Self‐concepts, locus of control, and Machiavellianism of ethnically diverse middle school students who are gifted

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the self‐concepts, locus of control, and machi‐avellianism of 169 ethnically diverse middle grade students identified as gifted. Subjects consisted of 90 African‐American (31 boys, 18 girls). Self‐concept, locus of control, and machiavellianism were assessed by Me: A Self‐Concept Scale for Gifted Children (Feldhusen & Kolloff, 1981), the Nowicki‐Strickland Locus of Control Scale (Nowicki & Strickland, 1973), and Mach IV Scale (Christie & Geis, 1970) respectively. A three‐way analysis of variance (group × Gender × Grade) on subjects’ scores revealed significant group differences in self‐concept. No significant gender or grade differences were found in self‐concept. No significant group, gender, or grade differences were found in locus of control and machiavellianism. Self‐concept was significantly and positively correlated with internal locus of control and with low machiavellianism. Mean scores indicated that ethnically diverse students who are gifted had positive ...