The Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale

The best-known and most widely used self-esteem test is without a doubt the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Although the test is more than five decades old, its simplicity (since it only contains ten questions) and reliability have helped it maintain its popularity over the years.

When we talk about self-esteem, it’s clear that most people have an idea of ​​what it means. Essentially, it’s about the image you have of yourself and how you judge yourself.

It is worth mentioning that self-esteem has three more complex aspects that form a psychological canvas full of unique tones, shapes and perspectives.

Self-esteem has to do with the thoughts you have about yourself every day. It is also perception about how other people see you. Other things also come into play such as:

• your childhood
• upbringing
• relationship with your parents, friends and partners

Self-esteem includes concepts such as identity, self-awareness and self-efficacy.

If you want to delve deeper into the concept of self-esteem, Morris Rosenberg’s work at the University of Maryland is a good place to start. Rosenberg is a professor of sociology and a pioneer in his field. In one of his books, Society and Adolescent Self Image (1965), he first shared his self-esteem scale.

The Rosenberg self-esteem scale

Self-esteem is a subjective psychological construct. We know that your experiences, how you evaluate those experiences, how you talk to yourself, how you treat yourself, and how you value yourself in almost every aspect of life are the ingredients of self-esteem.

Therefore, it is important to remember that self-esteem is an emotional concept. It can fluctuate at any time depending on how you interpret and deal with the events in your life. In other words, no one comes into this world with a high self-esteem and stays that way until they die.

Self-esteem is like a muscle. If you neglect it, it can weaken. If you train it every day, everything flows, everything weighs a little less and you have enough energy to handle everything. A good starting point for understanding the condition of this “psychological muscle” is therefore the Rosenberg self-esteem scale.

The History of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

Morris Rosenberg developed the scale based on data from 5,024 adolescents from schools in the United States. His idea was to try to understand how people’s social contexts related to their self-esteem.

He knew that factors such as upbringing, environment, and family had the potential to magnify or influence this psychological construct.

His idea was to develop a sense of self-esteem scale to evaluate how adolescents in the United States of America were doing. He conducted his study in 1960, which immediately sparked the interest of the scientific community as the scale showed high reliability. He is still relevant today.

How to apply the Rosenberg self-esteem scale

One of the most remarkable things about this test is how easy it is to apply. It consists of ten statements that the respondents answer using the Likert scale, which ranges from strongly agree to strongly disagree. If you’re wondering how such a short test can be so effective, consider the following:

In 2001, Dr. Richard W. Robbins that a question such as, “ Do I have good self-esteem? ” is in fact enough to evaluate self-esteem. In fact, Dr. Robbins developed the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale (SISE) and conducted a study that found it to be as effective as the Rosenberg scale.

How is this scale evaluated?

The items on the Rosenberg test are the following:

• I feel that I am a human being of value, at least on an equal footing with others.
• I feel like I have some good qualities.
• All things considered, I tend to think I’m a failure.
• I can do things just as well as most other people.
• I feel like I don’t have much to be proud of.
• In general I am satisfied with myself.
• I have a positive attitude towards myself.
• I wish I had more respect for myself.
• Sometimes I feel useless.
• Sometimes I think I’m completely worthless.

The respondent answers each question with one of the following answers:

• A. Strongly agree
• B. Agree
• C. Disagree
• D. Strongly disagree

Interpretation of the test

The method for grading each answer is as follows:

• Questions 1-5: A is worth 4 points, B is worth 3 points, C is worth 2 points and D is worth 1 point.
• Questions 6-10: A is worth 1 point, B is worth 2 points, C is worth 3 points, and D is worth 4 points.

So if you score 30 to 40 points, you have a good self-esteem. A score of between 26 and 29 points should improve your self-esteem somewhat. If you score 25 or less, you have low self-esteem.

In conclusion, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale is a useful and simple tool to measure self-esteem in a clinical setting, as well as in the general population. It remains a relevant psychological tool.