The Relationship Between Social-Emotional Difficulties and Underachievement of Gifted Students

Gifted students are a diverse minority group with high intelligence and talent whose needs are often unrecognised and unmet. It is believed that this group of students, from a range of backgrounds, socio-economic statuses and abilities, may experience a range of social-emotional difficulties, including peer exclusion, isolation, stress, anxiety, depression and destructive perfectionism. Literature also reveals that gifted and talented students are underachieving at school. Many educators do not recognise or meet the needs of gifted students as there is a false perception that they can look after themselves (Neihard, Reis, Robinson, & Moon, 2002). As research indicates, there is a positive correlation between poor social-emotional development and scholastic underachievement in gifted students (Australian Council for Educational Research, 2010; Queensland Government, 2013). While this may be true, there is limited understanding of how these variables influence one another. Many researchers believe that social-emotional difficulties cause school underachievement, whereas others argue that school underachievement results in social and emotional problems. Furthermore, many researchers dispute these arguments altogether, and believe that these problems are a result of external factors, including family, school, and community environments. Given these contrasting viewpoints, critical investigation is necessary in order to develop a more conclusive understanding of this relationship. This article aims to critically analyse the scope of the current literature, and provides recommendations for further research, as this may result in better development of programs to further support the social-emotional and academic needs of gifted students.