Developing A Psycho-Social Characteristics Scale For Gifted Secondary School Students and Examination of Psychometric Properties

The main aim of this study is to develop a scale to measure the psychosocial characteristics of gifted students. Firstly, in order to form the scale, literature review was made to define the conceptual framework related to psychosocial characteristics of gifted students. The work group of the study was 163 students from fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades attending Science and Arts centers in Isparta, Konya and Burdur. In the development phase of the study, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was applied, item discrimination was determined and Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was calculated respectively. In consequence of exploratory factor analysis, 55.30% of the total variance was explained. The contribution of the factors to the explained variance varies between,”11.91%” and “17.85%”. In the confirmatory factor analysis conducted to confirm the four-factor structure of the scale, Chi-square value (χ² = 248.71, sd = 164, p = 0.00) was found to be significant. On the other hand, compliance index values was found as RMSEA=.052, CFI=.95, IFI=.95, AGFI=.85. In the light of those values, it can be indicated that four-factor structure is appropriate for the scale. Cronbach Alpha internal consistency reliability coefficients were .78 for the whole scale, and internal consistency coefficient for Social Skill factor was .77, Perfectionism factor was .85, Empathy factor was .66, Self-Confidence factor was .78 in the research. Test-retest reliability for the overall scale was .71, and two halftest reliability for the whole scale was .73. As a result of findings obtained from the research, it can be stated that PsychoSocial Characteristics Scale for Gifted Secondary School Students consisting of 20 items and 4 factors is valid and reliable.