Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory
From CSEI Manual

     "Self-esteem is a set of attitudes and beliefs that a person brings with him or herself when facing the world.  It includes beliefs as to whether he or she can accept success or failure, how much effort should be put forth, whether failure at a task will "hurt," and whether he or she will become more capable as a result of different experiences.  In psychological terms, self-esteem provides a mental set that prepares the person to respond according to expectations of success, acceptance, and personal strength".
   
     "Self-esteem is not something separate from school performance in reading, math, and social and physical skills.  It is an important, integral part of performance.  Studies indicate that students who are unsure of themselves or who expect to fail are inclined to stop trying and just give up.  These studies support the conclusion that feelings of confidence and self-respect are as important in school performance as they are in other areas of life".

      "The term "self-esteem" refers to the evaluation a person makes and customarily maintains with regard to him or herself.  "Self-esteem" expresses an attitude of approval or disapproval and indicates the extent to which a person believes him or herself capable, significant successful, and worthy.  In short, a person's self-esteem is a judgement of worthiness that is expressed by the attitudes he or she holds toward the self.  It is a subjective experience conveyed to others by verbal reports and other overt expressive behavior".

      "There are three features of this definition of self-esteem that require elaboration.  First, it should be noted that the definition centers on the relatively enduring estimate of general self-esteem rather than on specific and transitory changes in evaluation.  Both the enduring and transitory evaluations deal with the level of individual self-appraisal, but the two differ in the generality and reliability of the appraisals and the conditions under which they are made".

      "That the self-esteem of a person remains constant for at least several years is demonstrated by measurements obtained under similar conditions and with the same or relatively similar instruments".  "There are no exact criteria for high, medium, and low levels of self-esteem.   They should and will vary with the characteristics of the sample, the distribution of scores, and theoretical and clinical considerations.  Therefore, the guidelines given here are meant to be general guidelines and should be used with caution".

      "For the SEI, high scores correspond to high self-esteem.   In most studies the distributions of SEI scores have been skewed in the direction of high self-esteem (negatively skewed).  "Employing position in the group as an index of relative self-appraisal, the upper quartile generally can be considered indicative of high self-esteem, the lower quartile generally as indicative of low self-esteem, and the inter-quartile range generally as indicative of medium self-esteem".

      "A high score on the Lie Scale may indicate that the examinee responded defensively or thought he or she understood the "intention" of the inventory and was attempting to respond positively to all items.  In such instances, the inventory may be invalid if a supplemental observational rating or teacher report indicates low or medium self-esteem for the examinee.  Further evaluation is warranted".

REFERENCES

Coopersmith, S. (1967).   The antecedents of self-esteem.                                                           Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc.

Coopersmith, S. (1975).  Building self-esteem in the classroom.                       In Developing motivation in young children.  Palo Alto, CA: Consulting

Psychologists Press, Inc. pp. 95-132.