Identification as Gifted and Implicit Beliefs About Intelligence: An Examination of Potential Moderators. (November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Snyder, Kate E.; Barger, Michael M.; Wormington, Stephanie V.; Schwartz-Bloom, Rochelle; Linnenbrink-Garcia, Lisa
• Is Part Of: Journal of advanced academics. Volume 24:Number 4(2013)
• Page Start: 242
• Page End: 258
• Publication Date: 2013-11
• Subjects: gifted identification -- motivation -- implicit beliefs about intelligence -- gifted label -- entity beliefs; Academic achievement -- Periodicals; Gifted children -- Education (Secondary) -- United States -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 371.95
• DOI: 10.1177/1932202X13507971
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1932-202X

Abstract

The current study investigated whether the developmental timing of a student's identification as gifted (i.e., when a student is first identified) was associated with later implicit beliefs about intelligence, and whether this relation is moderated by academic ability. A sample of 1, 743 high-ability college students reported on whether and when they had been identified as gifted, academic ability (SAT scores), and implicit beliefs of intelligence. Timing of identification was unrelated to implicit beliefs; academic ability was the only significant predictor. Higher ability students who had been previously identified as gifted at any point in time reported implicit beliefs more toward entity beliefs than relatively lower ability students who had also been identified; however, this effect was quite small. Implicit beliefs did not vary by ability level for nonidentified students. These findings suggest that identification as gifted at any age modestly (but not necessarily meaningfully) relates to implicit beliefs for high-ability students.