Hypersensitive, Anxious, and Creative? Representations of Gifted Children in French Children’s Literature

Abstract

In France, many social representations refer to gifted children who describe them as hypersensitive, curious, and creative. Although sometimes inaccurate, these representations can be conveyed in media intended for children and contribute to an erroneous transmission of characteristics of children with particularities. The objective of this study was to identify the social representations of gifted characters in French children’s literature. For this, we used a coding grid to analyze a corpus of 23 French books. The grid was designed based in the emotional and creative characteristics and their associated behaviors. Results showed that the representations of the gifted characters in the books studied were stereotypical, particularly in terms of their emotional characteristics. Applications and perspectives for future studies are discussed.