No abstract

Although there are several explanations for why one succeeds or fails, effort and ability are the major causes that students report. The purpose of the present study was to measure the perceptions of 149 college freshmen enrolled in a university honors program about their skills in 15 talent areas. In addition, this study explored the relationship of interests and ability and effort attributions with self-efficacy and investigated gender differences in these perceptions. There was a positive relationship between students’ interest in a talent area and their assessment of their skill in that area. The strongest relationships tended to be in nonacademic areas. For some talents, males placed stronger attributions on the role that natural ability played, whereas females indicated that personal effort contributed to high levels of performance. Participants’ implicit theory of intelligence did not appear to influence their perceptions of the importance of ability in academic performance. Putting the Research to Use Educators and parents must recognize the important role interest plays in student achievement. Interest is one of the single best predictors of high performance in a variety of talent areas. For gifted students to sustain the effort necessary to reach high levels of academic rigor, they must either be interested in the topic or find the task meaningful. Educators may need to modify their instruction and curriculum to capitalize on student interests. Gifted students appear to be aware of their high ability and view it as contributing to their success. Although some researchers have cautioned against recognizing student ability at the peril of diminishing the importance of effort, educators and parents should not be fearful of discussing the role ability plays in gifted students’ performances, while also emphasizing the importance of hard work and perseverance.