I would just like to say, for the record, that I have a nephew (who happens to be an only child) who is absolutely not gifted but is very manipulative, lacks morals, lacks compassion, lacks remorsefulness, is arrogant and thinks he knows it all (and it is really evident that he knows very little).
I don't think his attitude and behavior is any result of him being an only child.
I happen to have an only child, who may or may not be gifted (not formally tested yet) but if she is not gifted then she is of abnormally high intelligence. She is well behaved, courteous, compassionate (almost to a fault), responsible, and morally capable of making age appropriate choices for herself.
I think if I had raised my nephew from birth he would have had a better chance
so I contribute a lot of it to parenting. In my nephews defense, he does have ADHD and asthma/allergies, maybe some other learning disabilities that were not diagnosed when he was little.
I think a lot factors into the mix. I am sorry your friend is so out of touch with reality though. I often wonder if one day my nephew will look around him and make the connection ... but I can't ever really be sure that will happen. Still hopeful though.
