Features of identity development of intellectually gifted and academic successful child in modern school

The aim. To examine how identity develops in primary school students and adolescents with different levels of intellectual giftedness and academic success, and what social factors determine the features of this dynamics.

Materials and methods. The results of examining of 293 subjects – school students from 2018 to 2023 were analyzed. The level of intellectual giftedness was determined using the Raven’s Colored and Progressive Matrices methods, the Torrance Creativity Test, and the average score. The level of identity development was determined using the Twenty Statements, Semantic Differential, SEI test, and OKI methods. The Spearman correlation criterion, the Mann–Whitney U-test, the Wilcoxon criterion, the χ² criterion, and the φ criterion were used.

Results. In younger school children with pronounced intelligence, self-esteem increases, while in those with a more moderate level of intelligence, it decreases. There is no such connection in adolescents. In junior schoolchildren with pronounced intellectual giftedness, the share of the Educational component is higher and the share of the Personal component is lower, while in schoolchildren with another level of giftedness, the opposite is true; the differences are also associated with the Activity, Group, and Gender-Role components. It has been established that the identity of intellectually gifted children is more labile. Also, the identity crisis in intellectually gifted adolescents is no less pronounced than in their peers, but affects other aspects.

Conclusion. It has been confirmed that gifted primary school students make their success at school a part of their identity, which is expressed in the growth of the Academic and Group components of their identity. Less gifted students find other reference groups for identification. The identity crisis in intellectually gifted adolescents is quite pronounced. However, the severity of crisis phenomena, on the contrary, can be considered as a positive aspect that leads to a more productive, coordinated identity.

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