Schwartz, Kelly DeanBoey, Jennifer Madeline2023-01-062023-01-062023-01-03Boey, J. M. (2023). Big Questions: The Relation of Cognitive Profile to Sense of Meaning in Life, Self-Compassion, and Subjective Well-Being Among Highly Intelligent Youth (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.http://hdl.handle.net/1880/115659https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/40585Cognitive characteristics may leave highly intelligent youth at higher risk of internalizing symptoms, problems in social functioning, or low subjective well-being. This study utilized archival psychoeducational assessment data to compare verbal-fluid intelligence discrepancy with social-emotional self- and parent-report scores in children and adolescents identified as highly intelligent. Results indicated that social stress is associated with verbal-fluid intelligence discrepancy while internalizing symptoms are not. Neither gender nor age was found to influence these relationships significantly. Questionnaire data were collected from a subsample of participants to compare intelligence with measures of self-compassion and meaningfulness in life. When gender and current difficulties (e.g., emotional symptoms, peer problems) were controlled for, intelligence was found to be associated with self-compassion, search for meaning in life, and discrepancy between search for meaning and presence of meaning in life. Female adolescents responded with a significantly greater discrepancy between search for meaning and presence of meaning than did males. These results suggest that cognitive characteristics are associated with social functioning and meaningfulness in highly intelligent youth and that highly intelligent female adolescents may be at particular risk of experiencing a crisis of meaning. Results may help to inform education practice, psychoeducational assessment procedures, and social-emotional intervention for highly intelligent youth.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.intelligenceadolescencesocial stressself-compassionwell-beingmeaning in lifegender differenceschildhoodcognitive discrepancyEducational PsychologyPsychology--DevelopmentalPsychometricsmaster thesis