The Rosenberg self-esteem scale: what does it consist of?

This psychometric tool is used to examine how people value themselves.

Self-esteem is a construct that refers to people's subjective evaluation of themselves. subjective evaluation that people make of themselves.. It differs from self-concept in that it is an emotional dimension, not a cognitive one. Low self-esteem is related to depression and risky behaviors, while high self-esteem tends to be associated with greater psychological well-being.

The Rosenberg self-esteem scalea brief test with good psychometric properties, is the most widely used instrument for the assessment of self-esteem in clinical practice and scientific research.

Morris Rosenberg, the creator of the scale.

Dr. Morris Rosenberg received his doctorate in Sociology from Columbia University in 1953. He later worked at Cornell University and at the National Institute of Mental Health in the United States.

In 1965 he published the book Society and the adolescent's self-image (society and the adolescent's self-image", through which he presented his scale of self-esteem. presented his self-esteem scale..

He was Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland between 1975 and 1992, the year of his death. His work on self-esteem and self-concept have survived him and today he continues to be an important reference in these fields.

The Rosenberg self-esteem scale

The Rosenberg self-esteem scale consists of ten items, each of which is a statement about personal worth and satisfaction. about self-worth and self-satisfaction.. Half of the statements are positively formulated, while the other five refer to negative opinions.

Each item is scored from 0 to 3 according to the degree to which the respondent identifies with the statement that constitutes it. Thus, 0 corresponds to strongly disagreeing and 3 to strongly agreeing.

The items that make up the Rosenberg scale are the following:

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• I feel that I am a person worthy of appreciation, at least as much as others.
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• I feel that I have positive qualities.
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• In general, I am inclined to think that I am a failure.
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• I am capable of doing as well as most others.
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• I feel I don't have much to be proud of.
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• I have a positive attitude toward myself.
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• Overall, I feel satisfied with myself.
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• I would like to have more self-respect.
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• Sometimes I certainly feel useless.
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• Sometimes I think I am good for nothing.

Positive items (1, 2, 4, 6 and 7) are scored from 0 to 3, while items 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10 are scored in reverse order. A score below 15 indicates low self-esteem.The normal self-esteem is between 15 and 25 points. 30 is the highest possible score.

What is it used for?

The Rosenberg self-esteem scale is the most widely used psychological instrument for measuring self-esteem. This is because it is administered very quicklyThis is because it is administered very quickly, consisting of only 10 items, and because its reliability and validity are high.

Adolescents were the initial target of the self-esteem scale, although it has been generalized to the study of adults. It is used to assess both general and clinical populations, including people with substance abuse problems.

The Rosenberg scale has been validated in men and women of all ages in a large number of countries and has been validated in a large number of countries. in a large number of countries and has been used in cross-cultural studies in more than 50 countries.

On the other hand, it should be taken into account that knowing people's level of self-esteem is a way of approaching their most internalized beliefs about themselves. their most internalized beliefs about themselves.. People with some mental disorders or social, mood and assertiveness problems tend to have low self-esteem, which makes it more difficult for them to undertake ambitious initiatives to improve their situation.

For example, a person with low self-esteem will tend to attribute their successes to luck or the involvement of external people or entities, such as the help of a family member; this means that they do not experience these "good moments" as a reward that they want to access again in the future (or, at least, to the same extent that it would be seen as a reward by someone with good self-esteem).

Findings from the Rosenberg scale

Cross-cultural studies conducted with the Rosenberg self-esteem scale have found that people tend to evaluate themselves positively, regardless of the culture to which they belong.regardless of the culture to which we belong.

However, the components of self-esteem do vary according to culture. do vary according to culture. Thus, people from more individualistic societies (such as the United States) tend to feel more competent but less satisfied with themselves than those from collectivist cultures, such as Japan.

The scale has confirmed the relationship of self-esteem with two of the Big 5 personality factors: Extraversion and Neuroticism. People who are more extroverted and have a lower level of neuroticism (the opposite of emotional stability) tend to have higher self-esteem. In fact, it has been hypothesized that self-esteem may protect against anxiety symptoms.

Psychometric properties: reliability and validity

The original sample contained 5024 participants, all of whom were high school students in New York; as mentioned above, Rosenberg initially developed the scale for use with adolescents in New York City. initially developed the scale for use with adolescents. A large number of subsequent studies have confirmed the reliability and validity of the Rosenberg self-esteem scale.

In psychometrics, the term "reliability" refers to the absence of measurement error, while validity defines the degree to which the instrument measures what it is intended to measure.

Test-retest reliability is between 0.82 and 0.88, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which measures internal consistency, is between 0.76 and 0.88. Criterion validity is 0.55. In addition, the scale correlates inversely with anxiety and depression (-0.64 and -0.54). (-0.64 and -0.54, respectively). These values confirm the good psychometric properties of the Rosenberg self-esteem scale.

Referencias bibliográficas:

• Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. callhelpline.org.uk, The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. Recuperado el 11 de marzo de 2017.

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

• Schmitt, D. P. & Allik, J. (2005). Simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in 53 nations: Exploring the universal and culture-specific features of global self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 623-42.