The Top 10 Signs of Giftedness in Adulthood

Originally Submitted on 6/25/98.

The vast majority of adults who were labeled 'gifted' in childhood are unaware that their advanced development would continue to have an impact throughout their lives. Contrary to popular belief, giftedness is not characterized by high intelligence alone. Rather, gifted individuals experience early and exceptional psychological, spiritual and intellectual development. As a result, gifted adults exhibit common personality traits and face similar challenges on the road to self-actualization. Gifted adults demonstrate:

1. Qualitative differences in information processing.

Characterized by: unique perception and awareness; a sense of humor and creativity outside the norm; questioning, searching for truth, intuitiveness; insightfulness; comfort with both divergent thinking (breaking things into components) and synergistic thinking (putting things together to form something new and different); relentless curiosity and heightened creative drive; being more process-oriented than product-oriented; holding divergent values compared to mainstream culture.

2. High sensitivity.

Characterized by: sensitivity to others often combined with a sense of personal alienation and loneliness; acute awareness of complexities and consequences; heightened responsivity to expectations of others.

3. Intensity.

Characterized by: high excitability; high energy level; emotional reactivity; high arousal of central nervous system (Kazimierz Dabrowski Theory of Positive Disintegration).

4. Multipotentiality.

Characterized by: having capabilities in many areas and domains of talent; can move fluidly from one pursuit or interest to the next; the ability to juggle many things at once.

5. Idealism.

Characterized by: striving for moral integrity; interest in social reform and service; extraordinarily high standards; low tolerance for mediocrity and frustration.

6. Perfectionism.

Characterized by: self-criticism; labeling oneself as "scattered"; having a lowered sense of entitlement to make mistakes; identifying easily with failure; thinking they are more likely to blame than others; difficulty taking credit for achievement and abilities ("impostor" phenomena).

7. Need for autonomy.

Characterized by feelings of: being out of step and on a separate path; being "Other"; not fitting in; striving for inner authenticity; may experience deep conflicts between needs for self-actualization and maintaining traditional relationships.

8. Strong entelechy (from Greek for 'having a goal').

Characterized by: the need for self-determination; for self-actualization; leadership qualities; achievement-orientation; interest in non-traditional careers and professions.

9. Intense moral commitment.

Characterized by: seeing injustice and doing something about it; willingness to stand up for one's beliefs; outrage at moral breaches that the rest of the world seems to take for granted.

10. Global view.

Characterized by respect for all human beings; a greater capacity for empathy; concern for others--especially children; sensitivity and warmth.

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