A phenomenological analysis of gifted underachievers' perceptions of parenting practices

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Tehran- Shahid Beheshti University- Faculty of Psychology and Educational

2 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran000

Abstract

One of the most fundamental challenges facing researchers interested in the field of gifted psychology is deep and contextual understanding of the phenomenon of gifted underachievers. Based on the available evidence, in response to the question of the existence of gifted underachievers, personal causes are distinguished from contextual causes within a macro-level classification system. In this study, inspired by the principles of socio-ecological systems theory, a phenomenological approach is employed to explore the lived experiences of underachieving gifted adolescents of their parenting context. Thirty-three underachieving gifted students were purposively selected from SAMPAD schools in Tehran and Guilan provinces. The data were collected through in-depth interviews, and textual analysis of the qualitative data obtained form interviews was conducted using a descriptive phenomenological approach and the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method. The results included 9 themes, namely “compassion for others vs. criticism of others, empathic response vs. lack of empathic response, active coping vs. maladaptive encounter, multilateralism vs. unilateralism, process-oriented thinking vs. outcome-oriented thinking, learning from negative experiences vs. fear of failure, reflection vs. impulsivity, positive other-talk vs. negative other-talk and non-judgmentalism vs. judgmentalism,  and 69 sub-themes, which all depicted the perception of underachieving gifted adolescents of their parenting context. Overall, adopting a phenomenological approach to understanding the phenomenon of gifted underachievers, while emphasizing the characteristics of parenting context, provides rich knowledge that identifies multiple determinants of the emerging and complex academic non-strength in the educational domain as a special combination of uncaring parenting behavior and motivation for an academic lifestyle which inhibits health in adolescents

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Main Subjects

References

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Qualitative Research in Behavioral Sciences (QRBS)
Volume 1, Issue 2
October 2022
Pages 57-74

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  • Receive Date: 11 December 2022
  • Revise Date: 04 February 2023
  • Accept Date: 19 March 2023

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