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A person whose performance disproportionately exceeds ability; academically, a student, whose academic achievement disproportionately exceeds his or her performance on standardized intelligence tests.

The terms "overachiever" and "underachiever," most often applied to school and academia, both refer to gaps between academic performance and IQ test scores. Generally, these terms are not used by either educators or psychologists. However, clinical psychologist Marilyn Sorenson in her book, Breaking the Chain of Low Self-Esteem, maintains that people with low self-esteem often find themselves driven to overachieve to build self-worth. Overachievers increasingly take on new projects and drive themselves to perfection, often becoming known as "workaholics." Overachievement may occur in one area of a person's life without...