Introduction

The Pathways to Underachievement model (PUM; Snyder & Linnenbrink-Garcia, 2013) is a person-oriented framework identifying two distinct patterns of self- and value beliefs that help explain underachievement among cognitively highly able students. This framework was developed to clear up inconclusive findings from variable-centered underachievement research, but has not been previously empirically tested.

Methods

The present study aimed to test the PUM by investigating (a) whether the predicted motivational profiles are evident among a sample of high-ability students (IQ ≥ 120) beginning secondary school in Flanders, Belgium (N = 403, M_age = 12.2 years, 60.5% males) and (b) whether these profiles relate to students’ (dis)engagement from and (under)achievement in school, as assessed by the students, their parents and teachers, and school grades. Latent profile analysis was performed on five motivational dimensions: academic self-concept, self-worth contingency, task value beliefs, entity beliefs, and attainment/utility value, and outcomes were compared across profiles using the BCH method.

Results

Latent profile analysis identified four profiles, each involving a distinct patterns of motivational variables. Two of the profiles exhibited maladaptive variable patterns consistent with the distinct profiles theorized by the PUM. Furthermore, profile differences in (dis)engagement and (under)achievement outcomes generally corresponded with the predictions of the PUM across multiple perspectives.

Conclusion

This study found distinct maladaptive motivational profiles that were each linked to the outcomes hypothesized by the PUM. These findings establish empirically that there are qualitatively different types of high-ability underachievers, which supports the Pathways to Underachievement model and gives momentum to person-oriented analysis within underachievement research.

中文翻译：

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高能力青少年适应不良学校动机的概况：以人为中心的动机路径模型的探索

介绍

成绩不佳的途径模型 (PUM; Snyder & Linnenbrink-Garcia, 2013) 是一个以人为本的框架，确定了两种不同的自我和价值信念模式，有助于解释认知能力高的学生的成绩不佳。该框架的开发是为了澄清以变量为中心的成绩不佳研究中的不确定结果，但之前尚未经过实证检验。

方法

本研究旨在通过调查 (a) 在比利时佛兰德斯 (N = 403, M_年龄 = 12.2 , 60.5% 男性) 和 (b) 根据学生、他们的父母和老师以及学校成绩的评估，这些情况是否与学生在学校的（脱离）参与和（欠）成绩有关。对五个动机维度进行了潜在概况分析：学术自我概念、自我价值的偶然性、任务价值信念、实体信念和成就/效用价值，并使用 BCH 方法比较了不同概况的结果。

结果

潜在配置文件分析确定了四个配置文件，每个配置文件都涉及不同的动机变量模式。其中两个配置文件表现出适应不良的变量模式，与 PUM 理论化的不同配置文件一致。此外，（脱离）参与和（未完成）成就结果的轮廓差异通常与 PUM 跨多个角度的预测一致。

结论

这项研究发现了不同的适应不良动机配置文件，每个配置文件都与 PUM 假设的结果相关。这些发现从经验上证实，存在质量上不同类型的高能力后进生，这支持了后进生之路模型，并为后进生研究中的以人为本的分析提供了动力。