Exploring asynchrony as a theoretical framework for understanding giftedness : A case of cognitive dissonance?
- Authors: Andronaco, Julie , Shute, Rosalyn , McLachlan, Angus
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Roeper Review Vol. 36, no. 4 (2014), p. 264-272
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- Description: Asynchrony is a theoretical construct that views the intellectually gifted child as inherently vulnerable because of disparities arising from the mismatch between his or her chronological age and mental age. Such disparities, for example, between wanting to belong but being intellectually out of step with peers, are said to give rise to a psychological experience of discomfort or tension and to impact upon developing self-concept. Though the theory has been little subjected to empirical research, it does bear strong similarities to the well-established, but broader-based, psychological theory of cognitive dissonance. This article develops a model of asynchrony as a particular case of cognitive dissonance. As such, it may assist understanding of some children’s experiences of giftedness, though more research is needed to examine this theory. © , Copyright © The Roeper Institute.
Experiences of difference : A phenomenological study with intellectually gifted pre-adolescent/early adolescent boys and their mothers
- Authors: King, Julie , Shute, Rosalyn , McLachlan, Angus
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Roeper Review-a Journal on Gifted Education Vol. 41, no. 3 (2019), p. 185-198
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- Description: Within a theoretical framework of cognitive dissonance, this phenomenological study explored Australian intellectually gifted pre-adolescent/early adolescents' experiences of asynchrony. The study focuses on mothers and sons. Eleven boys aged 10 to 14 years, and nine of their mothers, participated in semi-structured interviews. Seven boys reported feelings of difference, but these were generally vague. One reported strongly upsetting feelings of difference, while several evaluated difference as positive. All mothers believed their sons had experienced strong feelings of difference, emphasizing friendship rather than academic matters, though children raised both. Despite most reporting only mild feelings of difference, boys, as well as mothers, articulated efforts to minimize these feelings. Although this sometimes caused a sense of inauthenticity, the data suggest that parents' and boys' own efforts to accommodate their needs had largely succeeded and left most boys well-adjusted.