Underachievement Risks and Profiles of Psychological Variables Among High-Ability Adolescents from Hong Kong, The Netherlands, Taiwan, and The United Kingdom

Abstract

Background: High-ability students, despite their potential, may underachieve academically. The existing literature suggests the presence of subtypes, such as perfectionistic or creative high-ability students, who underachieve for different reasons. However, empirical work identifying these profiles and linking them to underachievement remains limited.

Methods: We analyzed self-reported data by 930 high-ability adolescents across Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. We conducted a pre-registered confirmatory latent profile analysis on five dispositions theoretically relevant to underachievement: creativity, academic self-efficacy, self-regulation, perfectionistic standards, and self-criticism. We examined how these profiles related to underachievement risk, measured by academic performance and self-perceived underachievement.

Results: Four profiles emerged. Two aligned with underachievement-related theories, namely the "self-satisfied" profile (low self-criticism, high self-regulation and creativity; prevalent in Asia) and the "maladaptively perfectionistic" profile (high self-criticism but low creativity, academic self-efficacy, and self-regulation; prevalent in Western Europe). Academic performance did not differ across profiles. However, adolescents in the "self-satisfied" profile were less likely to self-perceive as underachievers, while those in the "maladaptively perfectionistic" group were more likely. Interestingly, self-perception as underachievers in both profiles was positively linked with academic performance.

Conclusions: These findings provide empirical evidence on subtypes among high-ability students that may differentially present underachieving risks.

Keywords: adolescents; high ability; latent profile analysis; underachievement.

Figure 1

Scree plot of BIC of Models with one to four Profiles.

Figure 2

Profile Plots of Four Profiles Based on Psychological Variables Measuring Creativity, Academic Self-Efficacy, Self-Regulation, Perfectionistic Standards, and Self-Criticism.

Figure 3

Violin Plots Showing the Distribution of Poor Academic Performance Across Four Profiles, Categorized by Adolescents’ Self-Perception as Underachievers. In each violin plot, the red dot represents the mean, the boxplot spans the first to third quartiles of the distribution, and the line within the box indicates the median.