The State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES) is a 20 item measure that captures social, performance, and appearance related self-esteem. SSES was validated in 5 studies to examine the measure's ability to capture self-esteem changes in classroom, laboratory, and clinical therapy settings.
Geographies Tested: Canada
Populations Included: Female, Male
Age Range: Adolescents, Adults
1. I feel confident about my abilities.
2. I am worried about whether I am regarded as a success or failure.*
3. I feel satisfied with the way my body looks right now.
4. I feel frustrated or rattled about my performance.*
5. I feel that I am having trouble understanding things that I read.*
6. I feel that others respect and admire me.
7. I am dissatisfied with my weight.*
8. I feel self-conscious.*
9. I feel as smart as others.
10. I feel displeased with myself.*
11. I feel good about myself.
12. I am pleased with my appearance right now.
13. I am worried about what other people think of me.*
14. I feel confident that I understand things.
15. I feel inferior to others at this moment.*
16. I feel unattractive.*
17. I feel concerned about the impression I am making.*
18. I feel that I have less scholastic ability right now than others.*
19. I feel like I'm not doing well.*
20. I am worried about looking foolish. *
**Items are reverse coded*
Response Options
Not at all - 1
A little bit - 2
Somewhat - 3
Very much - 4
Extremely - 5
Items are averaged to create a scale. Higher scores on the State Self-Esteem Scale indicate higher levels of self-esteem and lower scores indicate lower reported self-esteem.
Heatherton, T. F., & Polivy, J. (1991). Development and validation of a scale for measuring state self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(6), 895-910. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.60.6.895
Psychometric Score
Ease of Use Score
Qualitative Research
Existing Literature/Theoretical Framework
Field Expert Input
Cognitive Interviews / Pilot Testing
Internal
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Criterion (gold-standard)
Construct
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