A Meta-Analysis of Research on the Relationship Between Overexcitabilities and Giftedness

Abstract

This meta-analysis explored a total of 230 effects that were extracted from 20 empirical studies on overexcitabilities (OEs) to study the relationship between giftedness and OE. Variables studied included operationalization of giftedness, use of explicit benchmarks for identifying giftedness, type of OE instrument, gender, developmental level of participants, and national setting and timing of study. Overall, there was a positive and significant relationship found between OE and giftedness with the strongest relationship being with Intellectual OE and the weakest with Sensory and Emotional OE. However, the strength of the relationship varied significantly by operationalization of giftedness, being strongest when giftedness was operationalized as previous identification as gifted and non-existent when operationalized as general intelligence or cognitive ability. In addition, when no explicit benchmarks were employed for gifted identification, there was no evidence of such a difference between the gifted and non-gifted. When comparing gifted to non-gifted students, differences were found only for high school-aged students, but not for elementary and/or middle school age or adults. The differences obtained in OE between the gifted and non-gifted are likely to be overestimated due to a presence of publication bias, that is, an overrepresentation of studies with relatively small sample sizes. Recommendations include caution about assumptions regarding the prevalence of OEs among gifted students, using OEs as indicators of giftedness in school-based referral and identification processes, and for designing affective education curricula and services targeting gifted students.

Plain Language Summary

A Multiple Study Analysis of the Efficacy of Overexcitabilities as a Characteristic of Gifted Children

Overexcitabilities (OEs) have been a prominent construct within the literature on characteristics of gifted children. In this study, a sophisticated data analytic technique was employed to investigate the efficacy of OEs for giftedness across multiple studies. Intellectual OE was found to have the strongest relationship with giftedness, and emotional OE, the weakest. In addition, the association of giftedness with OEs varied greatly with the definition of giftedness, being non-existent when giftedness was defined as high cognitive ability and moderate when it was defined as prior participation in a gifted program, contrary to expectations and previous literature. In addition, OEs were stronger for older students than for younger children, which was also unexpected and contrary to previous literature. The results suggest that educators should be wary of using OEs as a means to identify giftedness or assume that intensities are a typical/normal characteristic of gifted children.