The Development of Empathy in Gifted Children, through the Lens of Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Distintegration

Abstract

This study was conducted to ascertain whether Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration informs the understanding of the development of empathy in gifted and typical students, and if so, in what ways does this occur (Dabrowski, 1964, 1966, 1996, 2010; Mendaglio, 2002, 2008, 2012; Tillier, 2002, 2009). The study adopted a phenomenological, mixed methods approach (Penn-Edwards, 2010). A purposive sample of grade 5/6 students was recruited from primary schools in southern Tasmania, Australia. The quantitative data were gathered through the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) (Davis, 1980, 1983) and qualitative data were gathered through individual semi-structured interviews and analysed using Leximancer v2.2 software (Smith & Humphries, 2006). The study found significant differences in the responses of gifted and typical students, on two empathy subscales from within the IRI.