Peer attachment and prosocial giving behaviour of highly intelligent children in regular and gifted education

This study examined whether highly intelligent children experience stronger peer attachment and if they show more prosocial giving behaviour when attending gifted education as opposed to regular primary education. To examine the relation between peer attachment, prosocial giving behaviour and education type 117 Dutch students between 9 and 12 years old have filled in the Raven Progressive Matrices, the IRI, the Prosocial Donation Task and the IPPA as part of the Brightwave study. The results show that there is no significant effect of education type on peer attachment in highly intelligent children (t(1) = .102, p = .751). Furthermore, no significant effect of education type was found on prosocial giving behaviour (t(44) = .562, p = .577). We did find a significant effect of peer attachment on the number of donated coins F(2,88) = 10.543, p = .002. However, this effect was not influenced by education type. The results from this study were unexpected because previous research has...Show moreThis study examined whether highly intelligent children experience stronger peer attachment and if they show more prosocial giving behaviour when attending gifted education as opposed to regular primary education. To examine the relation between peer attachment, prosocial giving behaviour and education type 117 Dutch students between 9 and 12 years old have filled in the Raven Progressive Matrices, the IRI, the Prosocial Donation Task and the IPPA as part of the Brightwave study. The results show that there is no significant effect of education type on peer attachment in highly intelligent children (t(1) = .102, p = .751). Furthermore, no significant effect of education type was found on prosocial giving behaviour (t(44) = .562, p = .577). We did find a significant effect of peer attachment on the number of donated coins F(2,88) = 10.543, p = .002. However, this effect was not influenced by education type. The results from this study were unexpected because previous research has shown that highly intelligent children differ from their classmates in terms of emotional development and playstyle (Kroesbergen et al., 2016). This could make them feel less familiar towards their classmates which would cause them to show less prosocial giving behaviour (Amici, 2015). A possible explanation why highly intelligent children do not experience higher peer attachment or show more prosocial giving behaviour in gifted education is that they do not differ as much from their classmates in regular education as previously thought or despite this difference they may still befriend some classmates that share their interests and playstyle.Show less

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Peer attachment and prosocial giving behaviour of highly intelligent children in regular and gifted education