This study investigated characteristics related to the development of gifted behaviors in families with or without gifted children from socioeconomically disadvantaged environments. The sample was constituted of 14 gifted students and their parents, 14 non-gifted and their parents, 4 educational managers, 4 teachers and 2 psychologists. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire. The interviews were analyzed through content analysis. The results indicated that: (a) Participants perceived giftedness as a set of factors related to superior cognitive and academic abilities, besides affective and innate characteristics; (b) gifted students occupied special family position: first-born or only-child; (c) more than half of the students presented a gap between the age and grade; (d) gifted students were involved in more activities during their free time when compared to their non-gifted peers.
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