The study explores the link between general social environment and self-concept, and giftedness and self-concept. A total of 135 high school and 64 university students with an average age of 16 years from China took part in the research, consisting of four groups: gifted and non-gifted adolescents of Year 1993, and gifted and non-gifted adolescents of Year 2003. Comparison between the groups has been made. Findings indicate that social environment has a significant impact on the non-gifted adolescents while its influence on the gifted is comparatively slight. The Year 1993 sample shows that the gifted adolescents have a more positive academic self-concept than the non-gifted group while Year 2003 sample reflects inconsistency with the former result. (Contains 8 tables.)