Transformational giftedness and sustainability: the role of critical thinking and self-regulation in sustainable-living awareness.

This study investigated the role of transformational giftedness in fostering sustainability-related skills among middle school students, focusing on critical thinking, self-regulation, and sustainable-living awareness. Grounded in Sternberg's transformational giftedness concept, the research explored how advanced cognitive and motivational capacities transform into socially meaningful outcomes. A comparative design involved 266 students (118 gifted attending Science and Arts Centers and 148 non-gifted from public schools). Using validated instruments and multiple regression analyses, the study found that gifted students demonstrated significantly higher levels of critical thinking, self-regulation, and sustainable-living awareness. Importantly, both critical thinking and self-regulation predicted sustainable-living awareness in gifted students, while self-regulation showed only marginal predictive power in the non-gifted group. These results suggest transformational giftedness can drive sustainable behavior and that integrating education for sustainable development into gifted education is crucial. Future research should explore longitudinal and cross-cultural pathways to better understand how gifted students contribute to global sustainability goals.