From pentagon to triangle: A cross‐cultural investigation of an implicit theory of giftedness

Abstract

The present study examined an implicit theory of giftedness among pre‐service Chinese teachers. Participants were 189 second year students (preservice teachers, 74 male and 115 female, average age 20 years) from China Central Teachers’ University. Participants responded to an inventory based on Stemberg and Zhang's (1995) pentagonal implicit theory of giftedness and a simple questionnaire designed to cross‐validate two of the five criteria in the pentagonal model. Results indicated that in making judgments about giftedness, participants took into consideration three of the five criteria specified in the pentagonal model: excellence, productivity, and value. The excellence and productivity criteria were also confirmed by results from the simple questionnaire. Rarity and demonstrability, the two other criteria specified in the pentagonal model, were not taken into consideration by the participants in their evaluation of giftedness. Implications of these findings are discussed.