Help seeking as a self-regulated learning strategy and achievement goals: The case of academically talented adolescents

ABSTRACT Seeking help as an important self-regulated learning strategy has been consistently associated with student motivation. Despite the extensive body of research on typically achieving students, no studies have included help seeking in the literature on talented children. The present study explored the help-seeking intentions and beliefs and achievement goal motivational profiles of academically talented adolescents (n = 207) who were identified via a special testing process organized by the Center of Talented Youth in Greece. Students were administered self-report scales measuring mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals, general intention to seek academic help, intention to seek instrumental help, avoidance of help seeking, and perceived help-seeking benefits and costs. Latent class analysis indicated four latent clusters based on the four goal orientations as indicator variables. The probabilities of seeking instrumental help and perceived help-seeking benefits were high for students in the high mastery and low performance goals profile. Students in the high performance goals profile were more likely to perceive help-seeking costs, whereas students having all goal orientations low were less likely to perceive help-seeking benefits and to seek instrumental help. Findings are discussed in light of current theory and evidence for typically achieving student motivation and help-seeking beliefs and tendencies. Implications for educational practices with talented adolescents are discussed.