Self-Concept in Gifted Youth: An Investigation Employing the Piers-Harris Subscales

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2000

Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

Abstract

The Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale was used to investigate the self-concept of 368 intellectually gifted children in grades 4-12. Previous research had suggested that differences by gender and grade level might be masked by reporting only global self-concept scores; however, few studies reported subscale scores. In this population, gender was not a significant variable for global self-concept. Significant gender differences were observed on three subscales: Behavior, Intellectual and School Status, and Anxiety. Females rated themselves higher on the first two and males on the latter. School level was a significant variable for global self-concept: students in junior high school reported lower self-concept than did students in either elementary school or high school. Similar results were observed with the Behavior subscale. The present study supports the view that a global score for self-concept can mask underlying differences when subscale scores are summed.

Publication Title

Gifted Child Quarterly

Volume

44

Issue

1

First Page

45

Last Page

53

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