Social Coping Strategies, and their Relationship to the Big Five Factors of Personality among Gifted and Talented Students

Abstract

The study aimed at identifying the most common social coping strategies used by gifted and talented students, the level of the five major Personality Factors, and the relationship between social coping strategies and the five major Personality Factors. The sample of the study consisted of 106 gifted and talented students at King Abdullah II schools for excellence. Social Coping Strategies Scale and the five major Personality Factors Scale were used. The results indicated that the gifted and talented students scored the highest mean scores in the Social Interaction Strategy dimension, while they scored the lowest mean scores in Giftedness Deny dimension. In addition, it was found that the subjects scored the highest on the Extraversion sub-scale while they scored the lowest on the Openness to Experience sub-scale compared with other sub-scales of the five major Personality Factors Inventory. On the other hand, the results indicated statistically significant positive and negative correlations between the overall degree of social coping strategies and the other dimensions of the scale, and the total score of the five major Personlaity Factors and their other dimensions.