ABSTRACT

Achieving happiness is considered to be a high value goal in modern society, associated with manifold positive outcomes. Much of the literature on gifted students focuses on cognitive outcomes, with a paucity of research on positive psychological constructs. The major goal of this paper is to examine the empirical evidence bearing on the happiness of gifted students when compared to their nonidentified students from a positive psychological perspective. The methodology of this study is based on a small-scale meta-analysis of the six available studies providing empirical data on differences among educational groups in their happiness. These six studies included a total of 1632 participants (mean proportion male = 53%), comprised of 713 gifted (61% boys) and 919 nonidentified students (47% boys). Overall, this study failed to reveal mean reliable differences among educational groups in happiness, supporting the position that giftedness is more of a protective resource than a vulnerability factor. Directions for future research in this relatively neglected, yet important, area of research are presented. This paper concludes by contending that gifted students who are happy and also feel they are contributing to the greater good and improving life, are also more likely to flourish and eventually benefit both themselves and society as a whole.

摘要

实现幸福被认为是现代社会的一个高价值目标，与多种积极成果相关。许多关于天才学生的文献都侧重于认知结果，而对积极心理结构的研究却很少。本文的主要目的是从积极心理学的角度，检验与非身份学生相比，天才学生幸福感的实证证据。本研究的方法基于对六项现有研究的小规模元分析，提供有关教育群体幸福感差异的实证数据。这六项研究共包括 1632 名参与者（男性平均比例 = 53%），其中包括 713 名天才学生（61% 男孩）和 919 名身份不明的学生（47% 男孩）。总体，这项研究未能揭示教育群体在幸福感方面的平均可靠差异，支持这样的立场，即天赋更像是一种保护性资源而不是脆弱因素。介绍了这一相对被忽视但重要的研究领域的未来研究方向。这篇论文的结论是，那些感到快乐并且觉得自己正在为更美好的生活和改善生活做出贡献的天才学生也更有可能蓬勃发展，并最终使他们自己和整个社会都受益。