1. If you’re wondering, as a gifted adult, what characterizes your giftedness, you may be interested in this article. It’s by Elyse Killoran (highlighting and point form formatting is mine, not that of the original author).
2. Take a look:
3. The vast majority of adults who were labeled *gifted* in childhood are unaware that their advanced development would continue to have an impact throughout their lives. Contrary to popular belief, giftedness is not characterized by high intelligence alone. Rather, gifted individuals experience early & exceptional psychological, spiritual, and intellectual development. As a result, gifted adults exhibit common personality traits and face similar challenges on the road to self-actualization.
4. Gifted adults demonstrate:
5. Qualitative differences in information processing — characterized by:
6. –          unique perception and awareness
7. –          a sense of humor and creativity outside the norm
8. –          questioning, searching for truth, intuitiveness
9. –          insightfulness
10. –          comfort with both divergent thinking (breaking things into components) and synergistic thinking (putting things together to form something new and different)
11. –          relentless curiosity and heightened creative drive
12. –          more process-oriented than product-oriented
13. –          hold divergent values compared to mainstream culture
14. High sensitivity — characterized by:
15. –          sensitivity to others often combined with a sense of personal alienation and loneliness
16. –          acute awareness of complexities and consequences
17. –          heightened responsivity to expectations of others
18. Intensity — characterized by:
19. –          high excitability
20. –          high energy level
21. –          emotional reactivity
22. –          high arousal of central nervous system
23. Multipotentiality — characterized by:
24. –          having capabilities in many areas and domains of talent
25. –          can move fluidly from one pursuit or interest to the next
26. –          have the ability to juggle many things at once
27. Idealism — characterized by:
28. –          striving for moral integrity
29. –          interest in social reform & service
30. –          extraordinarily high standards
31. –          low tolerance for mediocrity and frustration
32. Perfectionism — characterized by:
33. –          self-criticism
34. –          labeling themselves as “scattered”
35. –          having a lowered sense of entitlement to make mistakes
36. –          identifying easily with failure
37. –          thinking they are more likely to blame than others
38. –          difficulty taking credit for achievement and abilities (“imposter” phenomena)
39. Internal locus of control — characterized by feelings of:
40. –          being out of step and on a separate path
41. –          being “Other”
42. –          not fitting in
43. –          striving for Inner Authenticity may experience deep conflicts between needs for self-actualization and maintaining traditional relationships
44. Strong entelechy (from Greek for “having a goal”) — characterized by:
45. –          the need for self-determination, for self-actualization
46. –          leadership qualities
47. –          achievement-oriented
48. –          interested in non-traditional careers and professions.
49. Intense moral commitment — characterized by:
50. –          seeing injustice and doing something about it
51. –          willingness to stand up for one’s beliefs
52. –          outrage at moral breaches that the rest of the world seems to take for granted
53. Global view — characterized by:
54. –          respect for all human beings
55. –          a greater capacity for empathy
56. –          concern for others–especially children
57. –          sensitivity and warmth
58. As a gifted adult, it is important that you recognize your precious creativity and acknowledge that the full expression of your gifts would be a tremendous contribution to the society at large. It is essential that you develop a plan to channel and focus your abundance of physical, sensual, intellectual and emotional energy.
59. The above listing has been derived from the work of Douglas Eby, Mary Rocamora, Kathleen Noble and studies conducted by Linda Kreger Silverman of the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development.