Perfectionism in Gifted Students and Their Non-Identified Peers: Links to Social Adjustment and Relationships at School

Perfectionism has received a great deal of attention within the field of gifted education. Research in this area spans four decades and a growing number of articles, yet studies directly comparing perfectionism levels in gifted individuals with the general population remain limited. This article reports two studies investigating differences between gifted students and their non-identified peers across two measures of perfectionism. Study 1 examined the extent to which students’ (N = 1,182) perfectionistic cognitions differed by gifted status and school level (middle vs. high school). Gifted high school students reported higher levels of perfectionistic cognitions than their same-age peers, whereas no differences were observed in middle school. Study 2, with a similar sample (N = 646), used Hewitt and Flett’s multidimensional model to compare self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed perfectionism and to explore their associations with social adjustment and relationships with teachers and peers. The only significant difference was in self-oriented perfectionism, with gifted students scoring higher than their peers. Associations between perfectionism dimensions and students’ social adjustment and school relationships were largely independent of giftedness.

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Perfectionism in Gifted and Non-Identified Students: Links to Social Adjustment and School Relationships

Perfectionism has been studied in the field of gifted education for quite some time and is often considered an important characteristic of gifted students. Comparing the perfectionism levels of gifted students with those of their non-identified peers helps us better understand if perfectionism develops or manifests any differently in their lives. This article shares findings from two studies that explored this comparison. The first study involved 1,182 middle and high school students and focused on their perfectionistic cognitions. We found that gifted middle school students showed similar levels of these thoughts as their non-identified peers, whereas gifted high school students reported higher levels compared to their peers. This suggests that a competitive environment and advanced coursework in high school may activate more demanding expectations and, in turn, higher levels of perfectionistic thinking in gifted students. The second study included 646 students and examined different dimensions of perfectionism: self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed. Gifted students scored higher only on self-oriented perfectionism compared to their peers. They did not differ in other-oriented or socially prescribed perfectionism. This finding suggests that gifted students’ perfectionistic tendencies are largely internally driven and not externally prescribed. It also highlights the importance of looking at specific dimensions of perfectionism instead of treating it as a single trait directly tied to giftedness.