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It's funny because by reading your messages on the private group for zebrasI realize that we all have many similar problems. And besides, the advantage of this group is that we can help each other to solve them. But today I wanted to take a little height: is it what we are? Really All the same?
Theme: the personality of the gifted
- The gifted are more open to the world
- The gifted are more emotionally sensitive
- Actually, it depends on the test we pass.
Here we go for the nice email of the week. 💫
Personality: the gifted are more open to the world
A month ago to the day a scientific study was published which dealt precisely with the differences in personality between the HIP And neurotypes. Isn't that good? For this, they needed 7976 volunteers (including 3244 HIP) to whom they have passed the personality model of the Big Five, sometimes also called the OCEAN model.
Basically, the personalities are classified according to 5 axes:
- (O) Opening : appreciation of art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas or new ideas, curiosity and imagination.
- (C) Consciousness Self-discipline, compliance, organization.
- (E) Extraversion : energy, positive emotions, tendency to seek stimulation and company of others.
- (A) Pleasibility : tendency to be compassionate and cooperative
- (N) Neurosis : contrary to emotional stability, tendency to easily experience unpleasant emotions such as anger, anxiety or depression
The big winner of the study is the opening. The gifted would therefore have a "more open" personality than the neurotypical ones.
It's not especially surprising, because it's consistent with the idea that we're making a gift. The HIP no need to be stimulated to avoid getting bored. They are more curious, and more open to the world.
Nevertheless, It only partially validates the results of a previous meta-analysis ( = an analysis of the results of other research). Indeed, in 2005, they found that HIP have scores:
- Higher on the Open (you go back to it)
- Higher on theExtraversion: like, the IQ does not mean that the one is better alone
- Lower on the Consciousness: certainly due to the fact that we don't need to produce any more effort to succeed in school and so we would let ourselves go.
And hypersensitivity ? No one talks about it anymore?
In short, we confirm certain points, yes. But we're losing more.
The HIP are hysterical according to science
I'm not saying it, it's other researchers. But don't take it badly.
They passed the MMPI (Minesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) to students HIP and neurotypical. It is a somewhat barbaric adornment that designates a personality test appreciated by scientists. It is composed of 567 questions (a priori unrelated) that will deduce your personality... without you being able to cheat.
Typically, we'll ask you if you're singing in the shower. So there's no way for you to voluntarily orient the test result.
And this time, the only element that differentiates is thatHIP More hysteria than neurotypicals. When I read this, I imagine a person crisising and yelling at everyone.
But in scientific language, hysteria is just emotional sensitivity. On average, the gifted would be more emotionally sensitive.
And bam, hypersensitivity comes back. But we lose the opening.
What's wrong?
Why aren't the results the same? What are you telling us, Paulo?
Remember last week: we were talking about variations in the intellectual quotient based on the IQ tests we pass and the conditions under which we pass it.
Well, that's the same thing. For each of these three experiments, the conditions were not exactlythe same and therefore the results are not exactly the same.
So do the gifted have a similar personality?
With the current results and the fact that not all scientific studies go in the same direction, we cannot safely pronounce ourselves. I have to be careful.
On the other hand, I am convinced that gift is only part of our personality. It does not do everything because we are first and foremost unique. You and I, despite our similarities, have a lot of things that differentiate us.
But in this same logic, if the gift is just a bit of our personality... well all the zebras have a similar personality part.
Do you have an opinion on this?
Come and talk about it!
See you next Tuesday,
– Paul