Perfectionism and goal orientation of students in secondary school: the role of gender, age and giftedness

Namen raziskave je bil proučiti odnos med perfekcionizmom in ciljnimi usmerjenostmi, znotraj tega odnosa pa še vlogo spola, starosti in nadarjenosti. V raziskavo je bilo vključenih 267 učencev štirih srednjih šol iz goriške in posavske regije, od tega 169 deklet in 98 fantov103 učenci so bili prepoznani kot nadarjeni. Povprečna starost udeležencev je bila 16,44 let, prihajali pa so iz različnih štiriletnih in triletnih srednješolskih izobraževalnih programov. Za namen raziskave je bil oblikovan tridelni vprašalniški sklop, ki je zajemal demografska vprašanja, Lestvico perfekcionizma pri mladostnikih (LPM) in Vprašalnik ciljnih usmerjenosti (AGQ-R). Analiza razlik med skupinami je pokazala, da nadarjeni v večji meri stremijo k odličnosti in so bolj občutljivi na kritiko v primerjavi z učenci, ki niso bili prepoznani kot nadarjeni. Prilagojene dimenzije perfekcionizma so se izkazale kot statistično pomembni pozitivni napovedniki usmerjenosti v obvladovanje in usmerjenosti v izogibanje neobvladovanja. Pri tem stremljenje k odličnosti pozitivno napoveduje usmerjenost v obvladovanje le za učence, ki so bili prepoznani kot nadarjeni, redoljubnost pa le za mlajše učence in tiste, ki niso bili prepoznani kot nadarjeni. Neprilagojene dimenzije perfekcionizma so se izkazale kot statistično pomembni pozitivni napovedniki usmerjenosti v izkazovanje in usmerjenosti v izogibanje izkazovanja lastnih nezmožnosti. V odnosu med dimenzijami perfekcionizma in ciljnimi usmerjenostmi spol nima statistično pomembne vloge moderatorja. Kljub nekaterim omejitvam raziskava osvetljuje odnos med prilagojenimi in neprilagojenimi dimenzijami perfekcionizma in štirimi ciljnimi usmerjenostmi ter predstavlja osnovo za nadaljnje raziskovanje.The main purpose of this master\u27s thesis is to examine the relationship between perfectionism and goal orientation, and in this context determine the role of gender, age and giftedness. The research involved 267 students from the goriška and posavje regions of which 169 were girls and 98 were boys103 students were identified as gifted. The average age of the participants, who were attending different three- or four-year secondary school programs, was 16.44 years. For the purpose of the research a three-part questionnaire was designed which included demographic questions, The Adolescent’s Perfectionism measurement Scale and The Achievement Goal Questionnaire–Revised (AGQ-R). The analysis of the differences between the groups has shown that gifted students strive for excellence in greater way and tend to be more sensitive to criticism in comparison to students who were not identified as gifted. Adaptive dimensions of perfectionism have proved to be a statistically significant positive predictor of mastery-approach orientation and mastery-avoidance orientation. In this context, the pursuit of excellence positively predicts mastery-approach orientation only among gifted students, whereas the dimension of orderliness positively predicts mastery-approach orientation only for younger students and students who were not identified as gifted. On the other side, maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism have proved to be a statistically significant predictor of performance-approach orientation and performance-avoidance orientation. In the relationship between different dimensions of perfectionism and goal orientation the gender does not have a statistically significant moderator role. Despite some limitations, the research has highlighted the relationship between adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism and four different types of goal orientation providing in this way a basis for further research