MOTIVATIONS AND INTERESTS IN A SAMPLE OF HIGH-ABILITY STUDENTS REGARDING THEIR PEERS

Abstract

The main objective of this work is to analyze motivations and interests of high skills students compared to their peers, while another objective is to analyze the differences in interests and motivations according to sex and the course. A sample of 70 students (18 of high skills) from the first cycle of Secondary Education (ESO), in 2nd and 3rd year, between 13 and 15 years old (M = 13.63; SD = .615), having 35 boys (50%) and 35 girls (50%). A questionnaire was used, ad hoc elaborated, with items taken from the PANA questionnaire (Pérez and Pro, 2005) and the Learning Goals Questionnaire (CMA; Hayamizu et al., 1989). The results show that high skills students have greater intrinsic motivation and interest in other subjects and class contents. There are significant differences according to gender in interests of the participants, the boys have more interest in the scientific area, and the girls in linguistic area. In relation to the course, when there are differences in motivation, the students of third course point higher than second course students. This study provides an overview of the differences between high ability adolescents and their peers in terms of interests and motivations, which is an important point for potential guiding interventions.