Abstract
This study examines relations between early adolescent girls' well-being, achievement, and emerging identities. Variable-centered results showed that girls' moral and student identities were the strongest predictors of their achievement, whereas their moral, student, physical, and peer identities predicted their well-being. Person-centered results delineated four subgroups of girls based on their profiles of well being and achievement. The largest group of girls (46%) was characterized by well being and positive school achievement and had balanced adult- and peer-oriented identities. The second largest group (35%), characterized by emotional distress and average school achievement, had positive student and negative physical and peer identity representations. The third group (12%), characterized by emotional distress and poor school achievement, reported pervasive negative representations. The final group (7%), characterized by well being and poor achievement, did not consider themselves good students but did see themselves as physically attractive. Interviews revealed identity challenges characteristic of girls in each subgroup.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 115-152 |
Number of pages | 38 |
Journal | Journal of Early Adolescence |
Volume | 28 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 1 2008 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Sociology and Political Science
- Life-span and Life-course Studies