Psychology
in
rhe
Schools
1981,
18,
235-239
WISHES OF FOURTH-
THROUGH SEVENTH-GRADE GIFTED STUDENTS
FRANCES A. KARNES AND JEFFREY N. WHERRY
University
ofSouthern
Mississippi
Three wishes and primary wishes of fourth- through seventh-grade gifted students par-
ticipating in a residential program
for
the gifted were collected and categorized. The
results indicated that males wished for material things more often than did females.
With the exception of fourth graders, subjects made altruistic wishes more frequently
than any other wish.
Making wishes is an activity engaged in by children and adults in every culture.
Because of this universality, wishes have been employed over the years to study the goals
and values of groups varying
in
age and mental abilities. Guarnaccia and Vane (1979), in
their review of the literature, drew several conclusions about wishes. Based
on
the studies
of Wilson (1938), Zeligs (1942), Cobb (1954), and Ables (1972), they concluded that
younger children usually wished for materialistic possessions, while older children’s
wishes focused more on social welfare and social relations. they also indicated that,
of
the
groups studied, girls’ wishes pertained more to family and social relations, while boys’
wishes were more concerned with personal possessions and achievements.
Schaefer (1975) found that the wishes of emotionally disturbed boys focused more
on material items, activities, and persons than those
of
the groups of normal boys
previously studied. In studying problem and nonproblem students, ages five through 13,
Guarnaccia and Vane (1979) found that age and sex differences were similar to those
found
in
other studies. However, the data suggest that nonproblem children were more
concerned with items outside of their immediate environment, while problem children
were more concerned with personal items and relief from pressures associated with
schooling. Guarnaccia and Vane concluded that children’s wishes across groups were
more alike than unalike.
While different groups of students are considered in the aforementioned studies, one
group not previously studied is the gifted. The present study focuses
on
the wishes
of
gifted students,
in
order to reveal the possible goals and values of the gifted, to discover
similarities and differences between the gifted and previously studied groups, and to ex-
amine differences within the gifted with regard to sex and grade,
METHOD
Subjects
Subjects were gifted students attending a summer residential program in a Southern
state. The 155 students had completed grades four through seven. The sample consisted
of 77 females and 78 males. The criterion for admission to the program followed state
guidelines concerning the definition of the gifted-an IQ score of 120
or
above on an
in-
dividually administered intelligence test, either the WISC-R
or
Stanford Binet.
Requests for reprints should be sent to Frances
A.
Kames, Dept.
of
Special Education, University of
Southern Mississippi, Southern Station, Hattiesburg, MS
39401.
235