A Comparison of Gifted and Typically Developing Children’s Friendship Relationships, Psychological Well-Being, and Social Problem-Solving Skills in the Primary School Context

Gifted and typically developing children exhibit some differences in their developmental processes. This study compares the friendship relationships, psychological well-being, and social problem-solving skills of these two groups. The participants included 526 primary school children, comprising 241 gifted and 285 typically developing children. Data were collected using scales that measured friendship, psychological well-being, and social problem-solving skills and analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U test. The results showed a significant difference in friendship scores, favoring typically developing children. Conversely, a significant difference in social problem-solving skills was found in favor of gifted children. No statistically significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of psychological well-being. These findings contribute to the growing body of research on gifted and typically developing children.