I think that, at least for moderately-gifted people like myself, the emotional effects of giftedness are less than the emotional damage from being ostracised and bullied because of difference. In my case, I was bullied from kindergarten to grade 10, and even at age 40 I’m still shaking off the effects of that.
Related question: What qualifies a genius? If you go by IQ, what score gives you “genius” status, and on what test? (For example the Stanford-Binet.)
I too have that condition. Most people who get to know me consider me of above-average intelligence, though I’d be pretty loath to call myself a “genius.” And I certainly have had my share of emotional issues.
BUT, I’ve known some really smart people who were also very stable and socialy adept. I can see the reasoning behind why smart kids have problems with social interaction in school, but past a certain age, everything evens out. If there is some kind of internal, neurological link, it must be pretty subtle.
Sunspace, I know exactly what you mean. I will probably never forget the apparent indifference of many teachers and school administrators to the harassment that went on almost constantly, to myself and to others, when I was in school. I remember fondly those that DID do something. But they were far too few.
I’m just a giant brain in a jar, hooked up to the computer. I was bullied because of this at school 
First of all, no-one should feel “inferior” to a genius. Everyone’s different. That’s like me feeling inferior to a tall person or a person with brown eyes.
Second, I think that there is a link, but being a genius doesn’t guarantee emotion instability. I think it depens on how you view the rest of the world. If you view it in a positive light (you know how to have fun, you value other people, you enjoy your life), you will be mentally stable regardless of IQ. If you view the world as being inferior to you, you will feel alone and isolated
My boyfriend is exceptionally smart and normal. I have a friend who isn’t even as smart as he thinks he is, but he thinks he’s too smart to have fun or friends. Predictably, he’s pretty messed up.
Well, this is still a little vague, to me. But, yes, having to explain the obvious can be frustrating, even when it isn’t obvious to those less gifted. But, this isn’t limited to those with extremely high IQs. It can also apply to those with specialized knowledge. For instance, Sattua’s reference to the “level of triviality”. I’d never run across the phrase, before. And, even Google only gave me three hits. But, Sattua seemed to think it required no explanation. And, it isn’t a difficult concept, but it does require some explanation, for those who are unfamiliar with it. FWIW, here’s the best definition of the three I found.
Ironically, I’m quoting a source that complains about the lack of literature on the subject, because I couldn’t find anything else, either. Who says we Americans don’t appreciate irony?
But, I’m still not convinced there’s a direct link between high IQ and inability to discuss or relate to emotions. For instance, I have a very high IQ, but I doubt you’d consider me to have difficulties relating to or understanding other people’s emotions. (If you do, you haven’t read many of my posts.) But, there are different “modes of thought”; some people are good at abstract concepts, but can’t handle concrete logic, others are the opposite, for example. We all know there are some people who are good with words, and other people who are good with numbers. There are very few who are good with both. It’s probably a similar situation with your BF. And, that has to be frustrating for you! “Here’s this amazing genius, and he doesn’t get what I’m saying!”
140 on the Stanford-Binet.
That Threshold of Triviality is bullsh*t.
My best friend is effing brilliant, and she over-explains everything, because, as she puts it; “I am trying to help people see things through my eyes.” Her family gets really frustrated with her when she tells anecdotes or describes what happened in her day, because it takes her forever, since she has to explain aaaalllll the details.
I was only quoting, but I don’t know that it’s bullshit. That was a pretty “trivial” example they used. I think a more appropriate example might be Sherlock Holmes revealing the solution to a mystery that seems obvious to him, but then having to explain to Watson, step by step, how he reached that conclusion.
But, I know how your friend’s family feel. I’ve run into a number of people who feel the need to explain everything in excruciating detail. It drives me nuts! It doesn’t seem to be unique to very intelligent people, though. I’ve known some fairly dull wits who did the same thing.
I kind of wonder if the over-explaining is somehow related to the threshold of triviality. I mean, I can see someone getting so frustrated with having to constantly go back and add further explanation to the things they say, that they start to include lots of details just to make sure people understand. It can be hard sometimes to figure out where others draw the line at being obvious or irrelevant.
I keep thinking back to working problems on the board in trig. I did some sort of simplification, and didn’t bother writing down a step or two, because it was intuitively obvious that that’s what you’d get. Enter loud complaints from a classmate, who pointed out “Well, it’s not obvious to us, so write all the steps out.” Okay, I write the steps down in explicit detail–a step for the addition and subtraction, a step for the multiplication and division, a step for sign changes, yadda, yadda, yadda–to further complaints from the same girl. Her problem this time? “We’re not stupid, you know.” :rolleyes:
::raises hand:: I happen to be both an extremely intelligent person and a person who has clinical depression, panic disorder, and epilepsy. There’s a family joke that my brain is like a Jaguar. When it runs, it runs great- but it’s in the shop half the time! 
Seriously, in several talks with my neurologist the topic of intelligence and brain disorders has naturally come up. His opinion is that in a brain with high amounts of activity and high numbers of neural connections, there is also an increased chance that something will go wrong. In short, the more complex the machine, the more likely it is to break down once in a while. Add to this the fact that intelligent children (myself included) are all too often ostracized and bullied by their peers, and you get a greater than average potential for emotional instability.
Does this mean that all smart people are unstable? Of course not! It just means that a person of high intelligence may have to work a bit harder to fit in. I certainly had to, but I do have friends now. I can go to a party where I don’t know very many people and make small talk. However, it took years of consciously training myself to do so. I don’t know if “average” people have to do this or not, because I can only speak from my own personal experience.
140’s not ‘genius’ on any of the SB tests. Considering it’s possible to score over 200 on the SB LM, 140’s not even that high. The SB LM is of doubtful validity although it’s still being used by the Gifted Development Centre FE and the Riverside company still defend its use with kids of extreme intelligence.
Genius is not used as a diagnostic term any more. The usually accepted levels are 130 - gifted, 140 - highly gifted, 160 - exceptionally gifted, 180 - profoundly gifted. The Davidson Institute accepts tests over 160 as profoundly gifted.
I think it makes sense that when you are at the extremes (which I personally see as 160 and above) it’s hard to be a child and that can lead to emotional challenges. The research done by Lewis Terman showed that kids with moderately gifted scores tended to be well-adjusted, physically advanced and socially skilled. The higher the IQ goes, the more tendency for kids to be odd.
I’ve come across the neural connection theory too and I think it’s valid. There’s no such thing as a free lunch with the brain and something has to suffer somewhere. But I don’t think it’s true of people who are moderately to highly gifted and I’ve not seen much research which supports the idea that an IQ of 130 FE leads to being emotionally challenged.
Isn’t it a common belief that gifted kids are too perceptive for their own good? Lisa Simpson syndrome I guess. Bart’s always carefree and happy because he’s a regular dumb kid but Lisa is always angsty because she has so much more in her head.
Back when I was a senior (grade 12) in high school, two girls in the junior class (grade 11) qualified for a special college-level course their senior year. The students would live on the University of North Texas campus and take college-level classes instead of the regular (or even advanced) high school classes of their peers. One of the girls went. One did not. The reasons were entirely social. The girl who went was considered “weird” and had lots of problems fitting in. The girl who didn’t go was quite socially active and had plenty of friends.
So my conclusion is that 50% of all extremely intelligent people are emotionally challenged. 
(Can you tell I wasn’t either one of those girls?)
A co-worker and long-time aquaintance of mine fits the op’s theory very neatly. He is frighteningly intelligent (IQ is 160-ish, maybe higher), and has the worst work ethic I’ve ever seen. His attitude in the office is terrible, and in other aspects of life he is the classic under-acheiver. He seems to have decided that anything that bores him (and most things do), simply isn’t worth putting any effort into. At all. Not being late for work is a huge chore for him.
Because he’s so intelligent you’d think he’d come up with ways to make his life interesting, but he seems to think the world should revolve around him with no effort on his part. He is brilliant, but frighteningly immature. He also has a hair-trigger temper. FTR, he’s 25.
There is plenty of research out there on highly gifted kids that says emotional problems are common. Miraca Gross’s book Exceptionally Gifted Children is a good place to find out just what goes on with these people. Any of the web sites that specialise in gifted kids will tell you the same story.
I have no idea what my IQ is (I really don’t care), but I know it’s high.
For one thing, I can see both the forest and the trees, simultaneously. Plus, the ecosystem surrounding the forest, plus the little veins on the leaves on the branches of the trees. It’s frustrating being around people who can see things only on one particular level, and not too clearly at that.
Also, I can see connections between things that most people can’t see. Because of this, I can always see more than one side to any issue, regardless of how strong my opinions are. I can always see the internal logic in other people’s opinions, so it’s not unusual for me to feel very strongly about *both *sides of an issue, which can have a sort of paralyzing effect.
Both of these things tend to get in the way of “normal” functioning, not just when relating to other people, but also in issues that involve only myself. I can’t just go through life not thinking about every little thing. This also indicates a certain level of obsessive/compulsive tendencies, and I suspect there’s a strong correlation of this with intelligence.
If intelligence is problem solving ability - and I think that’s the accepted general definition - then intelligent people should be able to solve the problems one finds in social situations.
Most of the apparently intelligent people I know are not remarkable socially. The allegedly intelligent people I know who fare badly in social situations seem to have a stunning lack of empathy. For that latter group - and this is only among my acquaintances, I am not extrapolating to the general population - their complaints always boil down to “this guy would really like me if…” “my boss would appreciate what I do if…” “people would invite me to more parties if…” if everyone changed their standards so the whole world revolves around me and what I think is important, even if I can’t (or won’t) explain the benefits of my approach. In this way, the intellectually gifted are very like some of the less than bright folks I’ve run into.
For those who have posted about mental health issues - I think that’s a separate issue. A highly intelligent person with a withered arm or a serious stutter might have social problems, but in such a case we couldn’t reasonably believe their intelligence was the cause.
Quite often, the way bored intelligent people make their life more interesting is to amuse themselves with outlandish antics or with drugs and alchohol.
this is true. happens to me quite often.
that said, genius is brought on by many factors. you might have some nervous system disease that wires you differently, or you might’ve been brought up differently. i too know people who are geniuses and fit in well - these people usually lead well-rounded lives in their childhood.
IMHO genius and weirdness aren’t very closely linked. any kid with a wonderful childhood and good morals probably won’t be socially inept, genius or no genius.
I’ve always had problems interacting with other people. I strongly suspect I have Asperger’s Syndrome or even borderline autism.