Abstract:

This study aims to reveal the relationship between the humor understanding and empathic tendencies of gifted and talented students. In addition, sense of humor and empathic disposition levels were examined in terms of several variables. For these purposes, causal comparison and relational survey model, which are quantitative research methods, were used together in the research. The study group of the research consists of 6th and 7th-grade secondary school students studying at Science and Art Centers in İstanbul. 105 female and 104 male gifted and talented students participated in the study. The data of the study were obtained through the “Multidimensional Humor Scale for School-aged Children” and “Child and Adolescent KA-SI Empathic Tendency Scale”. In the analysis of the data, Independent Sample T, Kruskall Wallis H tests, and Pearson Correlation coefficient were used. The findings from the research are: while the humor understanding levels of the gifted and talented students differed significantly based on the grade level and the education level of the father; the levels of empathic tendency showed a significant difference based on the gender and educational level of the mother. As a result of the research, it was found that there was a moderately positive and significant relationship (r=0.356) between the sense of humor and empathic tendencies of gifted and talented students. It can be concluded that as gifted and talented students' sense of humor increases, their empathic tendency levels increase moderately as well.

Keywords: