Teachers’ Conceptions of Gifted and Average-Ability Students on Achievement-Relevant Dimensions

Abstract

Stereotyping of gifted students may not only hinder identification and actualization of potential but also personality development (“stigma of giftedness”). This is obvious in the case of negative stereotyping (e.g., the disharmony hypothesis, which sees gifted students as intellectually strong, but emotionally and socially inferior), but even overly positive stereotypes (e.g., the harmony hypothesis, which sees gifted students as superior in all respects) may prove harmful in that they put gifted students under pressure. In this study, we examined whether teachers’ conceptions of the gifted are in line with either of these stereotypes. In a between-subjects design using vignettes, 246 German teachers rated fictitious students varying in ability level (gifted/average), gender (girl/boy), and age (8/15 years) on intellectual ability, motivation, prosociality, and maladjustment. Strong measurement invariance across vignette types was demonstrated for all dimensions. A repeated-measures analysis of variance of latent factor scores of the four dimensions showed that teachers considered gifted students more able, but less prosocial and more maladjusted than average-ability students. Whereas higher intellectual ability is in line with empirical findings about the gifted, lower social ability and higher maladjustment are not. Implications for theory, research, and educational practice are discussed.