The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: What It Measures and How to Interpret Your Score

So, you’ve taken the Rosenberg Self-Esteem test and got your number – now what? Can you really measure and understand your own self-esteem through a simple test?

If you haven’t got your Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale score yet, take our free self-esteem test.

In this article, we’ll talk in-depth about the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, what your score actually means for your self-esteem, and how you can use all of this information to better understand your attachment style.

What Is the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale?

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was developed by American psychologist Dr. Morris Rosenberg in 1965 [1]. It was initially designed to measure self-esteem amongst high school students, but has been validated in adult populations in over 50 different countries and translated into at least 28 languages [2].

The scale is fairly simple: there are 10 questions, 5 to measure self-competence and 5 to measure self-liking. Self-competence describes how confident we feel about our ability to achieve our goals, while self-liking describes an intrinsic sense of self-worth and self-acceptance. This produces a measure of global self-esteem, or self-worth; it’s possible to have high self-esteem in some domains, like things that you know you’re good at, and low self-esteem in others.

The 10 Items and How They Work

The 10 statements on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale are all answered in the same way. You are asked to select whether you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with each one, and these answers are converted into numerical scores from 0-3.

Our version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale uses a slightly different scoring system (explained in the next section), but the questions are the same. Some of the items on the scale are reverse-coded. This means that the number assigned to your score depends on whether the question was worded as a positive or a negative.

Researchers have noted that the wording of the questions can sometimes affect results. For example, if you have difficulty reading or reasoning, your score might not be an accurate representation of self-esteem due to confusion or misunderstanding [3].

How Rosenberg Scores Work

Since there are 10 questions and each is scored from 0-3, the highest possible score on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is 30, and the lowest is 0; that’s 0-15 for self-competence and 0-15 for self-liking. Our self-esteem test uses the same system but with scores from 1-5 instead of 0-3, so the minimum and maximum are 10 and 50 instead of 0 and 30.

There’s no set cut-off for what constitutes a high or low score, because what’s high or low changes depending on the characteristics of a population. For example, people with mental health difficulties typically score lower than people with good mental health, so it wouldn’t be fair to compare self-esteem scores across these two groups.

Instead, we consider all of the scores in a population and compare based on the average and how the scores are spread. Our self-esteem test uses the following cut-offs for total self-esteem scores:

• Low: 10-27
• Medium: 27-37
• High: 37-50

And for each subscale:

Our cut-offs are based on the spread of data, not just arbitrary numbers, so they reflect where your score falls in the total sample.

Keep in mind that we have a wide, global audience, so this still doesn’t effectively compare your score with other people like you. We recommend you use your feedback as one tool of many to understand your overall self-esteem and wellbeing.

What Your Score Actually Means

So, how do you use your self-esteem score as a tool to understand your wellbeing? Your score can give you a clue to how you feel about yourself overall – if you’ve been feeling low about yourself in general and you score lower in one subdomain than another, this might give you a specific area to focus on.

You might find your score surprising; because it measures an overall sense of self-esteem, it doesn’t measure how competent you feel in specific areas like at work or in family life. If you tend to focus on the things you feel good about but don’t have high self-esteem otherwise, this might be reflected in your Rosenberg score.

Your current situation could also affect how you answer the questions. If you’re experiencing stressors at work or at home, you might feel less positive about yourself than you usually would, and this can cause you to answer more negatively – especially if you’re in the same stressful environment when you complete the test.

Does the Rosenberg Scale Actually Measure What it Says it Does?

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is well researched and highly regarded, but – as often happens in psychology – some studies have raised questions about what it’s really measuring. One study suggested that the positively and negatively worded items might each measure different things, with positive items measuring how much people value themselves and negative items measuring perceived competence [4].

The findings that some people find negatively worded questions confusing also suggests that part of the test might measure cognitive ability rather than self-esteem [3].

This further illustrates why your self-esteem scores should be considered as part of a bigger picture, not as a be-all-end-all definitive score. Not only can environmental or current emotional experience affect your answers, but long-term traits like reading comprehension can also have an influence.

Does the Scale Work Across Cultures and Populations?

Another important thing to consider is cross-cultural differences. The way we interpret things, and the way we feel about ourselves, can be influenced by our culture. For example, countries like Australia and New Zealand report “Tall Poppy Syndrome”, describing a culture where high achievers can be criticized for standing out from the crowd.

In cultures like these, it might be seen as less acceptable to have high self-esteem, so we might bias our answers towards what feels more socially appropriate or acceptable to us. Language adds another complex layer – languages often don’t translate directly, and meanings can be subtly or significantly changed without intention. The RSES has been translated into at least 28 languages; although we check translated psychological measures, it’s very difficult to be sure that they’re measuring the exact same thing.

A global study testing 28 translations of the RSES in 53 different countries found that more collectivist cultures – cultures which emphasize community and co-operative values – tend towards more neutral scores, whereas individualist cultures which value independence and personal success score a little higher [2].

This study also found that negatively worded items are interpreted differently across different countries, highlighting the difficulties in matching language and cultural meanings. The researchers suggest that cross-cultural comparisons using the RSES might not tell us much about real differences in self-esteem.

What does your self-esteem score reveal about your attachment style?

Self-esteem is inherently tied to your attachment style. In short, the higher you score on the self-esteem test, the more likely you are to have a secure attachment style. Although attachment avoidance is associated with a positive self-view, it can still be associated with lower self-esteem than attachment security. Attachment anxiety, whether in the anxious-preoccupied or fearful-avoidant attachment style, is associated with a negative self-view and the lowest self-esteem.

Conclusion

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is a highly regarded and widely tested measure of self-esteem. Although no psychological test is perfect, the Rosenberg Scale can give you useful insights into your self-esteem based on self-liking and self-competence.

Our free self-esteem test uses the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale and returns a detailed explanation of your scores on both subscales. These scores can be a useful tool for understanding your self-esteem and wellbeing, but they aren’t the complete picture; lots of things can influence how we answer the RSES, so focus on what your scores mean to you instead of what the numbers are and how they compare to others.

To get a deeper understanding of your self-esteem, take our free test based on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.

FAQs

What is a good score on the Rosenberg scale?

There’s no such thing as a good or bad score – your score is simply a reflection of your current feelings about yourself and how these might be influenced by your culture, environment, and current stressors. Because of our unique circumstances, it’s difficult to compare different people’s scores; this is why there are no strict cut-off points for high and low scores.

Our version of the Rosenberg scale uses cut-off points based on the spread of data across a wide range of global participants which may not represent your individual circumstances, so take your low/medium/high categorization with a pinch of salt.

Is the Rosenberg scale accurate?

The Rosenberg scale has been found to be an accurate measure of self-esteem across lots of different populations, although language, reading ability, and culture can influence our responses.

Why is the Rosenberg scale the most used self-esteem test?

The Rosenberg scale is well-researched in lots of different countries, cultures, and populations, with generally very positive results for its reliability and validity. It’s also relatively easy to administer, having only 10 items and a simple response scale.

Can your score change over time?

The way you feel about yourself can change over time, so your Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale scores can change too. This can be short-term based on stressors or your current environment, or longer-term as experiences and age shape our self-view.

References

1. Rosenberg M. Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton university press; 1965 Dec 31.

2. Schmitt DP, Allik J. Simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in 53 nations: exploring the universal and culture-specific features of global self-esteem. Journal of personality and social psychology. 2005 Oct;89(4):623.

3. Gnambs T, Schroeders U. Cognitive abilities explain wording effects in the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Assessment. 2020 Mar;27(2):404-18.

4. Moksnes UK, Espnes GA, Eilertsen ME, Bjørnsen HN, Ringdal R, Haugan G. Validation of Rosenberg self-esteem scale among Norwegian adolescents–psychometric properties across samples. BMC psychology. 2024 Sep 27;12(1):506.