Sex Differences in Underachievement and Social-Emotional Functioning of Gifted Students
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22410693 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ophélie Allyssa Desmet (0000-0001-8524-1863, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA, corresponding author), Tammy J Byrd (Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA), Mariska Poelman (CBO Talent Development, Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Marjolijn van Weerdenburg (0000-0002-7655-7353, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Gifted Child Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-9862 • E-ISSN: 1934-9041 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00169862261430325 |
| OpenAlex | W7154471799 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 56 |
This study examined sex differences among academically achieving and underachieving gifted students ( N = 280) in the Netherlands attending a pre-university track in secondary school. We focused on three types of underachievement: general, language arts, and STEM. Boys demonstrated higher general intelligence scores than girls, while girls showed higher general academic achievement than boys. No sex differences were found in language arts and STEM achievement. Furthermore, boys underachieved at higher rates than girls across all three achievement domains (general, language arts, and STEM). Students who underachieve in one domain are more likely to underachieve in another. Regarding social-emotional characteristics, the study identified differences between achievers and underachievers in academic-achievement motivation and social-emotional well-being, but not in academic self-concept and inquisitiveness. Our findings highlight the importance of early identification of underachievement in gifted students across multiple domains.
Academic achievement · Identification (biology) · Language arts · Self-concept · The arts · Cognitive Abilities and Testing · Education, Achievement, and Giftedness · Psychological Treatments and Assessments
Reciprocal Effects of Self-Concept and Performance From a Multidimensional Perspective
The Underachievement of Gifted Students
Mind-Set Interventions Are a Scalable Treatment for Academic Underachievement
Gifted underachievement within a self‐regulated learning framework
The School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised
Academic self-concept, achievement goals, and achievement
Developmental pathways in underachievement
Do teachers equate male and masculine with lower academic engagement? How students’ gender enactment triggers gender stereotypes at school
Boys Don’t Work? On the Psychological Benefits of Showing Low Effort in High School
Understanding and Reversing Underachievement, Low achievement, and Achievement Gaps Among High-Ability African American Males in Urban School Contexts
Age and gender differences in self-esteem—A cross-cultural window
The need for cognition
The identification of gifted underachievement
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |