The Role of Parental Education, Intelligence, and Personality on the Cognitive Abilities of Gifted Children
Several studies have indicated that parental education predicts children’s intelligence. In contrast, fewer studies have simultaneously analyzed the role of parental intelligence, education, and personality in shaping their children’s giftedness. This study investigated the effects of parental educa...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Lina Pezzuti Morena Farese James Dawe Marco Lauriola |
| author_facet | Lina Pezzuti Morena Farese James Dawe Marco Lauriola |
| author_sort | Lina Pezzuti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Several studies have indicated that parental education predicts children’s intelligence. In contrast, fewer studies have simultaneously analyzed the role of parental intelligence, education, and personality in shaping their children’s giftedness. This study investigated the effects of parental education, cognitive abilities (based on CHC theory), and personality traits (based on the Five-Factor Model) on the expression of gifted children’s cognitive abilities. Sixty-five gifted children (IQ ≥ 120) aged 6 to 14 years (M = 9.91 years; SD = 2.24 years) were assessed using the WISC-IV, while parents (65 mothers, M = 44.00 years; SD = 4.20 years, and 61 fathers, M = 45.70 years; SD = 5.40 years) completed the WAIS-IV and the Big-Five Inventory. The results indicated that maternal education was a key predictor of children’s Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) in bivariate analyses, though its effect was not robust in multivariate models. Children’s Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) was associated with maternal conscientiousness, and fathers’ short-term memory (Gsm) emerged as the primary predictor of children’s Working Memory Index (WMI). Maternal processing speed (Gs) was the strongest predictor of children’s Processing Speed Index (PSI) across both bivariate and multivariate analyses. While personality traits, such as maternal conscientiousness, played a role in facilitating visual-spatial reasoning, their effects were weaker compared to cognitive and educational factors. The findings obtained, which are only partly consistent with data in the literature, highlight the domain-specific influence of parental characteristics on children’s giftedness and underscore the need for further research into the interplay of genetic, cognitive, and environmental factors. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d950dc1786b54f8d9a91eb9024098caa |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2079-3200 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-d950dc1786b54f8d9a91eb9024098caa2025-08-20T03:12:22ZengMDPI AGJournal of Intelligence2079-32002025-01-011321210.3390/jintelligence13020012The Role of Parental Education, Intelligence, and Personality on the Cognitive Abilities of Gifted ChildrenLina Pezzuti0Morena Farese1James Dawe2Marco Lauriola3Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, ItalySeveral studies have indicated that parental education predicts children’s intelligence. In contrast, fewer studies have simultaneously analyzed the role of parental intelligence, education, and personality in shaping their children’s giftedness. This study investigated the effects of parental education, cognitive abilities (based on CHC theory), and personality traits (based on the Five-Factor Model) on the expression of gifted children’s cognitive abilities. Sixty-five gifted children (IQ ≥ 120) aged 6 to 14 years (M = 9.91 years; SD = 2.24 years) were assessed using the WISC-IV, while parents (65 mothers, M = 44.00 years; SD = 4.20 years, and 61 fathers, M = 45.70 years; SD = 5.40 years) completed the WAIS-IV and the Big-Five Inventory. The results indicated that maternal education was a key predictor of children’s Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) in bivariate analyses, though its effect was not robust in multivariate models. Children’s Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) was associated with maternal conscientiousness, and fathers’ short-term memory (Gsm) emerged as the primary predictor of children’s Working Memory Index (WMI). Maternal processing speed (Gs) was the strongest predictor of children’s Processing Speed Index (PSI) across both bivariate and multivariate analyses. While personality traits, such as maternal conscientiousness, played a role in facilitating visual-spatial reasoning, their effects were weaker compared to cognitive and educational factors. The findings obtained, which are only partly consistent with data in the literature, highlight the domain-specific influence of parental characteristics on children’s giftedness and underscore the need for further research into the interplay of genetic, cognitive, and environmental factors.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/13/2/12gifted childrenparental educationparental intelligenceparental personality traitscognitive abilitiesCHC theory |
| spellingShingle | Lina Pezzuti Morena Farese James Dawe Marco Lauriola The Role of Parental Education, Intelligence, and Personality on the Cognitive Abilities of Gifted Children Journal of Intelligence gifted children parental education parental intelligence parental personality traits cognitive abilities CHC theory |
| title | The Role of Parental Education, Intelligence, and Personality on the Cognitive Abilities of Gifted Children |
| title_full | The Role of Parental Education, Intelligence, and Personality on the Cognitive Abilities of Gifted Children |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Parental Education, Intelligence, and Personality on the Cognitive Abilities of Gifted Children |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Parental Education, Intelligence, and Personality on the Cognitive Abilities of Gifted Children |
| title_short | The Role of Parental Education, Intelligence, and Personality on the Cognitive Abilities of Gifted Children |
| title_sort | role of parental education intelligence and personality on the cognitive abilities of gifted children |
| topic | gifted children parental education parental intelligence parental personality traits cognitive abilities CHC theory |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/13/2/12 |
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