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An exploration of the self-concept of gifted students in the United Arab Emirates

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Abstract

Self-concept is a person’s evaluation of their personality when performing a given task. It can provide crucial insight into gifted students’ self-assessments of their social and academic well-being. Research on gifted students’ self-concept in non-Western contexts is limited; in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), no attempt has been made thus far in this regard. We applied social comparison theory to assess the self-concept of 150 gifted students who completed the revised Self-Perception Profile for Children scale. Structural equation modeling was used for the confirmatory factor, path, and moderation analyses. We noted a wide variation in the correlation between the tenets of self-concept. Our study provides theoretical support for the widely used Self-Perception Profile for Children scale in an Emirati context. Our findings highlight the importance of targeting multiple areas when developing programs for gifted children in the UAE.

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Data Availability

Data is available on request from the corresponding author.

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Funding

This research was funded by Provost for Research Office, United Arab Emirates University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Special Education Department, United Arab Emirates University, P. O. Box 15551, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates

    Maxwell Peprah Opoku, Ashraf Moustafa, Noora Anwahi, Mariam Aljaberi, Haseena Shah, Amna Aldarmaki & Hala Elhoweris

  2. Curriculum and Method of Instruction, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates

    Negmeldin Alsheikh

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  1. Maxwell Peprah Opoku
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  4. Noora Anwahi
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Maxwell Peprah Opoku, Negmeldin Alsheikh, Ashraf Moustafa, Noora Anwahi, Mariam, Aljaberi, Haseena Shah, Amna Aldarmaki, Hala Elhoweris, …; Methodology: Maxwell Peprah Opoku, Negmeldin Alsheikh, Ashraf Moustafa, …; Formal analysis and investigation: Maxwell Peprah Opoku, Negmeldin Alsheikh, Ashraf Moustafa, Noora Anwahi, Mariam, Aljaberi, Haseena Shah, Amna Aldarmaki, Hala Elhoweris, …; Writing - original draft preparation: Maxwell Peprah Opoku, Negmeldin Alsheikh, Ashraf Moustafa, Noora Anwahi, Mariam, Aljaberi, Haseena Shah, Amna Aldarmaki, Hala Elhoweris; Writing - review and editing: Maxwell Peprah Opoku, Negmeldin Alsheikh, Ashraf Moustafa, Noora Anwahi, Mariam, Aljaberi, Haseena Shah, Amna Aldarmaki, Hala Elhoweris; Funding acquisition: Maxwell Peprah Opoku, Ashraf Moustafa, Hala Elhoweris, …; Resources: Maxwell Peprah Opoku, …; Supervision: Maxwell Peprah Opoku, Ashraf Moustafa.

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Correspondence to Maxwell Peprah Opoku.

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The authors have no competing or financial interest.

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The study and its protocols were approved by Social Sciences Ethics Review Committee at United Arab Emirates University (ERS_2021_8436).

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Parents signed written consent form before their children participated in this study.

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Opoku, M.P., Alsheikh, N., Moustafa, A. et al. An exploration of the self-concept of gifted students in the United Arab Emirates. Curr Psychol 43, 12696–12708 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05393-4

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