Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale

What is the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale?

was created by social psychologist Morris Rosenberg in 1965 to assess a person's self-esteem level.

It comes in the form of a short, ten-item questionnaire where whoever is answering it must pick the best answer that they think best represents them in light of the statements on the scale.

You have statements like “I wish I could have more respect for myself” and “I feel that I’m a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others,” which can be answered by selecting if you agree with it or not.

Given that it’s short, simple, and straightforward, this scale can be easily accomplished in a matter of seconds or just a few minutes. This is one of the reasons why it is widely used.

However, given how simple this scale is and how general the statements are, this may not be the sole assessment you should rely on when assessing your patient’s self-esteem. The statements on this scale may not capture the nuances of why they have low self-esteem and self-worth (if ever).

How to use the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale

As previously stated, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale is easy to use! But before we get into that, there are two approaches you can take when administering this assessment:

1. You can conduct it like an interview. If you’re reading this, you are likely a therapist, counselor, psychologist, or adjacent healthcare professional. You can use this assessment during one of your early sessions with your patients and administer it like an interview. Read each item aloud and then ask them to pick a rating that they think best applies to them. You’ll simply have to tick what their answers are for each item.
2. You can hand it to them and have them answer on the spot, or they can take it home. It’s up to you. If you are going to have them answer it on their own time, make sure to agree on when you should receive a fully accomplished scale.

Whichever approach you choose, the person taking this scale will need to rate the following items:

• On the whole, I am satisfied with myself.
• At times, I think I am no good at all.
• I feel that I have a number of good qualities.
• I am able to do things as well as most other people.
• I feel I do not have much to be proud of.
• I certainly feel useless at times.
• I feel that I'm 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 toward myself.

The scale has set answers that apply to all items. The choices are:

• Strongly Agree
• Agree
• Disagree
• Strongly Disagree

How do you score the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale?

Now that you know what the items on the scale are and what possible answers can be selected, it’s time to show you how this is scored.

If you noticed, some of these statements are positive while some are negative.

The ones that are positive are items 1, 3, 4, 7, and 10. For these, “Strongly Agree” is equal to 4 points, “Agree” is equal to 3, “Disagree” is equal to 2, and “Strongly Disagree” is equal to 1.

The ones that are negative are items 2, 5, 6, 8, and 9. For these, the scoring is reversed. “Strongly Disagree” is equal to 4, while “Strongly Agree” is equal to 1.

You just need to calculate the sum of all the answers.

There are no score ranges or designations to refer to, but as a principle, higher scores mean that your patient has a higher level of self-esteem.

What you do next will depend on the score and what you think is best. Remember that this scale only has general statements revolving around self-esteem and might not be enough to fully assess the patient. If they scored low, make sure to focus on the answers that contributed to the low score. You can use these answers as points for discussion in subsequent sessions with your patient to get more information out of them. More information will open up more opportunities to assess the patient using other assessments. You’ll be able to cover more ground that way.

Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale Example

Well, at this point, you now know all there is to know about this scale: what it is for, what the items are, how each item is answered, and how to score the whole thing. We bet that you are telling yourself, “Sounds good and simple enough!”

You should also see how simple it looks, so here is a filled-out Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale sample for your reference.

Download this Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale Example (Sample) here:

If you like what you see here, then feel free to download a free and printable Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale from our platform! You can choose to print it out if you prefer having physical copies, or you can simply engage with it digitally since the PDF has tickable radio buttons to select your answers.

When is it best to use the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale?

Before anything, it’s always best to remember the points we mentioned about the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale. Specifically, the point about the content of this scale being general statements revolving around self-esteem and self-worth. Given that these are general statements, they might not capture nuances or even culturally-specific factors.

For this reason, the best time to use the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale is during the initial stages of your therapy or counseling program for your patients, which is when you are still trying to get to know them. Getting your patient to open up might take a lot of work. It varies from person to person. One way to get a general sense of a patient is to use assessments with general questions or statements for them to engage with.

Once you receive your patient's fully accomplished Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, you can focus on certain items that catch your eye. These are likely going to be the ones that didn’t score high. You can use these particular answers as the basis of discussion for the next session. If you can get them to expound on why they answered the way they answered, you will be able to determine what particular information you need that will better identify the factors contributing to their low self-esteem.

Which healthcare professionals can use the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale?

Since the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale revolves around self-esteem and self-worth, it is essentially a mental health-related assessment. Given that, the following healthcare professionals can add this to their roster of clinical assessments:

• (Clinical) Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• (Mental Health) Therapists
• Counselors

If you are using this, please make sure to use other assessments to cover the nuances of self-esteem and self-worth and other mental health issues or disorders that your patient might be dealing with. This is so you can get a better picture of your patient and in turn, help you determine what goes into your care plan for them.

The Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale can also be used by pediatricians and even school counselors, if ever they are handling children who are exhibiting signs of having low self-esteem. They can gauge these kids with the general statements on the scale, then endorse them for a check-up with more well-equipped specialists like psychologists and therapists.

These specialists can conduct comprehensive examinations of these children using more comprehensive assessments, diagnose them if needed, and provide early intervention so that they can develop a better self-esteem and self-worth, which they will definitely need to take on the challenges of growing up.

What are the benefits of using the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale?

It’s inexpensive and quick to use.

The Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale does not have any special requirements. You can print it out and use it, or engage with it in PDF format. This makes this scale an inexpensive tool to add to your roster of clinical assessments, plus, the simplicity of the questions, the choice of answers, and the scoring system make it an easy assessment to administer. It should only take anywhere between several seconds to a few minutes. It shouldn’t take longer than five minutes unless the person answering the scale is thinking long and hard about their answers.

It can help professionals get to know patients.

As mentioned earlier, therapy/counseling is hard work because getting patients to open up about themselves, especially their struggles, might be challenging. Why wouldn’t it be? You’re a stranger to them at first. While some may find it easy to open up to strangers, many don’t.

Using this scale can help you get them to open up. If they score low on this scale, take note of the items that contributed to their low score and use those as the basis for your next sessions. If you can get them to expound on why they rated themselves as such based on each item, then you’ll be able to get to know them better. Getting to know them better means you can properly determine the next steps to help them get to a healthier place where they have good self-esteem and self-worth.

It can be used to monitor patients.

Let’s say that your patient is already undergoing a treatment plan based on the results of a comprehensive examination. You can reuse this scale to check on them. If they score high this time, then you can say that the treatment plan (or part of it) is working well enough, and it should be maintained. If they are still scoring low, then perhaps an aspect of the treatment plan isn’t working and must be tweaked. Or the plan should be overhauled.

Why use Carepatron for mental health-related assessments?

Throughout this guide, we’ve mentioned that the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale may not be enough to properly get a good picture of your patient in terms of their self-esteem and self-worth. In connection with that, we also recommend using other assessments to help you assess them from various angles.

Lucky for you, Carepatron is a repository of clinical assessments, especially ones that focus on mental health! Suppose you are a psychologist, therapist, counselor, or an adjacent healthcare professional. In that case, you will benefit from using our platform because it’ll give you access to a wide variety of mental health assessments that will help you cover more ground so you can make an official diagnosis and develop tailor-fitted treatment plans!

We’re all about streamlining your work and providing support that can help you improve/work better, so download as many of our resources as you need!

Using Carepatron will also grant you access to a nifty storage system where you can store all your mental health assessments (including fully accomplished ones) in a HIPAA-compliant manner and secure them with access permissions! Storing them with us also makes them easily accessible to you anytime, anywhere, on any capable device (including smartphones!) so long as you can access the internet!

Convenience. Accessibility. Security. You get all three with Carepatron.