Many studies done in the last three decades show that, beginning with adolescence and sometimes even earlier, many adolescents undergo a process of distancing themselves from science as they age. This longitudinal study attempts to deepen our knowledge and understanding of factors that play a role in early adolescents’ science identity development. For 3 years, we followed nine early adolescents at school, at home, and at their after-school activities, interviewing them 162 times. A thematic analysis of the interviews led to the identification of 32 themes. When comparing these themes across different participants, we identified three motifs that distinguished between the participants. Our findings suggest that (A) having a clear area of interest, not necessarily in science, positively affected the participants’ self-efficacy in science and self-assessment of their ability in science studies; (B) being or not being the eldest child in a family with multiple siblings played a role in the participants’ identity development in relation to science; and (C) the participants who were wholly dependent on their grades as an indication of their ability in science rejected the possibility of a future in science and studied science out of compliance rather than out of any internal motive. The implications of our findings are discussed and offer insights into ways that may nurture the positive science identity development of early adolescents.

过去三十年进行的许多研究表明，从青春期开始，有时甚至更早，许多青少年随着年龄的增长经历了远离科学的过程。这项纵向研究试图加深我们对在早期青少年科学认同发展中发挥作用的因素的认识和理解。三年来，我们在学校、家里和课外活动中跟踪了 9 名早期青少年，对他们进行了 162 次采访。对访谈的主题分析确定了 32 个主题。当比较不同参与者的这些主题时，我们确定了区分参与者的三个主题。我们的研究结果表明，（A）拥有明确的兴趣领域（不一定是科学）可以积极影响参与者的科学自我效能感和对其科学研究能力的自我评估； (B) 是否是有多个兄弟姐妹的家庭中的长子对参与者与科学相关的身份发展发挥了作用； (C) 完全依赖成绩来衡量其科学能力的参与者拒绝了科学未来的可能性，并且出于顺从而不是出于任何内在动机而学习科学。我们讨论了我们的研究结果的含义，并为培养早期青少年积极的科学认同发展的方法提供了见解。