ABSTRACT
An original four-quadrant framework of high-IQ/gifted interpersonal relating is presented. It draws together conceptually the central styles of social interaction discerned in Sonja Falck’s qualitative research interviews with very high-IQ/gifted individuals including Mensa members, plus her professional practice and textual analysis of literature and research on giftedness and high IQ. The framework distils two main dimensions of interpersonal relating: expressiveness of self, and acceptance by others. For each quadrant there is a dominant interpersonal style, a dominant way of handling the high ability or potential associated with extreme intelligence, and a dominant underlying issue that fuels interactions but is often outside of conscious awareness. Two quadrants depict lower levels of expressiveness of self (“Hiding Self”), and the other two depict higher levels of expressiveness (“Reaching Out”). It is explained how reaching out to others can be undertaken in a way that is positive or negative. Each quadrant is explicated, giving relevant examples. It is then shown how this framework is congruent with other authors’ categories of giftedness life-strategies/trajectories (Grady Towers, Mary-Elaine Jacobsen, Marylou Streznewski, Noks Nauta & Franz Corten, Roland Persson), and with major psychological theories (including the work of Donald Winnicott, Heinz Kohut, John Bowlby, Carl Rogers, Eric Berne).
