Skip to main content
Log in

Dimensionality of rosenberg’s self-esteem scale among normal-technical stream students in Singapore

  • Published:
Current Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Dimensionality of the widely used Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) was investigated in a sample of 153 seventh-grade Asian students from Singapore. Confirmatory factor analyses performed on the scores of the RSES revealed two factors (positive and negative self-esteem) as hypothesized. Both factors were empirically related to different external variables. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that positive self-esteem significantly predicted students’ mastery goal orientation and academic self-efficacy scores while negative self-esteem significantly predicted students’ disruptive behavior. These findings provide some preliminary support that the two factors could possibly be measuring substantively distinct dimensions, thus calling into question the unidimensionalty of the RSES in an Asian school-based sample.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderman, E.M., & Midgley, C. (1997). Changes in achievement goal orientations and perceived classroom goal structures across the transition to middle-level schools. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 22, 269–298.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Anderman, E.M., & Young, A.J. (1994). Motivation and strategy use in science: Individual differences and classroom effects. Journal of Research inScience Teaching, 31, 811–831.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aunola, K., Stattin, H., & Nurmi, J. (2000). Adolescents' achievement strategies, school adjustment, and externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 289–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentler, P.M. (2004). EQS 6 structural equations program manual. Encino, CA: Multivariate Software.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blankertz, L., Peters-Davis, N., Kreider, T.M., & Bradley, M. (1999, August). The structure of positive and negative components of self-esteem for individuals with severe mental illness. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, IL.

  • Byrne, B. (1994). Structural equation modeling with EQS and ESQ/Windows. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmines, E.G., & Zeller, R.A. (1979). Reliability and validity assessment. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A. (1955). Delinquent boys: The culture of the gang. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corwyn, R.F. (2000). The factor structure of global self-esteem among adolescents and adults. Journal of Research in Personality, 34, 357–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curran, P.J., West, S.G., & Finch, J.F. (1996). The robustness of test statistics to nonnormality and specification error in confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 1, 16–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, C.I., & Dweck, C.S. (1978). An analysis of learned helplessness: Continuous changes in performance, strategy, and achievement cognitions following failure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36,451–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dweck, C.S. (1999). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dweck, C.S., & Leggett, E.L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95, 256–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterbrooks, M.A., & Abeles, R. (2000). Windows to the self in 8-year-olds: Bridges to attachment representation and behavioral adjustment. Attachment and Human Development, 2, 85-106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farruggia, S.P., Chen, C., Greenberger, E., Dmitrieva, J., & Macek, P. (2004). Adolescent self-esteem in cross-cultural perspective: Testing measurement equivalence and a mediation model. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35, 719–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottfredson, M.R., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberger, E., Chen, C., Dmitrieva, J., & Farruggia, S. P. (2003). Item-wording and the dimensionality of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: Do they matter? Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 1241–1254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hay, I. (2000). Gender self-concept profiles of adolescents suspended from high school. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 345–352.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hay, I., Ashman, A., & van Kraayenoord, C. (1994). Children's self-concept and their thinking: How are they related? In J. Edwards (Ed.), Thinking: International interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 259–268). Highett, Victoria: Hawker Brownlow Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinshaw, S. P. (1992). Externalizing behavior problems and academic underachievement in childhood and adolescence: Causal relationships and underlying mechanisms. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 127–155.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P.M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indices in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jonson-Reid, M., Davis, L., Saunders, J., Williams, T., & Williams, J.H. (2005). Academic self-efficacy among African American youths: Implications for school social work practice. Children and Schools, 27, 5–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, A., & Maehr, M.L. (1999). Achievement goals and student well-being. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 24, 330–358.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H. (1978). Deviant behavior and self-enhancement in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 7, 253–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H. (1980). Deviant behavior in defense of self. New York, NY: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H., & Pokorny, A.D. (1969). Self-derogation and psychosocial adjustment. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 149, 421–434.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, P., Rasinski, K.A., Lee, R., & West, J. (1991). National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. Quality of the responses of eighth-grade students in NELS88. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy, K.S.C. (1997). The contribution of self-concept in the etiology of adolescent delinquency. Adolescence, 32, 671–686.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, X., Kaplan, H.B., & Risser, W. (1992). Decomposing the reciprocal relationships between academic achievement and general self-esteem, Youth and Society, 24, 123–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh, H.W. (1996). Positive and negative global self-esteem: A substantively meaningful distinction or artifactors? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 810–819.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Midgley, C., & Urdan, T. (1995). Predictors of middle school students' use of self-handicapping strategies. Journal of Early Adolescence, 15, 389–411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Midgley, C., Maehr, M.L., Hruda, L.Z., Anderman, E., Anderman, L., Freeman, K.E., Gheen, M., Kaplan, A., Kumar, R., Middleton, M.J., Nelson, J., Roeser, R., & Urdan, T. (2000). Manual for the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (PALS). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education (2005). Secondary education. Retrieved September 19, 2005 from http:// www.moe.gov.sg/corporate/secondary.htm

  • Nicholls, J.G., Cheung, P.C., Lauer, J., & Patashnick, M. (1989). Individual differences in academic motivation: Perceived ability, goals, beliefs and values. Learning and Individual Differences, 1, 63–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O'Brien, E.J. (1985). Global self-esteem scales: Unidimensional or multidimensional? Psychological Reports, 57, 383–389.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owens, T.J. (1993). Accentuate the positive and negative: Rethinking the use of self-esteem, self-deprecation, and self-confidence. Social Psychology Quarterly, 56, 288–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owens, T.J. (1994). Two dimensions of self-esteem: Reciprocal effects of positive self-worth and self-deprecation on adolescent problems. American Sociological Review, 59, 391–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petersen, A.C., Schulenberg, J.E., Abramowitz, R.H., Offer, D., & Jarcho, H.D. (1984). A self-image questionnaire for young adolescents (SIQYA): Reliability and validity studies. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 13, 93–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robins, R.W., & Pals, J.L. (2002). Implicit self-theories in the academic domain: Implications for goal orientation, attributions, affect, and self-esteem change. Self and Identity, 1, 313–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Satorra, A., & Bentler, P.M. (1988). Scaling corrections for chi-square statistics in covariance structure analysis. ASA 1988 Proceedings of the Business and Economic Section (pp. 308–313). Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, E.P., Walker, K., Fields, L., Brookins, C.C., & Seay, R.C. (1999). Ethnic identity and its relationship to self-esteem, perceived efficacy, and prosocial attitudes in early adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 22, 867–880.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steer, R.A., Kumar, G., Beck, A.T., & Beck, J.S. (2005). Dimensionality of the Beck Youth Inventories with child psychiatric outpatients. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 27, 123–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tafarodi, R.W., & Milne, A.B. (2002). Decomposing global self-esteem. Journal of Personality, 70, 443–483.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vandergriff, L., & Rust, J.O. (1989). The relationship between classroom behavior and self-concept. Education, 106, 172–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, L., & APA Task Force on Statistical Inference (1999). Statistical methods in psychology journals: Guidelines and explanations. American Psychologist, 54, 594–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rebecca P. Ang.

Additional information

This study was supported by a grant from Center for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, National Institute of Education (CRP 26/04 RA) to Rebecca P. Ang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ang, R.P., Neubronner, M., Oh, SA. et al. Dimensionality of rosenberg’s self-esteem scale among normal-technical stream students in Singapore. Curr Psychol 25, 120–131 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-006-1007-3

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-006-1007-3

Keywords

Navigation