Openness to experience and overexcitabilities in a sample of highly gifted middle school students

Abstract

A sample of 108 highly gifted middle school students participated in a study of the relationships between Big Five factors and overexcitabilities. Students completed the NEO-FFI and Overexcitabilities Questionnaire-II (OEQ-II). A cutoff score applied to the OEQ-II created a threshold for overexcitability, ensuring only extreme responses. Analysis groups were based on the number of OEs students possessed based on the cutoff score. An analysis of variance assessed differences in students’ NEO-FFI scores according to the number of OEs they reported. Students with three or more overexcitabilities had significantly higher scores on NEO-FFI openness to experience than students with fewer overexcitabilities. Gifted females had significantly higher scores on NEO-FFI neuroticism scale than gifted males. The results hold implications for understanding the academic and social-emotional needs of highly gifted students and justify use of the Big Five model and overexcitabilities together to further understand the relationship between intelligence, personality, and giftedness.

A Comparison of Gifted Children and Children With Low, Average, and Above-Average Cognitive Abilities in Sensory Processing Sensitivity in the Primary School Context

“…Future research should investigate misdiagnoses in (sensitive) gifted children because accurate identification is essential for appropriate support and optimal development. It is also valuable to include the Big Five personality traits and OEs in additional research, since there is a (strong) relationship between the personality trait Openness to Experience and giftedness, SPS, and the OEs (Gallagher, 2022; Hellwig & Roth, 2021; Limont et al, 2014; Peperkorn & Wegner, 2020).…”

“…In a literature review, researchers found that the characteristics of gifted individuals were associated with higher levels of the OEs (Wood & Laycraft, 2020). Gallagher (2022) found that 40% of gifted students had three or more OEs, and 28% had two OEs. However, according to the review study by Tourreix et al (2023), the OEs are not a uniform criterion for identifying giftedness due to a heterogeneity of OE profiles among gifted individuals.…”

A Critique on the Current State of Research on the Social and Emotional Experiences of Gifted Individuals and a Framework for Moving the Field Forward

“…Limont et al (2014), Gallagher (2022), and others have shown that studies on the overexcitabilities and the Big Five both have roots in personality development, both are measured using self-report inventories, a number of items across said inventories are very similar, and researchers are increasingly focusing on the relationship between intellectual giftedness and overexcitabilities and/or the Big Five factors of personality. Vuyk et al (2016) even suggested that Openness to Experience, one of the Big Five factors of personality, actually encompasses and explains overexcitabilities: Individuals who are open to new experiences enjoy both outer and inner worlds, are curious, and hold novel ideas.…”

“…There are a number of different interpretations of the narrow facets, one of which is based on a long-standing measure of personality, the Revised NEO-Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992), a 240-item measure that assesses the five factors of personality, as well as six facets for each factor. Limont et al (2014), Gallagher (2022), and others have shown that studies on the overexcitabilities and the Big Five both have roots in personality development, both are measured using self-report inventories, a number of items across said inventories are very similar, and researchers are increasingly focusing on the relationship between intellectual giftedness and overexcitabilities and/or the Big Five factors of personality. Vuyk et al (2016) even suggested that Openness to Experience, one of the Big Five factors of personality, actually encompasses and explains overexcitabilities:…”