Based on the self-evaluation maintenance model of Tesser & Campbell (1982) , the present study investigates the interrelations of interest in school activities, actual performance, and friendship choice among high school students in Japan. Students rated both of their closest classmates as performing moderately lower Educational Studies 55 International Christian University 63 研 究 論 文 RESEARCH ARTICLES on a highly self-relevant school subject, and significantly better on both self-irrelevant

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... ool subjects and club activities. Actual grades supported the hypothesis that students choose friends with similar abilities in highly self-relevant school subjects and friends with a higher ability in self-irrelevant school subjects. Students designated school subjects in which they performed well as highly self-relevant, and school subjects in which they performed poorly as irrelevant. This study provides evidence for the SEM model in Japan. School life for most students in their adolescence is often a time for self-schema exploration, establishing independent relationships with peers, and class performance. The dramatic changes very common in adolescents, such as distancing oneself from adults and teachers and depending more on peer relationships to establish and maintain positive perceptions of the self (Rubin, 1980; Steinberg, 1990; Youniss & Smollar, 1985) , entails that regular attention to student's self-definition is heavily relevant in explaining methods of social interaction in school and performance on tests. During this period, students make many new choices and have many experiences that can direct the course of the rest of their lives. This study examined friendship choice and performance among Japanese high school students in the current academic environment. The selfevaluation maintenance (SEM) model (Tesser, 1981) suggests that interest in school, performance in school, and friendship choice are closely related factors that have direct consequences on each other (Tesser & Campbell, 1982; Tesser, Campbell, &