IS THERE GENDER BIAS IN THE SHORT-FORM COOPERSMITH SELF-ESTEEM INVENTORY

The short-form Coopersmith Self-Esteem. Inventory was completed by 802 16-year-old pupils attending state-maintained schools in England. Ove rall, the boys recorded a significantly higher score of self-esteem th an the girls. Inspection of the individual scale items, however, indic ated that, while boys were more likely to endorse ten of the items, an other item Nas endorsed more frequently by girls. It is argued that ge nder differences in overall scale scores reflect the proportion of