ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To date, no French studies have been published concerning intellectually gifted elderly people (over 65 years of age), although they represent more than 200,000 people in France. METHOD: This paper reports the results of a study conducted with members of the Mensa Association, whose membership is open to those who have scored very highly on IQ tests (scores of 132 or higher). Twenty-eight gifted elderly people (aged between 65 and 86 years) were assessed using a life satisfaction index (Neugarten Scale). The results were compared with those obtained from a sample of 394 elderly people who participated in the lcare study, which is recognised as a reference study. RESULTS: Our study indicates that gifted elderly people have significantly higher rates of life satisfaction (past, present and future) than normal elderly people. DISCUSSION: The Neugarten index revealed the great life satisfaction in this population. However, several biases should be taken into account: size of the sample, recruitment method and life satisfaction assessment. Despite these limits, the results of this study are of certain interest since there is little data on follow-up and aging of intellectually gifted people in the literature.
