MEASURES REVIEWED HERE
1.The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale ( Rosenberg, 1989 )
2.The Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale ( Robins et al., 2001a )
3.Self-Liking and Self-Competence Questionnaires (e.g., Tafarodi & Swann, 1995 )
4.The series of Harter Self-Perception Profiles (e.g., Harter & Pike, 1988)
5.The series of Self-Description Questionnaires (e.g., Marsh, 1992a )
OVER VIEW OF THE MEASURES
Our goal in this chapter is to help researchers make informed decisions when selecting measures of self-
esteem for their own research and when evaluating the existing literature. Thus, the current chapter reviews
some of the most widely used self-report measures in the literature. We first provide a review of the Rosenberg
Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) /C0(Rosenberg, 1989 ) with material updated since the Blascovich and Tomaka (1991) chap-
ter, given the ongoing popularity of this instrument. In particular, we summarize new data on the correlates of
the RSE and describe debates about the factor structure of this instrument. We then describe the psychometric
properties of a popular single-item self-esteem measure, the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale (SISE; Robins et al.,
2001a ). This measure was designed to approximate the RSE and is useful when researchers have very limited
time to assess global self-esteem. We then describe the Self-Liking and Self-Competence Scale /C0Revised (SLSC-R;
Tafarodi & Swann, 1995, 2001 ). This instrument provides a way to separately assess perceptions of self-worth
(i.e., self-liking) from perceptions of personal efficacy and self-regard of one’s capabilities (i.e., self-competence).
We conclude the chapter by reviewing two of the mostly widely used multiple domain inventories /C0the series
of Self-Perception Profiles developed by Harter (e.g., Harter & Pike, 1988) and the series of Self-Description
Questionnaires developed by Marsh (e.g., Marsh, 1992a,b ; see also the comprehensive reviews by Boyle, 1994 ;
andByrne, 1996 ). Both of these measures include an overall global scale as well as scales designed to assess per-
ceptions of self-worth relevant for individuals at different developmental periods (e.g., childhood, adolescence,
and young adulthood).
We will not cover measures of implicit self-esteem in this chapter. Implicit self-esteem refers either to: (1) an
automatic and preconscious self-evaluation that is distinct from explicit self-esteem (i.e., the construct assessed
by self-report measures); or (2) feelings of self-worth that individuals are unwilling or unable to disclose on self-
report measures (see Buhrmester, Blanton, & Swann, 2011 ). The first account suggests two distinct constructs /C0
implicit versus explicit self-esteem, whereas the second account of implicit self-esteem suggests the need for
alternative measurement techniques to self-report scales. The two prominent measures of implicit self-esteem
are the Implicit Association Test (IAT; e.g., Greenwald & Farnham, 2000 ) and the Name-Letter Test (NLT;
Nuttin, 1985 ; see also Koole, Dijksterhuis, & van Knippenberg, 2001 ). These two scales are only weakly corre-
lated with each other ( r5.08 from a meta-analysis of nine studies in Buhrmester et al., 2011 ) and the fact that
the two implicit measures do not strongly converge seems problematic because it suggests that the two implicit
measures do not capture the same underlying attribute. Likewise, questions have been raised about the
criterion-related validity of implicit self-esteem measures ( Buhrmester et al., 2011 ). Moreover, neither of these
two measures are strongly correlated with explicit measures of self-esteem (e.g., the meta-analytic correlation
between the IAT and the RSE was .13 based on 11 studies summarized in Hofmann, Gawronski, Gschwendner,
Le, & Schmitt, 2005 ) and the meta-analytic correlation between the Name-Letter Test and the RSE was only .12
[based on 19 studies summarized in Krizan & Suls, 2008 ] (see Buhrmester et al., 2011 ). Thus, we believe it
would be premature to review implicit measures in light of the ongoing issues in the literature. Additional
details about the measurement of implicit self-esteem can be found in Buhrmester et al. (2011) and Bosson,
Swann, and Pennebaker (2000) . A quick and accessible primer on the IAT is found in Robins et al. (2008a,b) .
We return to the importance of developing implicit measures of self-esteem in our final discussion of future
research directions.
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE)
(Rosenberg, 1989 ).133 OVERVIEW OF THE MEASURES
II. EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONS