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Social Acceptance of High‐Ability Youth: Multiple Perspectives and Contextual Influences
Author(s) -
Verschueren Karine,
Lavrijsen Jeroen,
Weyns Tessa,
Ramos Alicia,
De Fraine Bieke
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
new directions for child and adolescent development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1534-8687
pISSN - 1520-3247
DOI - 10.1002/cad.20316
Subject(s) - psychology , context (archaeology) , cognition , similarity (geometry) , developmental psychology , peer group , peer acceptance , social psychology , mathematics education , paleontology , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , computer science , image (mathematics) , biology
Peer relationships form a key developmental context. The current study investigated differences in peer acceptance between high‐ability and average‐ability youth, from the perspectives of teachers, peers, and students. Relying on the person‐group similarity model, we also tested whether high‐ability students’ acceptance would depend on the peer group's mean ability level. A sample of 2,736 sixth‐grade students from 188 classes in 117 schools participated. Students scoring in the top 10% of a cognitive ability measure were considered high‐ability students (N = 274). Results showed that high‐ability students were better accepted than average‐ability students according to teachers and peers. However, the students did not show more positive self‐perceptions of acceptance. Moreover, they nominated less peers as their friends. Gifted students felt more accepted in classes with higher mean ability levels. The authors call for a stronger integration of developmental theory and research into the study of giftedness.