• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.75-99
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• 2004

The purpose of the study was to find out differences in personality characteristics between gifted and normal children and also to find out differences in personality characteristics between gifted boys and gifted girls. Three hundred and forty-five children(108 gifted children, 237 normal children), who were forth to sixth grade children, were taken the Children's NEO Personality Inventory(Big five traits and 17 facets). The results were as follos; 1. There are statistically significant differences in personality characteristics between the gifted and the normal children. The gifted children have higher tendency of openness, extraversion, conscientiousness, lower neuroticism than the normal children. There is no difference in agreeableness between the gifted and the normal children. In the subfactors(facets) of neuroticism, the gifted children have lower tendency of anxiety, hostility, depression, shyness, attention deficit than the normal children. In the subfactors of extraversion, the gifted children have higher tendency of assertiveness, gregariousness, cheerfulness than the normal children. In the subfactors of openness, the gifted children have higher tendency of fantasy, creativity, physical activity, high intellectual ability, flexibility, reactivity than the normal children. In the subfactors of agreeableness, the gifted were more warmth and altruism than the normal children. In the subfactors of conscientiousness, the gifted children have higher tendency of competence, achievement motivation, deliberation, dutifulness than the normal children. 2. There were no statistically significant differences in personality characteristics between the gifted girls and the gifted boys. In the subfactors of neuroticism the gifted boys have higher tendency of shyness than the gifted girls. In the of subfactors of extraversion, the gifted boys have lower tendency of sensation- seeking than the gifted girls. In the subfactors of openness, the gifted boys have higher tendency of intellectual ability than the gifted girls.