Gender Identity and the Overexcitability Profiles of Gifted College Students

Traditional sex-based categories are giving way to more expanded notions of gender among young men and women today. Along with feminine and masculine personalities, some individuals combine both for a more androgynous persona, whereas others exhibit few distinctly feminine or masculine characteristics. In a study of 118 gifted college students, the Bem Sex-Role Inventory was used to assess gender identity; personality characteristics were measured with the Overexcitability Questionnaire-Two. Results indicate a stronger relationship between gender identity (masculinity or femininity) and overexcitability (OE) than between sex (female or male) and OE. Males and females were distributed in the gender categories as follows: men tended to be masculine or undifferentiated, whereas women were feminine or androgynous. Androgynous males and females had higher OE scores. Implications for Dabrowski's theory and gifted education are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)