Science & Self-improvement

Many traits have been viewed as characteristic of gifted people. Nevertheless, the great majority of them is not well defined, lacks a standardized measurement tool, or is just contradictory with other reports. While some of the following traits are easily detectable in every gifted person, some others can be present but not be observable because the person has chosen to hide them. Some gifted people live in an environment that is hostile enough to force them to adapt themselves as the only way to avoid madness or suicide. As part of this adaptation process, they recur to hide those traits that make them different from the average person.

Perfectionism

A trait that can be observed already in gifted children is perfectionism–the need to do things as best as they can. The word ‘perfectionist’ is almost always used disapprovingly. It is usually employed to try to discourage any attempt to do anything better. However, the so-called perfectionist may be not a fool that tries to reach something impossible, but a person who knows that something better can be reached–even if it is still imperfect. The idea of perfection changes with the age and the knowledge of the person, and also the idea of what is attainable and even acceptable. In the case of the gifted child, the appearance of being a perfectionist may be the consequence of the asynchronous development of the child. The early development of the mind may enable him to imagine things that his neurological system may be not in condition to accomplish.

Perfectionism can be understood as an attitude of pursuing an ever-higher performance, or as a strong will to not make errors. In either of these senses, it will be the source of anxiety and worry, so it is justified to call it bad or misguided perfectionism. Bad perfectionism may be induced by parents and teachers when they set unreasonable goals for the child. These goals become later the goals of the adult and prevent satisfaction because the person will never reach them.

Perceived expectations of parents and teachers, and the desire to please them may lead the child to excessively criticize himself and to concern with producing a flawless performance. He will doubt of his capacity, avoid doing his work for fear of failing, and employ a great deal of time when he does it.

As well as bad perfectionism, which looks for an ideal result not minding reality, there is good perfectionism that takes reality into account and is satisfied with a result as good as possible. Good perfectionism allows the person to derive pleasure from his work even if it is not perfect. Problems derived from trying to observe an ideal behavior are avoided when the person accepts that perfection is not to be expected in the real world.

Introversion

Introversion has been associated with intelligence: the more intelligent the person, the more introvert. The consequence would be that the majority of gifted children would be introverts, but this is not what can be observed. The characteristics of introversion, as were defined by Jung, dealt mainly with the relation of the individual with the others. From this point of view, it cannot be said that among gifted people there are more introverts than extroverts. What happens is that, as a result of being isolated among people that are not like himself, the gifted person is led to observe behaviors that are similar to those of the introvert. Only when the gifted person is watched in the company of similar people, one can say if he is extrovert or introvert. It has been reported that people who were considered shy changed this behavior when they at last find congenial people.