Factors related to the underachievement of university students in Turkey

The study aims to elucidate the characteristics of gifted underachievers at the university level and the reasons for their underachievement. The sample consisted of students from Bogazici University in Istanbul. The School Attitude Assessment Survey‐Revised (SAAS‐R) instrument was administered to 91 underachievers and a comparison group of 74 university students. The instrument employed five subscales: academic self‐perceptions, attitudes toward teachers, attitudes toward school, goal valuation, and motivation/self‐regulation. Findings indicated that the comparison students and the underachieving students differed on all five subscales of the SAAS‐R. In addition, the instrument correctly classified almost 80% of the students in the present sample as either underachievers or comparison students. Among the five subscales, the motivation/self‐regulation subscale was most predictive of underachievement status.