A Little Hope Goes a Long Way: Identifying Profiles of Hope Among Gifted and Talented Turkish Adolescents

Gifted and talented (GT) students are widely recognized for their academic strengths, yet less attention is given to their social-emotional experiences. Hope, a cognitive-motivational construct reflecting perceived ability to set meaningful goals, identify pathways to achieve them, and maintain the motivation to pursue those pathways (Snyder, 2002), has been linked to academic and psychosocial functioning but remains underexplored in GT students. In this study, we examined hope profiles in 194 Turkish adolescents attending a residential high school. Using latent profile analysis, two distinct groups emerged: a Hopeful profile characterized by slightly above-average hope scores and a Low Hope profile with substantially below-average scores. Students in the Hopeful profile reported higher positive affect, self-esteem, and well-being, as well as lower depressive symptoms and psychological distress, compared to peers in the Low Hope profile. Findings highlight hope as a meaningful psychosocial resource for GT adolescents and underscore the importance of fostering hope to support talent development.