The belief that gifted children are more likely to have personality problems than "normal" individuals is not supported by research, but the image of the disturbed gifted child persists. This paper reviews research from a life-span developmental perspective to examine why this image persists. The paper critically examines the research of L. Terman, L. Hollingworth, W. Roedell, P. Janos, S. Dauber and C. Benbow, G. Betts and M. Neihart, and Tomlinson-Keasey and Little. The research specifically addresses personality traits, social cognition, social standing, characteristics of the extremely gifted, profiles of gifted/talented children, attachment among early college entrants, sex differences, family harmony, and predictor and outcome variables. Strengths and weaknesses of recent studies are explored, revealing such problems as subject preselection, low percent of variance accounted for by predictor variables, and cohort effects. (Contains 19 references.) (JDD)