Giftedness, language and socialization. The use of language as a coping strategy in peer relationships.

Abstract

The present research aims to investigate whether the sample of gifted children uses adaptive strategies (social coping strategies) and what role language will assume within peer relationships from the point of view of gifted students. Specifically, the following survey seeks to verify whether the children are willing to change their language (adopting a coping strategy) to better integrate within the group of peers. The reference sample consists of 19 gifted students (7 females and 12 males) aged between 11 and 15, with an IQ between 128 and 154. The findings disprove the research hypothesis that most students would employ an adaptive language-related strategy to widen their circle of friends.