February 2025
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Psychology in the Schools
In this study, an investigation was conducted into the nature of the attitudes of the general student body (comprising all students) toward gifted students and gifted education, along with the predictors of such attitudes. For this purpose, survey data were collected from 400 secondary students enrolled in a faith‐based school system in Australia. Data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, latent class analysis, and multiple regression analysis. Among the study findings were: (a) student attitudes toward gifted students and gifted education exist along two dimensions (i.e., support for gifted student adaptations and perceptions of non‐elitism), (b) students may be classified into three groups with distinct attitude profiles that differ from one another along these two dimensions (i.e., strong supporters of gifted students/gifted education, students with neutral attitudes toward gifted students/gifted education and non‐supporters of gifted students/gifted education, comprising 13%, 82%, and 5% of students respectively), and (c) the key predictors of student attitudes are school administrative support, academic impact, respect for authority, knowledge of giftedness and contact with gifted persons. The contributions of the study to the research literature are discussed.