Turning young gifted people into adult producers is
part of a range of factors based within both their environment and personality
traits. The author Paula Olszewski-Kubilius presents a model that explains key
traits that make this population unique. Helping college students understand
giftedness and manifest their abilities promotes a more creative adult that can
foster industry, and at times, national growth.
"The
unifying similarity
among geniuses
and innovators
is not
cognitive or
affective but
motivational. What
is common
among them
is the
unwillingness or
inability to
strive for
goals everyone
else accepts--their
refusal to
live by
a presented
life theme
(Csikszentmihalyi ,1985,
p. 114).
Gifted individuals create their own paths in life and are not willing to accept
the paths others believe they should have.
Two types of gifted adults often emerge. Those who
come from intact families are scholastically advanced while those who do not
become more creative. Scholastic adults are great at earning higher grades
while creative adults find new ways of doing things. Each has a positive
benefit on society. Their abilities are manifested based upon their
motivations. It is this motivation that makes all the differences between over achievement and underachievement.
Gifted adults have some traits based in their
biological, psychological and social development. Each seeks to create
something within their lives in a long developing destiny. It is an internal
feeling that pushes them to continue to create, develop and master. To
understand those traits that are common to gifted children and adults it can
help administrators understand how to fully bloom this group for the advancement
of society.
Time
Alone: Gifted
adults often seek out time alone based upon both their psychological processes
as well as their childhood environments. They use this time to solve complex
problems, gain skills, read, learn and experiment.
Thriving
off Stress: Geniuses do not develop well when
things are boring and conventional. They seek out stress and have developed advanced
methods of dealing with that stress. They keep seeking improvement where others
have long accepted the “status qua”.
Rejection
of Conventionality: Conventionality requires people to
follow societal rules and these rules based more in tradition than in
practicality. Those who reject conventionality have different points of view
that make them more creative and unique.
Intellectual
Stimulation as Emotional Expression: Highly gifted adults
use past experiences to create higher levels of intellectual stimulation. These activities are expressions of who they
are and the problems they have faced in their lives.
Olszewski-Kubilius,
P. (2000). The transition from childhood giftedness to adult creative productiveness:
psychological characteristics and social supports. Roeper Review, 23 (2).
