Developmental Psychology 1991, Vol. 27, No- 4, 552-565 Copyright 1991 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 0012-1649/91 /$ 3.00 Transitions During Early Adolescence: Changes in Children's Domain-Specific Self-Perceptions and General Self-Esteem Across the Transition to Junior High School Allan Wigfield, Jacquelynne S. Eccles, Douglas Mac Iver, David A. Reuman, and Carol Midgley Institute for Social Research University of Michigan Young adolescents' (N = 1,850) achievement self-perceptions in 4 activity domains (math, English, social activities, and sports) and self-esteem were examined across the transition from elementary to junior high school. Self-esteem scores declined across the transition to junior high, but increased during 7th grade. Self-concepts of ability for math, English, and social activities declined after transition, but perceptions of social ability increased during 7th grade. Perceptions of sports ability declined across 6th and 7th grades. The liking of math and sports declined over time, whereas liking of English and social activities declined immediately after transition but increased across 7th grade. Many of these changes are attributed to changes in the school and classroom environments encoun- tered on entering junior high school. During the early adolescent years, children experience the social and biological changes associated with puberty. Most young adolescents also make an important school transition at this time, moving from elementary to middle school or junior high school. Different theorists (e.g., Blyth, Simmons, & Carl- ton-Ford, 1983; Eccles, Midgley, & Adler, 1984; Hill & Lynch, 1983; Rosenberg, 1986; Simmons, Blyth, Van Cleave, & Bush, 1979) have proposed that these changes can have a significant impact on students' self-perceptions and self-esteem. Eccles, Midgley, and Adler (1984) reviewed evidence showing that many young adolescents become more negative about school and themselves after the transition to junior high school. They become more anxious about school (Fyans, 1979; Harter, Whitesell, & Kowalski, 1987) and have lower academic intrin- sic motivation (Harter, 1981; Harter et al., 1987). Many studies also show that young adolescents have lower ability self-con- cepts than do their younger peers (Eccles et al., 1983; Eccles, Portions of this article were presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC, April 1987. Support for this research was provided by Grant MH31724 from the National Institute of Mental Health, Grant HD17296 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and Grant BNS-8510504 from the National Science Foundation. We would like to thank Harriet Feldlaufer and David Klingel for their help with data collection and data management for this project. We would also like to thank Laura Klem for statistical advice related to this project. Jacquelynne S. Eccles is now at the University of Colorado. Douglas Mac Iver is now at Johns Hopkins University. David A. Reuman is now at Trinity College. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Al- lan Wigfield, who is now at the Department of Human Development, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742. Adler, & Meece, 1984; Marsh, 1989), although this pattern is not always found (Harter, 1982). Some studies suggest that adoles- cents' beliefs about mathematics become particularly negative (Brush, 1980; Eccles, Adler, & Meece, 1984). In addition to these changes in specific self-perceptions, Simmons, Rosen- berg, and Rosenberg (1973) showed that, after the transition to junior high school, young adolescents' general self-esteem is lower and less stable and their self-consciousness higher. Eccles and her colleagues (Eccles, Midgley, & Adler, 1984; Eccles & Midgley, 1989) and Simmons and her colleagues (Blyth et al., 1983; Simmons et al, 1973,1979; Simmons & Blyth, 1987) have postulated that these changes in young adolescents' atti- tudes and beliefs are due in part to differences in the school environments of elementary and junior high school. These dif- ferences include a greater emphasis on evaluation and social comparison among students (Feldlaufer, Midgley, & Eccles, 1988; Harter et al., 1987), stricter grading standards (Blyth, Simmons, & Bush, 1978; Kavrell & Petersen, 1984; Schulen- berg, Asp, & Petersen, 1984), and a disruption of young adoles- cents' social networks (Berndt, 1987) among other things (see Eccles, Midgley, & Adler, 1984; Eccles & Midgley, 1989 for a complete review). The biological and social changes associated with puberty may also be responsible for some of these changes in young adolescents' self-perceptions. Several investigators have sug- gested that gender-role appropriate activities may become more important to young adolescents, as they try to conform more to gender-role stereotypes for behavior (Eccles, 1987; Hill & Lynch, 1983; Parsons & Bryan, 1978); Hill and Lynch labeled this phenomenon gender-role intensification. This phenome- non may lead young adolescents to have less positive beliefs about and be less involved in activities that they see as less appropriate to their own gender. In support of this hypothesis, girls' beliefs and attitudes about mathematics become more neg- 552 This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.