Comparison of Normal and Gifted Student's Social Skills and Its Relation with Problem Solving Skills and Perceived Parenting

The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the social skills of gifted and normal high school students and its relationship with problem-solving skills and perceived parenting style. 90 gifted high school students of mathematics, experimental science and humanities were selected by cluster-random method. Data were collected by Teenage Inventory of Social Skills (Inderbitzen & Foster,), Perceptions of Parents Scales (Robbins), and the Problem-Solving Inventory (Heppner & Petersen). Based on the findings of this study, there is no significant difference between the social skills of gifted and normal students. No significant difference was found regarding the problem-solving skills of gifted and normal students. Pearson correlation results showed that only the relationship between social skills and parenting styles of fathers was significant. The results showed that social and problem-solving skills do not differ in gifted and normal students. Father's parenting style (warmth and involvement) was related to adolescent social skills. Only parenting styles among gifted students was related to problem-solving skills. The most correlation was between trust style and maternal autonomy support. Also problem-solving skills increase student's social skills.