Testing And Comparing Models Of Relationship Between Achievement Goals And Friendship Goals With Help- Seeking Behavior Mediated With Attitude Toward Help-Seekingin Gifted And Non-Gifted

 The aim of this study was to test and compare the relationship between achievement goals and friendship goals with help-seeking behavior in the gifted and non-gifted high-school students of Ahvaz, taking the perceived benefit and threat of help-seeking as the mediators. Mastery approach goals have an indirect effect on adaptive help-seeking with the mediation of the perceived benefit of help-seeking. - Mastery avoidance goals have an indirect effect on adaptive help-seeking with the mediation of the perceived benefit of help-seeking. - Performance approach goals have an indirect effect on adaptive help-seeking through the mediation of perceived the threat of help-seeking. - Performance avoidance goals have an indirect effect on adaptive help-seeking through the mediation of the perceived threat of help-seeking. - Friendship approach goals have an indirect effect on adaptive help-seeking with the mediation of the perceived benefit of help-seeking. - Friendship avoidance goals have an indirect effect on adaptive help-seeking with the mediation of the perceived threat of help-seeking. - Models of the relationship between achievement goals and friendship goals with help-seeking behavior mediated by the attitude toward help-seeking are different in gifted and non-gifted students. The sample included gifted (N=120) and non-gifted (N=12) female students, who were correspondingly selected through census and multi-stage random sampling techniques. The instruments used in the study included the revised achievement goal questionnaire, friendship goals questionnaire, help-seeking threat and help-seeking benefit sub scale and help-seeking questionnaire, with help-seeking threat and helpseeking benefit sub-scales. The data was analyzed using AMOS software to perform path analysis and Structural Equation modeling. The results showed that in the two groups (gifted and non-gifted), mastery approach goals and friendship approach goals, predicted the benefit of help-seeking and the benefit predicted higher help seeking behavior. On the other hand, mastery avoidance performance-approach, performance-avoidance and friendship avoidance goals predicted the threat of help-seeking, which correspondingly predicted lower help seeking behaviors. Moreover, mastery avoidance goals were found to have a negative relationship with the benefit of help-seeking. In addition, in the comparing group model, significant differences were observed in the relationship between friendship approach goals and the perceived benefit of help-seeking, between performance approach goals and the perceived threat of help-seeking and between friendship avoidance goals and the perceived threat of helpseeking in the comparison between gifted and non-gifted students. The findings showed that in both groups, mastery approach goals have an effect on adaptive help-seeking, mediated by the perceived benefits of help-seeking. In accounting for these results, it can be said that students with mastery approach goals are interested in raising their knowledge, understanding and their competence. For them, seeking help from the available resources is considered an adaptive strategy for improving their knowledge. Therefore, they try to find useful help and use it. On the other hand, the results of this study showed a negative relationship between mastery avoidance goals and the perceived benefits of help-seeking in both groups. To elaborate, it can be said that mastery avoidance students focus on learning failure, such as not understanding the concept of a text, and focus more on self-analysis than on social comparisons. These students get less help to hide their low ability. Additionally, the low perceived self-competency of these students causes them to avoid help-seeking because they consider help-seeking a threat to themselves. These students make all their efforts to avoid mistakes. In addition, their level of anxiety is high, they are uninterested in social comparisons and personal development, and their self-efficacy is low. For these reasons, these students considered help-seeking a useless approach and thus try to avoid it. Another finding of this study was a positive relationship between performance approach and performance avoidance goals with the perceived threat of help-seeking in both groups, which in turn was found to have a negative effect on adaptive help-seeking. The finding is justifiable bearing in mind that help-seeking challenges the self-worth of performance-oriented students because they tend to hide their disabilities. Functional students perceive mistakes as a sign of weakness and incompetency and imagine helpseeking as a threat to their ability and self-respect. The negative judgments of others is very important for them, they think that help-seeking makes others perceive that they are ineffective. For this reason, they avoid adaptive help-seeking. In addition, the results showed that in both groups, the friendship approach goals were positively associated with adaptive help-seeking, mediated by the benefits of help-seeking. In explaining these results, we can say that friendship-oriented goals are focused on the creation and expansion of friendship. Students who seek to expand their friendship give and get help and they regard help-seeking as a useful strategy n this respect. In contrast, the students with friendship avoidance goals avoid activities that degrade the quality of social interactions, which disrupts the growth of their social relationships. In addition, these students always eschewed activities that may have negative consequences in their friendship. For this reason, help-seeking was considered threatening and was avoided. Regarding the differences between ordinary and gifted students, the results of multi-group comparisons showed that in the path of the performance approach goals to the perceived threat of help-seeking, of friendship approach to perceived benefits of help-seeking and the path of friendship avoidance goals to the perceived threat of help-seeking, crisis ratio was above 1.96 and there was a significant difference between two groups. In this regard, the standard coefficient of friendship approach goals with perceived benefit of helpseeking was higher in gifted than in non-gifted students. On the other hand, the coefficient of performance approach to perceived threats was higher in ordinary than in gifted students. Similarly, the coefficient of friendship avoidance goals to perceived threat was higher in ordinary students. The results are justifiable considering the higher self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-competency of the gifted students. Given the results of this study, teachers and education counselors are advised to educate students on adaptive helpseeking strategies and encourage team to collaborate. Teachers and parents are advised to deal with the student's individual differences with respect and avoid methods that encourage competition while creating a supportive environment and emphasizing learning and understanding to motivate students to deeply understand the problems.