Levels of intellectual giftedness, culture and the forced choice dilemma

Abstract

This study investigated whether intellectually gifted students in Australia, with different levels of giftedness and cultural orientations, had different experiences of the forced choice dilemma - choosing between the needs for peer acceptance and academic achievement. A random sample of 231 intellectually gifted students attending secondary school completed and returned a self-report questionnaire. The data were analysed using factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. The study found some support for the hypothesis that level of intellectual giftedness was positively related to the experience of the forced choice dilemma. It was also shown that those with medium-level vertical allocentric orientations toward the family were likely to be the most vulnerable to the phenomenon. Intellectually gifted male adolescents, intellectually gifted students in early adolescence, and intellectually gifted students with peers of different cultural backgrounds were additional groups identified as being at risk.