Carnegie Mellon University

Self-Esteem

Title

Feelings of Inadequacy Scale (modified)

Study

BCS

Copyright Information

Primary Reference

Fleming, J. S., & Watts, W. A. (1980).  The dimensionality of self-esteem: Some results for a college sampleJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 921-929.


Janis, I. S., & Field, P. B.  (1959). A behavioral assessment of persuasibility: Consistence of individual differences.  In C. I. Hovland & I. L. Janis (Eds.), Personality and persuasibility. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Purpose

To measure self-esteem.

Type of Measure

Modified.  The scale administered in the BCS included 14 of the 23 items comprising the original Janis-Field scale (Janis & Field, 1959).  Items were chosen based on results of a factor analysis reported by Fleming and Watts (1980), and included the seven highest-loading items comprising the Social Confidence and Self-Regard factors, respectively.  Unlike the original scale, which presented items in the form of frequency-based questions (e.g., How often do you feel self-conscious?), the version administered in the BCS was comprised of self-referent statements (e.g., I often feel self-conscious) with response options scaled in terms of extent of agreement or disagreement.

Description

Using a 6-point scale, respondents indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with self-referent statements describing attitudes toward themselves. No time frame or referent period is used.

Scaling

6=I agree very much, 5=I mainly agree, 4= slightly agree, 3=I disagree very much, 2=I mainly disagree, 1=I slightly disagree

Number of Items

14

Sample Items

  • I am confident about my abilities (self-regard)
  • I worry about whether other people like to be with me (reversed; social confidence)
  • I think I am a worthless individual (reversed; self-regard)

Psychometrics

Internal consistencies in undergraduate students (n = 106; Fleming & Watts, 1980)

  • Total Self Esteem, Cronbach’s α = 0.90
  • Social Confidence subscale, Cronbach’s α = 0.90
  • Self-Regard subscale, Cronbach’s α = 0.83

Internal consistencies in BCS (n = 383)

  • Total Self Esteem, Cronbach’s α = 0.89
  • Social Confidence subscale, Cronbach’s α = 0.87
  • Self-Regard subscale, Cronbach’s α = 0.78

Scoring

Reversed items: all items except items 5 (feel confident that someday people will look up to me) and 12 (confident about abilities) are reverse-scored so that higher values indicate greater self-esteem.

Total Self-Esteem:  sum items 1R, 2R, 3R, 4R, 5, 6R, 7R, 8R, 9R, 10R, 11R, 12, 13R, 14R

Social Confidence:  sum items 1R, 3R, 6R, 8R, 9R, 11R, 14R

Self-Regard: sum items 2R, 4R, 5, 6R, 7R, 10R, 12, 13R

Variables

Total Self-Esteem score
Social Confidence subscale score
Self-Regard subscale score

Title

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

Study

PMBC

Copyright Information

The Rosenberg SES may be used without explicit permission. The author's family, however, would like to be kept informed of its use. Send information about how you have used the scale, or send published research resulting from its use, to the address below:

                                    The Morris Rosenberg Foundation
                                    c/o Dept. Of Sociology
                                    University of Maryland
                                    2112 Art/Soc Building
                                    College Park, MD 20742-1315

Primary References

1. Rosenberg, M. (1989). Society and the adolescent self-image. Revised edition. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.

2. Krause, N. (1995).  Religiosity and self-esteem among older adultsJournal of  Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 50, P236-P246.

Purpose

To measure self-esteem.

Type of Measure

Modified.  Four positively-worded items were chosen from the established 10-item scale (Krause, 1995).

Description

Participants use a 4-point response scale to indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with self-descriptive statements regarding their attitudes toward themselves. No time frame or referent period is used. In PMBC, participants also had the option of responding “don’t know”. (“Don’t know” responses were treated as missing in the data set).

Scaling

1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Agree, 4 = Strongly Agree

Number of Items

4

Psychometrics

Internal consistency in PMBC (n = 193),  Cronbach’s α = 0.84

Scoring

Sum items 1, 2, 3, 4

Variables

Total Score