Open Access

Does intellectual giftedness pave the way towards satisfaction and success or is it rather a source of self-insecurity and further problems? The current Germany-wide quantitative online survey, in which 862 intellectual gifted adults (age 18+) with a minimum IQ of 130 points participated, focuses on the overall satisfaction in diverse categories, such as profession, social environment and family. Hereby, this comparative study differentiates between early- and late-diagnosed intellectually gifted people. Based on four hypotheses it is investigated how an early- or late diagnosis of intellectual giftedness impacts overall satisfaction and occupational satisfaction and to what extent all participants expressed a need for professional support. The study finds, that individuals who learned about their giftedness only in adulthood and who were surprised about this finding showed diminished self-satisfaction as compared to other highly gifted individuals. Furthermore, the study revealed that the majority of the intellectually gifted participants expressed a need for qualified professional counsel-ling, hereby reinforcing the notion that social workers should be trained to work with this specific group of people. In conclusion, this study contributes to a potential debate about support for highly gifted individuals provided by social work and other counselling professions.