LAUSR

Abstract Ambivalent stereotypes of the gifted still persist in the public. The aim of the current study is to provide a holistic picture of the personality (Big Five) and school functioning (motivation: academic self-concept, school values, achievement motives, achievement goals; grades; general knowledge) of gifted and non-gifted adolescents via self-reports and external assessments from their parents. Moreover, this is one of the first studies examining self-rated intelligence results and results from an objective intelligence test simultaneously. The sample comprised N = 760 students from five schools (age: M = 16.66, SD = 0.68; n = 411 female). Intellectual giftedness was defined as having an IQ two standard deviations above the mean value. We used propensity score matching to draw a comparable control group of nongifted adolescents (covariates: age, gender, and socioeconomic background; both groups n = 97). Gifted adolescents scored higher regarding openness to experience and had better grades, reported higher motivation, and evaluated themselves as more intelligent than nongifted adolescents. Parents of gifted adolescents rated their children higher on motivation, intelligence, and general knowledge than parents of nongifted adolescents. Taken together, we found no hints that gifted adolescents display any anomalies regarding personality, motivation, or school success.