Faces of Science

Different people evaluate self-esteem in different ways. Our assessments of how we feel depend on a complex mixture of:

• Our knowledge, talents and skills
• Our expectations of life and ourselves
• How we spend our time
• What we have achieved
• Who we compare ourselves to
• How we look

Psychologists have tried to find a way of measuring self-esteem on a standard scale so that they can evaluate and compare different people’s attitudes towards themselves. The Rosenberg scale (developed by Morris Rosenberg in 1965) is often used to do this.

Rosenberg scale
To work out your score on this scale, add up the number of times you agree with a positive statement below (shown in orange) and the number of times you disagree with a negative statement (shown in green)

	A	D
On the whole, I am satisfied with myself
At times I think I am no good at all
I think I have a number of good qualities
I am able to do things as well as most people
I feel I do not have much to be proud of
I certainly feel useless at times
I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others
I wish I could have more respect for myself
All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure
I take a positive attitude towards myself

 

 

Screen 4 of 10