G. A. (1992). Creativity is forever(3rd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt.
11.
Duncan, G. J., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1999). Assessing the effects of context in studies of child and youth development. Educational Psychologist,34(1), 29-41.
12.
Eisenberg, D., & Epstein, E. (1981, April). The discovery and development of giftedness in handicapped children. Paper presented at the CEC-TAG National Topical Conference on the Gifted and Talented Child, Orlando, FL.
13.
Falk, R. F., & Lind, N. B. (1998, June). The overexcitability questionnaire OEQII: Development and testing Paper presented at the third international Dabrowski symposium, Evanston, IL.
14.
Falk, R. F., Lind, S., Miller, N. B., Piechowski, M. M., & Silverman, L. K. (1999). The overexcitability questionnaire-two (OEQII).. Denver, CO: Institute for the Study of Advanced Development.
15.
Feldman, D. H., & Goldsmith, L. T. (1986). Nature's gambit: Child prodigies and the development of human potential.New York: Basic Books.
16.
Gallagher, S. A. (1986). A comparison of the concept of overexcitabilities with measures of creativity and school achievement in sixth-grade students. Roeper Review,8(2), 115-119.
17.
Gilligan, C. (1993). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
18.
Hollingworth, L. S. (1942). Children above 180 IQ Stanford Binet: Origin and development. New York: World Book.
19.
Kenny, D. A., & Cook, W. (1999). Partner effects in relationship research: Conceptual issues, analytic difficulties, and illustrations. Personal Relationships,6, 433-448.
20.
Kreft, I., & DeLeeuw, J. (1998). Introducing multilevel models. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
21.
Kort-Butler, L., & Lind, S. (1998, April). Replicating a factor structure from two samples: Art and science. Paper presented at the meeting of the North Central Sociological Association, Flint, MI.
22.
Leroux, J. A., & Levitt-Perlman, M. (2000). The gifted child with attention deficit disorder: An identification and intervention challenge. Roeper Review,22, 171-176.
23.
Lysy, K. Z., & Piechowski, M. M. (1983). Personal growth: An empirical study using Jungian and Dabrowskian measures. Genetic Psychology Monographs,108, 267-320.
24.
Maguire, M. C. (1999). Treating the dyad as the unit of analysis: A primer on three analytic approaches. Journal of Marriage and the Family,61, 213-223.
25.
Miller, N. B., Silverman, L. K., & Falk, R. F. (1994). Emotional development, intellectual ability, and gender. Journal for the Education of the Gifted,18(1), 20-38.
26.
Moon, S. M., Zentall, S., Grskovic, J., Hall, A., & Stormont-Spurgin, M. (2001). Emotional, social, and family characteristics of boys with AD/HD and giftedness: A comparative case study. Journal for the Education of the Gifted,24, 207-247.
27.
Piechowski, M. M. (1979). Developmental potential. In N. Colangelo & R. Zaffrann (Eds.),New voices in counseling the gifted(pp. 2-57). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing.
28.
Piechowski, M. M. (1975). A theoretical and empirical approach to the study of development. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 92, 231-297.
29.
Piechowski, M. M. (1986). The concept of developmental potential. Roeper Review,8(3), 190-197.
30.
Piechowski, M. M. (1999). Overexcitabilities. In Academic Press (Ed.),Encyclopedia of Creativity (Vol. 2., pp. 325-334). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
31.
Piechowski, M. M., & Colangelo, N. (1984). Developmental potential of the gifted. Gifted Child Quarterly,28(2), 80-88.
32.
Piechowski, M. M., & Cunningham, K. (1985). Patterns of overexcitability in a group of artists. Journal of Creative Behavior,19(3), 153-174.
33.
Piechowski, M. M., Silverman, L. K., & Falk, R. F. (1985). Comparison of intellectually and artistically gifted on five dimensions of mental functioning. Perceptual and Motor Skills,60, 539-549.
34.
Piirto, J. (1992). Understanding those who create. Dayton: Ohio University Press.
35.
Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models. Applications and data analysis models (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
36.
Roeper, A. (1982). How the gifted cope with their emotions. Roeper Review,5, 21-24.
37.
Schiever, S. W. (1985). Creative personality characteristics and dimensions of mental functioning in gifted adolescents. Roeper Review,7, 223-226.
38.
Silverman, L. K. (1993). Counseling the gifted and talented. Denver, CO: Love Publishing.
39.
Silverman, L. K. (1994). The moral sensitivity of gifted children and the evolution of society.Roeper Review,17, 110-116.
40.
Silverman, L. K. (1997). Family counseling with the gifted. In N. Colangelo & G. Davis (Eds.),Handbook of gifted education (pp. 3-28). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
