THE PROFESSIONAL SELF-ESTEEM OF PHYSICIANS SCALE, STRUCTURE, PROPERTIES, AND THE RELATIONSHIP TO WORK OUTCOMES AND LIFE SATISFACTION

This paper presents a scale to measure the professional self-esteem of physicians. It describes the scale's theoretical basis, psychometric properties, and its value for explaining physicians' well-being. Stati stical analyses, conducted on data from two independent studies of phy sicians in Israel (ns=214 and 122), indicate internal consistency and construct validity of the scale. Scores on professional self-esteem ar e associated positively with life satisfaction and work satisfaction a nd negatively with burnout. Scores also correlate significantly with g lobal self-esteem and with anxiety. The professional self-esteem scale appears to be a useful tool for explaining professionals' work perfor mance, work-related well-being, and general well-being.