Gifted Adult Characteristics

Gifted Adult Characteristics and Simple Questionaire’s

  • Overexcitability

  • Perfectionist

  • Competitive

  • Insatiable hunger for learning

  • Fast neural processing speed

  • Large vocabulary

  • Intense

  • Highly sensitive

  • Creative

  • Misunderstood

  • Difficulty in identifying similar minded peers

  • Have a natural sense of curiosity and wonder

    The Gifted Adult: A Revolutionary Guide for Liberating Everyday Genius , Author Mary-Elaine Jacobsen provides the gifted adult questionnaire (provided below) to help with self-identification.

  • I have always had an insatiable curiosity

  • I set very high standards for myself and can be my own worst critic

  • I have a powerful need to know and am a seeker of ultimate truths

  • I have been criticized for being “too much” of just about everything

  • I have always felt deeply wounded by injustice and human suffering

  • I can see many sides to nearly every issue and love a good debate

  • I have a lot of energy and often feel driven by my own creativity

  • I am often seen as the “idea person” in a group

  • I love puzzles, mazes, paradoxes, complex ideas, and words

  • I often feel responsible for problems that don’t actually belong to me

  • Many times I have felt “different,” and sometimes I feel like a minority of one

  • I am a dyed-in-the-wool perfectionist

  • I have been criticized for not “sticking with one thing”

  • Honesty, integrity, and authenticity are very important to me

  • I have a history of questioning rules and challenging authority

  • I seem to be bothered by bright lights, aromas, and noises that others ignore

  • I have a well-developed sense of humor that is somewhat offbeat

  • I have maintained my childlike sense of playfulness and wonder

    Mary Rocamora (founder of the Rocamora school in LA) developed another helpful giftedness questionnaire. The gifted adults traits are divided into nine area. Do you identify with these?

  • General characteristics – large vocabulary, multi-talented, many interests and abilities, creative…

  • Entelechy – a need for self-determination, to become all one is capable of

  • The five overexcitabilities (OEs)

    1. Psychomotor OE

      •  energetic; love intense physical activity; fidgety; restless

    2. Sensual OE

      • heightened and refined senses; deeply moved by music or the visual arts; a love—or hate—for certain textures, tastes, smells, sounds, etc.; environmentally fussy.

    3. Intellectual OE

      • always exploring new ideas and theories; adept at meta-cognition; love problem-solving, research, analysis, and theoretical thinking. The stereotypical giftedness trait.

    4. Imaginational OE

      • vivid imagination, inventiveness, dramatic perception, poetic inclinations, love of fantasy, humour, creative imagination and low tolerance for boredom.

    5. Emotional OE

      • intensified feelings and emotions, strong attachments to people, places, and things;  intense bodily emotional expressions; refined feelings toward self (e.g., ability to dialogue inwardly, self-understand, and self-judge).

    6. High intelligence – independent and divergent thinker, intuitive and insightful, relentlessly curious and investigative, lover of intense discussions, quick learner

    7. The search for truth – existentially concerned and constantly truth-seeking throughout life

    8. The “autonomous factor” – a sense of inner-directedness, an inner drive to make conscious choices in accordance with principles which are highest in oneself

    9. Perfectionism – driven to be—and do—the best you can (can lead to burnout)

    10. Introversion – gain energy from being alone; prefer depth to breadth; appreciate privacy

    11. Idealism – generally driven to make the world a better place for ALL

    Check out Resources for recommended books to learn more!