Overview

Gifted children are perhaps any nation’s most precious resource.  By labeling them as “gifted,” the society is implicitly placing a bet that they are children who somehow have the most to contribute to that society. Some gifted children, however, do not achieve at the level of which they are capable.  This is a loss to them, of course, but it also is a loss to the society that could benefit from their contributions if they lived up to their potential. The field of gifted education has long been fragmented, with experts often focusing on specific aspects of underachievement without fully engaging with other viewpoints. Gifted Underachievement is motivated by the need to bridge the gap between different schools of thought in gifted underachievement research as well demonstrate how these different viewpoints can be integrated into a cohesive framework. This book considers the multiple factors including the interactions between person, task, and situation, to provide a more holistic understanding of the causes of gifted underachievement.

Full Product Details

Author:   Robert J. Sternberg ,  Ophélie Allyssa Desmet
Publisher:   Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Imprint:   Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN:  

9783032212764

ISBN 10:   3032212766
Pages:   308
Publication Date:   22 May 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

1: Introduction: What is Gifted Underachievement?; Robert J. Sternberg and Ophélie Alyssa Desmet.- Section I: Internal Sources of Underachievement.- 2: Four Decades Later: Reflections on the Underachievement of Academically Talented Children; Sally Reis.- 3: Unscrambling Eggs: Putting Heterogeneity Back at the Table in Gifted Underachievement Research; Kate Snyder and Allison Fowler.- 4: Empowering Potential: Addressing Underachievement in Gifted Students by Providing Opportunities for Success; Del Siegle.- Section II: External/Contextual Sources of Underachievement.- 5: Underachievement in the School Setting; Michael S. Matthews.- 6: Underachievement in Gifted English Learners; Rachel U. Mun and Yuyang Shen.- 7: Towards Inclusivity in Underachievement: Twice-Exceptional Students; Lisa DaVia Rubenstein.- Section III: Systemic Sources of Underachievement.- 8: Inhibitors to Talent Development of High Potential Children and Youth; Franck C. Worrell, Paula Olszewski-Kubilius and Rena F. Subotnik.- 9: Underachievement from a Learning-Resource Perspective; Albert Ziegler.- 10: The Complexity of Gifted Underachievement: Analyzing Internal, External, and Contextual Factors; Ophélie Alyssa Desmet and David Dai.- Section IV: Illusory (Non-Existent) Underachievement?- 11: What is ""Underachievement,"" Exactly?; Robert J. Sternberg and Arezoo Soleimani Dashtaki.- 12: Understanding Underachievement as a Social Construct; Kristina Collins.- 13: Conclusion: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Gifted Underachievement; All Authors.

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Author Information

Robert J. Sternberg is Professor of Psychology at Cornell University, US and Honorary Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University, Germany.  Sternberg is a Past President of the American Psychological Association and the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Ophélie Allyssa Desmet is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at Ball State University, US. She received her PhD from Purdue University, US in Educational Studies, majoring in Gifted Education. Her research focuses on promoting talent development by examining the interplay of cognitive, psychosocial, social-emotional, and motivational factors.

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