Underachievement
Sometimes people who are gifted do not manage to succeed. They are called ‘underachievers’ because it is usually believed that a person with superior abilities must give some demonstration of this superiority. In reality, there are no grounds for this assumption. The confusion between ‘gifted’ and ‘talented’ is responsible for this mistake. A talented person can make something better than the others: painting, singing, dancing, etc., generally in the arts.
A gifted person, on the other hand, is a person that sees differently and processes differently. He does not necessarily perform anything better than the others. A gifted person may employ his especial abilities in a field that is socially valuable, or he may not. He may for example become a scientist, or he may dedicate himself to solve crossword puzzles.
The term ‘gifted’ when applied to high intelligence people has been the source of much confusion. This usage conflicts with an older usage of the word exemplified by the phrase ‘gift of the gab.’ The person who is endowed with a natural talent may also have a high intelligence. The two things have no relation, in the same way that having a good voice for singing is not related with having blue eyes.
The gifted adult that shares the belief that only achievers are gifted will fail to recognize his condition if lacking achievement. His emotional responses may then have to be shut down. If he was identified when a child, he may suppose that his gift has disappeared, or he may let denial expunge the memory of this identification.
The fact is that circumstantial factors can stop gifted people from making use of their abilities. These factors can be poverty, ethnicity, opportunity, lack of understanding in the family, or gender. Poverty and ethnicity can make that the person does not receive the proper education. To have an opportunity one must be born at the right place and at the right time. Families sometimes do not know how to deal with a gifted child, perhaps for lack of antecedents in the family. To be a woman may prevent access to certain types of education or work.
A child may have his gift inhibited by way of abuse or criticism. Parents and teachers can contribute to this attack to self-esteem. Lack of respect and disapproval can cause more damage to a gifted child than to a normal one. An incident that would affect only temporarily a normal child may be the cause that a gifted child back off permanently from expressing himself.
Being gifted in an environment where there is none of your kind is very difficult, and not every person is suited for this situation. To handle it, people usually hide their intelligence. This hiding may become so perfect that intelligence is shut off forever.
There are many fears that can prevent a gifted person from making evident his intelligence. One of them was already mentioned: the fear to be different, which is common to all people, but there are other fears specific to gifted people.
Oversocialization is the situation in which the personality of a person is absorbed by his social role. Sometimes the fulfillment of a social role stops the development of potentialities. For example, a daughter who must take care of her parents may not be free to move to another city to get higher education.
Low self-esteem and self-limiting beliefs can also be the cause of poor achievement. It is well known that one will never go beyond what one believes to be his capacity. Lacking a counselor that tells him what he can achieve, a gifted person may never discover it by himself. The situation is aggravated when the person suffers from low self-esteem as a result of parental criticism or abuse.
Some factors that prevent achievement are peculiar to gifted people. While others are eager to be admired, gifted people may stay away from situations where they may be seen as superior. Increased sensitivity can make gifted people avoid expressing themselves for fear of criticism.