Kay Willey

Publication Date

12-1987

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Doris Redfield, Carl Martray, Julia Roberts

Comments

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Degree Program

Department of Psychology

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

Differences in measures of self-esteem, locus of control, and behavior for groups of achieving and underachieving gifted students were examined. Norms, based on the 184 participants, were established for coursework grades and scores on the Basic Battery of the Stanford Achievement Test. These norms were used in selecting and assigning participants to one of four groups: (a) those scoring at or above the 70th percentile rank on both the grade average and the achievement test score distributions based on the 184 gifted students in this study (n=32), (b) those whose grade average placed them at or below the 30th percentile rank on the grade average distribution (n=23), (c) those scoring at or below the 30th percentile rank on the achievement test score distribution (n=20), and (d) those scoring at or below the 30th percentile rank on both the grade average and the achievement test score distributions (n=28) Of the 184 potential participants, 103 met the criteria for placement in one of the four groups. The Cooperamith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI, and the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire (IAR) were administered to each of these 103 participants. Teach.rs were asked to complete the Teacher Rating Scale from the Behavior Rating Profile (BRP) and parents were asked to complete the Parent Rating Scale of the BRP. Results indicated that there were significant differences between achieving and differentially defined underachieving groups with regard to self-esteem, behavior and scores on all the measures combined; however, the groups were similar with regard to locus of control. The fact that differences were found among the differentially defined groups of underachievers suggests that definitions of underachievement influence the results of studies designed to assess the phenomenon.

Disciplines

Child Psychology | Education | Gifted Education | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

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