ABSTRACT
The concept of "self" is customarily meant to refer to an individual's knowledge, ideas, and evaluation of him or herself. Self-evaluation or self-esteem is a superordinate concept, referring to individuals' overall approval and acceptance of themselves. The self-concept domain is one of the domains in the physical growth literature that researchers commonly have approached from the point of view of a general impact of pubertal development. The role of perceptually salient cues for cognitive activity in these years is revealed in research on person perception, role-taking, concepts of causality, friendship formation, and moral development. Underlying much discussion on self-concept in the physical growth literature is an implicit linkage between physical appearance and general self-esteem, making the changes in physical features induced by puberty likely to affect overall self-evaluation. The indifferent attitude toward the first menstruation, of something to be tolerated and lived with, has been conceptualized as a distress reaction to unfulfilled positive expectancies.
