Social interaction
Social interaction can be very difficult both for the gifted child and the adult. When the child’s IQ is over a certain threshold (say 160), he will certainly experience isolation and loneliness. He will have problems in relating to age peers because of his lack of conformity to cultural expectations corresponding to his age. Emotional intensity can aggravate adjustment problems as other children may ridicule a gifted child because of his strong reaction to an incident that they consider trivial.
Being a gifted adult may be the cause of problematic social interaction both at the workplace and at home. Problems may arise in relationships with work mates when the person does not realize that has a greater intelligence. On the other hand, people that are aware of having obtained a high score in an intelligence test may take this as a sign of superiority over the rest.
The moral concern of the person may make intolerable unethical practices at the workplace. Emotional intensity, that could be valuable in certain activities (such as the arts), can be a disadvantage in others. When holding a managerial position, the gifted person may become overextended, impose unreasonable standards, and be reluctant to delegate.
Being different implies having few people with which to share things that one is interested in doing. If he is not in a career that permits contact with other gifted adults, the person will feel a lack of appropriate companionship. He will find association with non-gifted people tiring and frustrating because of the need to weigh his words and to simplify his ideas. When he finds out that the level of interest or understanding of his companions is not the same as his, he will need to hold back in conversations and social events will become boring.
Lacking adequate companions, the gifted person may refrain from interacting with others and lead a solitary life. It is difficult to spend time in company of people that one perceives as being different. Moreover, ordinary people usually do not understand the need of the gifted person to spend much time alone doing his work instead of spending that time with friends. This conflict may result in having only a few friends.