The role of self compassion and cognitive flexibility in predicting subjective well being in gifted students

The purpose of the research is to demonstrate the predictive power of self-compassion and cognitive flexibility levels of academically gifted students attending Science and Art Centers (BİLSEM) on their subjective well-being. The study aims to explore the relationships between subjective well-being, self-compassion and cognitive flexibility levels, as well as their differentiation in terms of various socio-demographic variables. The research adopts a correlational model and convenient sampling is used in the study. The sample of the study consists of 286 students who attended Science and Art Centers in theprovinces of Kırklareli, Tekirdağ and Edirne in the Thrace Region during the 2022/2023 Academic Year. These students are at the middle school level (5th, 6th, and 7th grades), andidentified as academically gifted in general intellectual ability, music, and art fields. The data collection tools used in the research include a Personal Information Form, an Adolescent Subjective Well-Being Scale (Eryılmaz, 2009), a Cognitive Flexibility Scale (Bilgin, 2009), and a Self-Compassion Scale Short Form (Neff, 2003; Yıldırım and Sarı, 2018). Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient, Multiple Linear Regression Analysis, Independent Samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H Analysis test, and One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used in the data analysis of the research. The results of the research indicate that there are significant positive relationshipsbetween the subjective well-being, self-compassion, and cognitive flexibility scores of academically gifted students. It was also found that self-compassion and cognitive flexibility explain 48% of subjective well-being, and subjective well-being, self-compassion, and cognitive flexibility scores differ according to some socio-demographic variables. The findings are discussed in the light of the literature, and recommendations are made based on the results.