B. Graylittle et al., AN ITEM RESPONSE THEORY ANALYSIS OF THE ROSENBERG SELF-ESTEEM SCALE, Personality & social psychology bulletin, 23(5), 1997, pp. 443-451
The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, a widely used self-report instrument
for evaluating individual self-esteem, was investigated using item res
ponse theory. Factor analysis identified a single common factor, contr
ary to some previous studies that extracted separate Self-Confidence a
nd Self-Depreciation factors. A unidimensional model for graded item r
esponses was fit to the data. A model that constrained the 10 items to
equal discrimination was contrasted with a model allowing the discrim
inations to be estimated freely. The test of significance indicated th
at the unconstrained model better fit the data-that is, the 10 items o
f the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale are not equally discriminating and a
re differentially related to self-esteem. The pattern of functioning o
f the items was examined with respect to their content, and observatio
ns are offered with implications for validating and developing future
personality instruments.