Psychological Factors in the Development of Adulthood Giftedness from Childhood Talent

by Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, PhD

In early childhood, some children come to the attention of parents and teachers because of very advanced abilities or exceptional interest in an area. They may read very early, display a fascination with numbers or exhibit an exceptional memory for music. Parents and teachers, impressed by their young charges, may attempt to fuel their interests, satisfy their curiosities and nurture their talent. However, many of these children will not go on to be very exceptional in adulthood. Some will not receive the proper kind of guidance and support to sustain their involvement within the domain. A few, burdened by the overinvolvement of parents, will burn out in adolescence or early adulthood (Winner, 1996). Many will acquire expert levels of knowledge and perform at a high level in their area. But, only a very few will become eminent in adulthood and produce groundbreaking work in their field, the kind of work that earns them a place in history and significantly alters the domain that they work in. A major issue for the field of gifted education is why so few highly gifted children grow up to be renowned and creative producers.

Previous research has confirmed that a high IQ in childhood is not a guarantee for eminence or creative productivity (Terman, 1925). Researchers within gifted education assert that personality factors and motivation are the most important elements of creative achievement and distinguish creative producers from others. Csikszentmihalyi (1985) writes, "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." Ellen Winner (1996) writes about creative production, "After a certain point, levels of ability play a less important role than personality and motivational factors."

There is consistency among researchers regarding the distinguishing personality and motivational attributes of eminent individuals. Less, and largely speculative, information is available, however, about how these characteristics develop and are acquired, or the circumstances that generate them.

One characteristic of creative producers is a tolerance or preference for solitude which typically begins in childhood (Ochse, 1993). Many eminent individuals reported experiencing social isolation and loneliness as children. Many came from homes where there was ample opportunity for time alone for a variety of reasons and circumstances. Often, they were only children. Some were home schooled and had only their siblings to play with. Some were rejected by other children because of physical disabilities. Some were deliberately kept from having friends by their parents who feared the friend's negative influences. Some creative producers sought solitary time as children to escape family tensions and stressful circumstances. However obtained, this solitary time in childhood often facilitated study and practice within the talent area. It provided opportunities for voracious reading, a hallmark of eminent individuals and necessary to build a rich array of knowledge to buttress novel and pathbreaking ideas (Simonton, 1992). Solitary time in childhood also supported the development of a rich internal fantasy life, one that could aid creative thought. Being able to turn inward provided an emotional refuge from and a coping strategy for stressful circumstances (Ochse, 1993).

Creative productivity involves a great deal of hard work and creative producers are generally highly prolific. They are often characterized as workaholics (Simonton, 1992). Much of this creative work is done alone. Individuals who have developed a preference for solitude and learned how to use time alone productively will have an advantage in terms of creative achievement. It has been suggested that one of the reasons many adolescents drop out of their talent area is because during this period of development, it is especially difficult to tolerate the time alone needed for practice and study (Csikszentmihalyi, 1993).

A second characteristic of eminent adults is a lack of concern with conventionality, particularly social conventions and conventional paths to achievement (Albert, 1994). Historically, many eminent adults came from families that were of high social standing and "well-to-do." These families had the financial means to support their child's interests and strivings, even if they were in unconventional fields or areas. They were less likely to press children to enter traditionally upwardly mobile professions (such as law or medicine in today's society). Earning a living was less of a concern and career choice could be made on the basis of interest and one's "fit" to the profession. Parents had more time, energy and financial resources to devote to developing their child's interests and creative pursuits. Parents of eminent individuals were also less vigilant about monitoring school achievement and holding children to achievement standards (Albert, 1994).

Families that were low in socio-economic status and also marginal by virtue of race or ethnicity with respect to the larger culture were also more likely to eschew traditional high status professions and traditional paths to achievement but for very different reasons (Albert, 1994). Because of their financial situations and place in society, these families did not believe conventional paths to achievement were open to them or would lead to the same financial and social rewards of culturally mainstream children. These families were more likely to support their children toward nontraditional achievement paths, e.g., promoting a child to be a rock singer rather than a classical musician a la Michael Jackson. (Albert, 1994)

For other reasons, not directly related to socio-economic status, eminent adults had highly unconventional childhoods in which parents deliberately steered them toward a more open exploration of the world around them and away from traditional paths. Some creative producers did not acquire social conventions nor experience pressure to achieve in traditional ways during childhood because of disruptions in socialization due to unusual family circumstances, such as parental loss or dysfunction (Ochse, 1993; Simonton, 1992).

Being less conventional, for whatever reason, may facilitate the selection of nontraditional occupations or the joining of several into one more uniquely matched to the abilities and interests of the talented individual. It may also be associated with a desire to reject the status quo and to stir up a field or domain and move it in a different direction (Winner, 1994; Ochse, 1993). Being less conventional frees an individual from the need to acquire traditional achievement rewards and allows one to take more professional risks, producing novel works and putting them forward for critique and judgment. It promotes a tolerance of mistakes. To produce groundbreaking work in a field requires being hardened to criticism and rejection. Finally, individuals who came from unconventional homes are more likely to be able to form their own identity (Albert, 1994). The identification between parent and child is often less strong and children are relieved of pressures to go into fields similar to their parents and to achieve in certain ways to please their parents. They can make their own choices and find their own path which enhances commitment and drive.

A third characteristic of eminent individuals is an extraordinary ability to cope with tension and marginality (Gardner, 1994). Tensions, both intellectual and personal, result from trying to solve major intellectual problems within a an area and produce novel work. Marginality is a result of living and working frequently on the edges of acceptance by the critics and gatekeepers of the talent domain. Only individuals who can tolerate high levels of tension can succeed in putting forth novel work. Eminent individuals have been found to enjoy the tensions and stresses that accompany their work. They, in fact, thrive on it. Some researchers believe that creative producers are more comfortable in states of tension and marginality and, if their work becomes "too acceptable" to the critics within their talent domain, they will move on to a new problem in order to "up the ante" or "turn comfortable synchrony into asynchrony" (Gardener, 1994).

Being comfortable with tension and stress allows one to take riskier paths, choose more difficult problems, and straddle diverse and disparate fields of inquiry.

As children, eminent individuals have developed coping skills to handle high levels of tension or marginality in their lives. Many had stressful childhoods with tense and even traumatizing family situations (Ochse, 1993; Albert, 1994; Simonton, 1992). Others were able to tolerate the lack of acceptance of their work in adulthood as their families tolerated the lack of social acceptance in childhood (Gardner, 1994). They may have learned to cope with feelings of being different in childhood and accept that status readily in adulthood. Some eminent individuals acquire coping skills by having to deal with marked asynchronies within themselves such as high abilities in some areas and disabilities in others or physical disabilities.

Other personality characteristics that eminent individuals possess include high drive and energy (Winner, 1996). These individuals are typically described as workaholics, but their desire to master the skills and produce within a talent field is evident in childhood and displays itself as a "rage to know". Their work provides a great deal of enjoyment and the distinction between work and play is blurred for these individuals (Csikszentmihalyi, 1993).

One wonders what fuels an individual's drive to work as hard as eminent individuals typically do. It is not uncharacteristic for creative producers to forego marriage, children and other normal joys of life because they fear it will detract from their dedication to their work. Researchers speculate on the reasons for this tremendous commitment and motivation.

A compelling explanation is that work in the talent field, particularly intellectualactivities, fulfills emotional needs of the individual (Ochse, 1993). It has been noted with great interest that many eminent individuals lost a parent in childhood or adolescence. Others experienced stressful circumstances such as neglect, excessive discipline, parental dysfunction due to alcoholism and mental illness. Talented children who experience these circumstances may turn to intellectual activities as a refuge and to solitary activities, such as reading, to escape from stressful family and interpersonal relationships (Ochse, 1993). Intellectual pursuits may provide opportunities for children to experience control over their circumstances, unlike those within their families. Individuals may be highly motivated to produce within their talent area so as to gain love, admiration and acceptance from others, and to compensate for neglect or rejection experienced in childhood (Ochse, 1993). And, the creative works of writers, musicians and artists may be the encoded childhood tragedies of their producers, reworked for emotional soothing in their creative products (Piirto, 1992). Many creative producers can be characterized as "transformational copers" or individuals who could turn very difficult childhood events into positive, motivating ones (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). These resilient individuals may use a childhood trauma to create a life theme for themselves, a chosen profession or career that rectifies the wrong experienced as a child.

The high level of drive and commitment exhibited by talented individuals may be because work in their talent area fulfills these important emotional needs. And, because this work leads to increased skill, success and enjoyment, it is reinforcing. Some researchers suggest that without the motivation engendered by the need to derive emotional fulfillment from one's work, talented individuals would reach levels of expertise within their domain, but not eminence (Winner, 1996).

It is clear that the transition from childhood giftedness to adult creative production is complex and involves many factors. Different outcomes may result in adulthood depending on the emphases within the family during childhood or childhood circumstances. For example, individuals whose intellectual activities fulfill an emotional need but whose families stressed conventional achievement may be highly productive, successful adults in traditional fields but not creative producers. It is important that researchers continue to attempt to understand the psychological components of high achievement so that those factors that can be controlled, influenced or altered to promote talent development are identified and form the basis for school and family practices.

References

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