Gifted students, particularly nonathletes or introverts, may suffer feelings of alienation and isolation in school. Geeks and nerds do not hate people, but abhor a school culture that glorifies athletics. Lack of respect for bright nonconformists can lead to emotional problems and underachievement. (MLH)

In this paper, we review findings from Project Competence on the nature of personality development from middle childhood through the early adult years and place these findings in the context of current research on temperament and personality traits. In a series of studies using data drawn from the Project Competence longitudinal project, we have…