Cross Lagged Analyses Between Life Meaning, Self Compassion, and Subjective Well being Among Gifted Adults
ObjectivesHighly intellectually gifted adults seem to be at a higher risk for existential crisis. However, not much is known about what contributes to their life meaning and/or well being. This study examined if self compassion may be a resource leading to a happy and/or meaningful life, or vice versa.MethodsCross lagged associations between meaningfulness, subjective well being, and self compassion were examined. Additionally, we tested for differences concerning these constructs between the gifted and general population. One hundred highly intellectually gifted adults (55% female; mean age 43 9 years) participated in a two wave (4 years) online study with a cross lagged design.ResultsGifted adults experienced significantly lower levels of meaningfulness (T1: d 0.55, 95% CI 0.76/ 0.33] T2: d 0.39, 95% CI 0.60/ 0.18] subjective well being (T1: d 1.11, 95% CI 1.32/ 0.90] T2: d 0.82, 95% CI 1.03/ 0.61] and self compassion (T1: d 1.21, 95% CI [0.99/1.42] T2: d 0.82, 95% CI [0.61/1.02] compared to the general population. Cross sectional analyses showed positive moderate to strong associations between the constructs. Cross lagged analysis revealed that a sense of meaningfulness was a significant predictor of subjective well being over time (b 0.36, p .05) after controlling for autoregressive effects. No cross lagged effects between self compassion and meaningfulness or self compassion and subjective well being were established.ConclusionsHighly intellectually gifted adults might find it taxing to experience life meaning, subjective well being, and self compassion. Results suggested the importance of strengthening gifted adults' life meaning which in further consequence may support highly gifted individuals in living a happier life.