The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is the most widely used measure of global self-esteem in psychological research. If you are writing a thesis, designing a survey, or simply trying to understand how researchers measure the way people feel about themselves, this is the scale you will meet first. Developed by sociologist Morris Rosenberg and published in 1965, it packs a remarkable amount of information into just ten short statements. This guide gives you the full item list, the exact scoring rules — including the five reverse-scored items that trip up almost every first-time user — a worked scoring example, and honest guidance on what the numbers can and cannot tell you.
What the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Measures
Global self-esteem is a person’s overall sense of their own worth — a single, general attitude toward the self, rather than confidence in one specific area such as school, sport, or appearance. Rosenberg defined it as a favourable or unfavourable attitude toward the self, and the scale he built captures exactly that: how positively or negatively people evaluate themselves as a whole.
Because it is short, free to use, and easy to score, the RSES has become a standard instrument in student theses and published research alike. You will find it in studies of adolescents and adults, in clinical screening batteries, and as an outcome measure in interventions ranging from therapy programmes to school wellbeing projects. It is a research and screening measure, not a diagnostic test — no score on its own diagnoses low self-esteem as a clinical condition.
At a Glance
- Full name: Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES)
- Author: Morris Rosenberg (1965)
- What it measures: Global self-esteem
- Number of items: 10
- Response format: 4-point Likert scale — Strongly agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly disagree
- Score range: 0–30 (with 0–3 item coding) or 10–40 (with 1–4 item coding)
- Time to complete: About 2–3 minutes
- Cost and permission: Public domain; free to use with a citation of Rosenberg (1965)
The 10 Items
The scale is in the public domain, so the full item list can be reproduced. The ten statements below appear in the standard order. Five are worded positively and five negatively, presented in alternating order to reduce the tendency to agree with everything. Items marked (R) are reverse-scored.
- On the whole, I am satisfied with myself.
- At times I think I am no good at all. (R)
- 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. (R)
- I certainly feel useless at times. (R)
- 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. (R)
- All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure. (R)
- I take a positive attitude toward myself.
Respondents rate each statement on a four-point scale, from Strongly agree to Strongly disagree. Note that there is no neutral middle option — respondents must lean one way or the other, which is a deliberate feature of the original design.
How Scoring Works
Scoring takes three steps. The most common convention today codes each item from 0 to 3, giving a total from 0 to 30. An older convention codes each item from 1 to 4, giving a total from 10 to 40. The two are the same responses rescaled, but always state which convention you used so readers can compare your scores with other studies.
Step 1: Score the positively worded items
Items 1, 3, 4, 7, and 10 are scored in the straightforward direction: Strongly agree = 3, Agree = 2, Disagree = 1, Strongly disagree = 0.
Step 2: Reverse-score the negatively worded items
Items 2, 5, 6, 8, and 9 are scored in reverse: Strongly agree = 0, Agree = 1, Disagree = 2, Strongly disagree = 3. This is the step most people get wrong. If you forget to reverse these five items, your total is meaningless — a respondent who strongly agrees with “I am inclined to feel that I am a failure” would wrongly receive the highest possible points for that item.
Step 3: Add all ten item scores
Sum the ten scores. The total ranges from 0 to 30 on the 0–3 coding. Higher scores indicate higher self-esteem.
Worked Example
Imagine a respondent, Sara, answers the scale like this:
- Item 1 — Agree: 2 points
- Item 2 — Disagree: reversed to 2 points
- Item 3 — Strongly agree: 3 points
- Item 4 — Agree: 2 points
- Item 5 — Disagree: reversed to 2 points
- Item 6 — Strongly disagree: reversed to 3 points
- Item 7 — Agree: 2 points
- Item 8 — Disagree: reversed to 2 points
- Item 9 — Strongly disagree: reversed to 3 points
- Item 10 — Agree: 2 points
Sara’s total is 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 = 23. That falls in the typical range described below.
Interpretation and Cut-Offs
Rosenberg designed the scale as a continuous measure, and he did not publish clinical severity bands. The ranges below are a widely used convention, not a validated diagnostic cut-off, so treat them as a rough guide and interpret every score in context:
| Total score (0–30) | Common reading |
|---|---|
| 0–14 | Low self-esteem |
| 15–25 | Within the normal range (where most people score) |
| 26–30 | High self-esteem |
Two cautions matter here. First, a single score is a snapshot, not a verdict: self-esteem fluctuates with mood, context, and life events, and the scale measures a general tendency, not a fixed trait carved in stone. Second, the scale is a screening and research tool. If a low score appears alongside distress, the appropriate next step is a conversation with a qualified professional, not a label drawn from a questionnaire.
Reliability and Validity
Why has a ten-item scale from 1965 survived six decades of use? Because it holds up well when tested. In the original study, Rosenberg reported a coefficient of reproducibility of .92 and a test–retest reliability of .85 over two weeks (Rosenberg, 1965). Later studies typically report internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) in the .77–.88 range, and the scale’s largely one-factor structure has been documented across dozens of countries and languages.
Validity evidence is similarly reassuring: RSES scores correlate in the expected directions with measures of depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction, and the scale distinguishes groups that theory says should differ in self-esteem. It is also genuinely unidimensional in most samples, meaning the ten items hang together as one measure rather than several — which is why a single total score is justified.
That said, no scale is perfect. Critics note that the items are quite general and transparent — respondents can often guess what is being measured, which can invite socially desirable answers. Translation also needs care: the scale exists in many languages, but a translated version should be checked for equivalence rather than assumed identical to the English original.
When to Use the RSES (and When Not To)
Use it when you need a brief, well-established measure of overall self-esteem: as a variable in a thesis survey, as a baseline and follow-up measure in an intervention study, or as a screening question in a larger battery. Its brevity is a genuine advantage — respondents finish it in minutes, and it rarely causes fatigue when combined with other measures.
Do not use it when you need domain-specific self-esteem (such as academic or body-image self-esteem), when you need a clinical diagnosis, or when you need to track small changes over days rather than weeks — the scale is stable by design, so it is not sensitive to very short-term shifts. And never treat a score as a complete picture of a person: self-esteem is one thread in a much larger fabric.
Common Scoring Mistakes
- Forgetting to reverse-score items 2, 5, 6, 8, and 9. This is the classic error and it ruins the total. Always reverse before summing.
- Mixing the 0–3 and 1–4 conventions. Both exist in the literature. Pick one, state it in your methods section, and never compare a 0–30 total with a 10–40 total.
- Treating 15 as a diagnosis. Scores below 15 are often described as “low self-esteem”, but that is a convention, not a validated clinical cut-off.
- Scoring incomplete responses by summing anyway. If a respondent skips an item, do not just add up the rest — either exclude the case, prorate transparently, or use the missing-data approach your supervisor approves, and report what you did.
- Rewording the items. Even small wording changes can alter the scale’s properties. Use the standard items and cite Rosenberg (1965).
How to Cite the Scale
The RSES is in the public domain, so you do not need permission to use it — but you do need to cite it properly. In APA 7th edition, the reference list entry is:
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton University Press.
In text, write: “Self-esteem was measured with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), a 10-item measure scored on a 4-point Likert scale.” Then add your sample’s reliability figure (for example, “Cronbach’s alpha in the present sample was .84”) — reviewers expect this, and it shows you checked the scale’s performance in your own data rather than assuming it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many items does the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale have?
Ten items. Five are worded positively and five negatively, and respondents answer each on a four-point scale from Strongly agree to Strongly disagree.
Which items are reverse-scored?
Items 2, 5, 6, 8, and 9. For these items, Strongly agree scores 0 and Strongly disagree scores 3 — the opposite of the positively worded items.
What is a good score on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale?
On the 0–30 scoring, scores of 15–25 are generally described as within the normal range, and scores of 26–30 as high. Scores below 15 are often described as low self-esteem, but this is a convention, not a validated clinical cut-off — always interpret scores in context.
Is the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale free to use?
Yes. The scale is in the public domain, so you can use it in research without paying or seeking permission, as long as you cite Rosenberg (1965).
Can I use the RSES with teenagers?
Yes — it was originally developed with high-school students. It is widely used with adolescents and adults alike, though you should still check that the wording suits your specific sample and language.
Final Thoughts
The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale endures because it does one thing, simply, and does it well: it turns the slippery idea of “how I feel about myself” into a number you can compare, track, and analyse. Ten items, two minutes, one total — but only if you score it correctly. Reverse items 2, 5, 6, 8, and 9, state your scoring convention, and remember that the number is a starting point for understanding, not the final word.