Self-conceptions, motivations, and interpersonal attitudes of early- and late-maturing girls.

"The changing body and the changing self" is a phrase associated with adolescent development (18). It suggests that the shaping into mature form of the childhood body pattern is accompanied by new self-concepts. These altered attitudes toward the self reflect at least in part the youth's response to his physical metamorphosis. What "growing-up" connotes for the individual adolescent depends upon a complex of psychobiological factors. One of the most important of these is rate of physical maturation. Adolescent growth may be relatively regular and even, or it may be uneven or abrupt. The timing of puberty, in relation to social norms of the peer group, may present problems of special importance for some adolescents. Previous reports of systematic comparisons between the behavior and personality characteristics of early- and late-maturing adolescents have indicated that acceleration in growth tends to carry social advantages for boys