Cultural Variation and Dominance in a Globalised Knowledge-Economy: Towards a Culture-Sensitive Research Paradigm in the Science of Giftedness

The objective of this target article is to chart the potential threat to research validity in the field of giftedness research, and by implication also the study and practice of gifted education, in the light of cultural bias. It endeavours to pull together facts from a number of academic disciplines to make sense of how culture relates to science, research and society. In proposing a reasonable agenda for remedial action the nature and impact of cultural dominance, and the emergence of a socially engineered and transnational superculture are issues discussed first. Then follows a focus on the known cultural patterns of the World and how these relate to many of the notions and constructs of giftedness research as well as to the known pitfalls of the ethnocentric mind. In conclusion, a number of straightforward actions focusing on a) mindset and habits, b) research skills and c) selfknowledge and cultural competence are proposed as important in coming to terms with the weakening credibility of gifted science in a global perspective.