Self-Esteem Inventories and

ResearchWeek Four

Agenda

• Can self-esteem be measured?

• What tools (inventories) are available for use?

• What criteria does Branden suggest for measuring self-esteem?

Defining Research Constructs

Defining “validity”• Is the criterion in the question ‘valid’?

That is, does it really measure what we imply that it should?

Defining “reliability”• Would the criterion in the question

always produce the same result – (at different times, with different people)

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

• Originally developed to measure adolescents' global feelings of self-worth or self-acceptance

• Generally considered the standard against which other measures of self-esteem are compared.

• It includes 10 items that are usually scored using a four-point response ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.

• The items are face valid, and the scale is short and easy and fast to administer.

• Extensive and acceptable reliability (internal consistency and test-retest) and validity (convergent and discriminant) information exists for the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

The CoopersmithSelf-Esteem Inventory

• Developed through research to assess attitude toward oneself in general, and in specific contexts: – peers

– parents

– school

– personal interests.

• It was originally designed for use with children, drawing on items from scales that were previously used by Carl Rogers.

• Respondents state whether a set of 50 generally favorable or unfavorable aspects of a person are "like me" or "not like me."

• Acceptable reliability (internal consistency and test-retest) and validity (convergent and discriminant) information exists for the Self-Esteem Inventory

Rodin and McAvay

• Developed and validated a self-efficacy measure designed to be particularly relevant to older adults that includes the domain of health. – Interpersonal efficacy

• dealing with friends and family

– instrumental efficacy• finances, safety, productivity

• Has a total of eight items.

Froman and Owen

• Published a health self-efficacy measure intended for use with high school students.

• The 43 item scale has two subscales– Physical Health– Mental Health

• Respondents are asked to indicate their confidence in their ability to perform 43 behaviors, such things as "eating a balanced diet", "maintaining friendships", and "telling the truth".

Limitations to SE Inventories• Perhaps the biggest limitation of all measures of

self-esteem is their susceptibility to socially desirable responding.

• Most measures are self-report, and it is difficult to obtain non-self-report measures of such a personal and subjective construct.

• Also, scores tend to be skewed toward high self-esteem, with even the lowest scorers on most tests scoring above the mean and exhibiting fairly high levels of self-esteem

• Researchers recently have switched to measuring differences between explicit SE and implicit SE, as measured by automatic responses

The Philosophy of Self-Esteem

Branden, Chapter 12

Beliefs About the Self That Support Self-Esteem• No one is here on earth to live up

to my expectations

• If people treat me discourteously or disrespectfully, it is a reflection on them, not on me

• I have a right to make mistakes… that is one of the ways I learn

Beliefs About Living Consciously

• I am better served by correcting my mistakes than by pretending they do not exist

• I need to be on the lookout for temptations to evade unpleasant facts; I need to manage my avoidance impulses and not be ruled by them

Beliefs About Self-Responsibility

• I am responsible for raising my self-esteem; no one else can give me self-esteem

• I accept that no one is coming to make my life right, or save me, or redeem my childhood or rescue me from the consequences of my choices and actions.

Beliefs About Living Purposefully

• Only I properly can choose the goals and purposes for which I live. No one else can appropriately design my existence

• I serve my interests by a high degree of reality checking

• My self-esteem is more valuable than any short-term rewards for its betrayal