Scientific background: Self-Esteem

About this test

The scale was developed in 1965 by sociologist Morris Rosenberg and remains the most widely used instrument for measuring global self-esteem in psychological research today. Numerous studies across many countries and languages show very good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha usually above .85) and stable test-retest reliability. The scale deliberately measures a one-dimensional, global sense of self-worth, not individual facets like a sense of competence or body image.

Methodological research has long debated whether the scale truly measures just one dimension: because five of the ten items are positively worded and five negatively, some studies find two separate factors -- "self-confidence" and "self-deprecation" -- rather than a single factor, likely because negatively worded items get answered somewhat differently regardless of a person's actual self-esteem. More recent studies using bifactor models confirm that underneath this wording effect, a single, substantial global factor remains -- which is what the scoring here reflects.

Dimensions

Sources & license

• Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton University Press.

  The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is public domain and may be used freely for research and clinical work without permission. Item wording, reverse-scored items, and the scoring key were verified verbatim against the Fetzer Institute's academic compendium of the scale.

  https://www.chla.org/rosenberg-self-esteem-scale

• Tomás, J. M., & Oliver, A. (1999). Rosenberg's self-esteem scale: Two factors or method effects. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 84–98.

  Scientific publication, cited as evidence for the method-effect/bifactor debate.