Profiles of Overexcitabilities in Students With High Abilities, High Achievement, and Non-Identified Peers

Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration proposes overexcitabilities (OEs) as heightened forms of responsiveness frequently associated with students with high abilities. However, OEs are often misinterpreted as behavioral or emotional difficulties, and their discriminant value for talent identification remains unclear. This study examined whether profiles across the five OE dimensions (psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational, and emotional) differentiate students formally identified as highly able, high-achievers, and non-identified peers.

A quantitative, comparative, cross-sectional design was employed with 157 Spanish students aged 8–13 years (59 highly able, 57 high-achievers, 41 non-identified). Participants completed the Spanish adaptation of the Overexcitabilities Questionnaire–II (OEQ-II), which demonstrated adequate to excellent internal consistency (α = .73–.84). Group differences were analyzed using MANOVA and follow-up ANOVAs with Bonferroni adjustments. A multinomial logistic regression examined the predictive value of OE dimensions for group membership.

The results revealed a significant multivariate effect of group on OE profiles, Pillai’s V = .359, F(10, 302) = 6.62, p < .001, partial η² = .18. Univariate analyses showed significant differences across all five dimensions (η² = .09–.23). Both highly able and high-achieving students scored higher than non-identified peers in emotional, sensual, and imaginational OEs. Intellectual OE most clearly distinguished the highly able group, which scored significantly higher than both comparison groups and emerged as the only significant predictor of formal identification in the regression model (Nagelkerke R² = .38). Post hoc power analyses indicated high sensitivity (1–β = .99).

The findings suggest that intensity-related characteristics are common among high-performing students, but intellectual OE uniquely characterizes highly able learners. Incorporating multidimensional OE profiles alongside cognitive and academic indicators may improve early identification and provide a more comprehensive basis for educational support and enrichment.