Predictors of Attitudes toward Gifted Education: A Review of the Literature and a Blueprint for Future Research

Abstract

Over thirty studies have been published concerning the predictors of people's attitudes toward the education of the gifted. About 50 variables have been examined as potential sources of these individual differences. The analysis of the results of past studies forces us to conclude that not a single variable consistently emerges as a substantial explanatory factor. To explain this lack of significant results, four major problem areas are identified pertaining to the methodology of these studies: (a) the diversity of the attitude questionnaires used; (b) the size, diversity, and nonrepresentativeness of the samples used; (c) the small number of predictors introduced, as well as the diversity in their operationalization; (d) inadequacies in statistical procedures. Concrete methodological proposals are given to maximize the chances of obtaining significant and generalizable results in future studies on the subject.