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Self-Esteem Inventory (Coopersmith)

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_81-1

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Self-Esteem Inventory (Coopersmith) Introduction
Catherine Potard
EA 4638 Psychology Laboratory of the Pays de la
Loire, University of Angers, Angers, France
University Hospital of Tours, Tours, France
Synonyms
CSEI; SEI; SEI-SF; SF-CSEI
Definition
The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (CSEI or
SEI; Coopersmith 1981, 1987, 2002) is one of the
most commonly used self-report questionnaires
designed to measure attitudes toward the self in
a variety of areas (family, peers, school, and gen-
eral social activities) for adolescents and adults.
The CSEI consists of 50 items and yields an
overall score and four separate scores representing
specific aspects of self-esteem, namely, general
self, social self-peers, home parents, and school
academic (or professional for adult form). A set of
additional items constitutes a lie scale (defensive
responses; eight items). The CSEI comes in three
versions: School Form (for ages 8–15 years, Form
A), Adult Form (for ages 16 and above, Form C),
and Short Form (Form B). All the versions can be
used as a screening or/and diagnostic tool in clin-
ical and in research settings.
# Springer International Publishing AG 2017
V. Zeigler-Hill, T.K. Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_81-1
The CSEI (Coopersmith 1981, 1987, 2002) is a
self-report questionnaire designed to measure atti-
tudes toward the self in a variety of areas (family,
peers, school, and general social activities) among
young people and adults. This questionnaire con-
stitutes one of the most commonly used assess-
ments of self-esteem in studies and clinical
practice (Blascovich and Tomaka 1991). The
CSEI was originally aimed at 8–15 years-olds
(School Form, Form A), but a revised form was
later designed for respondents over 16 years
(Adult Form, Form C; Myhill and Lorr 1978;
Ryden 1978). In order to adapt the original form
for use with adults, 17 of the 58 items were
rephrased (e.g., “kids” was replaced by “people,”
“school” by “work”). The CSEI consists
of 50 items and yields one global score and four
separate scores representing more specific aspects
of self-esteem: general self, social self-
peers, home parents, and school academic
(or professional for adult form). Additional items
are included to constitute a lie scale (defensive
responses; eight items). The CSEI items require
the participant to report feelings about the self
directly and are typically scored using a dichoto-
mous scale (“like me” vs “unlike me”). Thus
CSEI scores can range from 0 to 50, with higher
scores reflecting higher self-esteem.
2 Self-Esteem Inventory (Coopersmith)
Psychometric Properties
Factor analyses of 58-item CSEI responses
showed mainly a large factor (global score) and
four conceptually coherent correlated factors
(general self, 26 items; social self-peers, 8 items;
home parents, 8 items; and school academic,
8 items). However, factor analyses of both ver-
sions Forms A and C have been demonstrated to
be troublesome. Three, five, or eight empirical
factors have been described in the various studies
exploring the CSEI’s factor structure (e.g.,
Coopersmith 1987; Myhill and Lorr 1978;
Roberson and Miller 1986). The measure exposes
relatively high internal consistency and test-retest
reliability. The various forms of the CSEI have an
internal consistency coefficient of between .80
and .92 across diverse cultural populations
(Coopersmith 2002; Lane et al. 2002; Turan and
Tufan 1987). The CSEI was found to have a test-
retest reliability of approximately .70 for adoles-
cents (Form A) over periods of 5–156 weeks and
.80 for adults (Form C) over periods of
6–58 weeks. Several studies have demonstrated
that these factors were significantly correlated
highly with other self-esteem-related constructs
(e.g., Rosenberg self-esteem scale, Piers-Harris
self-concept scale) with more than 0.55. No stud-
ies of discriminant validity were encountered.
Mostly, validity has been also established by cor-
relations with academic achievement, anxiety,
depression, and neuroticism or extraversion
(e.g., Lane et al. 2002). Factor structure, validity
coefficients, and correlations with some related
scales attest to the CSEI’s adequate estimation of
both subdomains and global self-esteem.
Short Form
In addition to the standard 58-item scale, a Short
Form of the scale (Form B; Coopersmith 1981) is
available, which contains just 25 items (drawn
from the 50-item scale) and features neither the
lie scale nor the subscale scores (Coopersmith
1987; Hills et al. 2007, 2011). Subjected are
instructed to respond to statements using the
same dichotomous format as the 58-item CSEI.
Coopersmith developed this shortened version
(SF-CSEI or SEI-SF) as an alternative to the
CSEI when time is limited. In theory, Form B is
one dimensional (Coopersmith 1987), although
its internal validity was not immediately tested.
More recently, however, some researchers (Hills
et al. 2007, 2011; Potard et al. 2015) have identi-
fied a three-factor structure: personal self-esteem,
self-esteem derived from parents, and self-esteem
derived from peers. None of the studies of the
SF-CSEI’s validity have revealed a general self-
esteem factor, contrary to what Coopersmith pos-
tulated (Coopersmith 1987). The current literature
has indicated that the SF-CSEI reported satisfac-
tory reliability and construct validity (with
Cronbach’s a ranged from 0.68 to 0.77). The
internal structure of the Short Form seems to be
emerging around these three clear subscales. The
SF-CSEI contributes to ease of administration,
scoring, and interpretation.
Criticism
The CSEI might be a useful tool for easy-to-use
measure of self-esteem, but not immune to criti-
cism. Firstly as previously underscored, its factor
structure is debated. Secondly, the response for-
mat (dichotomous scale) provides relevant infor-
mation about the attitudes toward self, but
respondents cannot express neutral or moderate
attitudes. Responses are more likely to be affected
by social desirability bias. In the latter case, the lie
scale score emphasizes an association between
high self-esteem and social conformism. Thirdly,
studies (e.g., Chapman and Mullis 2002)
suggested a gender bias within items of the
SF-CSEI.
Applications
Numerous studies have indicated that self-esteem
is one of the most important risk and protective
factors in the development of mental disorders
and social problems (Mann et al. 2004). It is
therefore especially appropriate to examine differ-
ential influences on specific domains of the self in
adolescence and adulthood. The CSEI and the
SF-CSEI can be recommended for clinical and
educational psychologists, to study the related
consequences or antecedents of lower self-esteem
among adolescents and adults. Also, self-esteem
Self-Esteem Inventory (Coopersmith)
is widely viewed as a major aspect of mental
health and is also associated with recovery after
severe illness (Mann et al. 2004). Consequently,
self-esteem should be an important focus in health
promotion, especially mental health promotion.
One of the most popular tools is the CSEI,
which is commonly used in health promotion
and more particularly in mental health research
and promotion. The CSEI is a clear, valid, and
reliable self-esteem screening instruments in con-
texts of prevention and health practice. The
SF-CSEI may be appropriate for use in situations
where investigators lack the time to administer the
standard CSEI but still desire to assess three major
sources of self-esteem. In this way, the SF-CSEI
can provide multi-outcome perspectives on health
promotion (focused on social support, self-
perception, or family support).
Conclusion
Self-esteem is a widely used concept in psychol-
ogy. One of the most popular tools is the CSEI,
which is commonly used in clinical research and
practice. However, the original version of this
questionnaire (58 items) takes 15–20 min to
administer, which is too long for some studies.
There was a clear need for a shortened version of
the standard CSEI for research and practice.
Coopersmith (1981) therefore came up with a
shortened version (Form B) of his questionnaire,
comprising just 25 items. Although the author
described this version as a one-dimensional mea-
sure, various studies have since contradicted this
assumption. The SF-CSEI appears to assess three
specific domains of self-esteem (personal, social,
and family).
Cross-References
▶ Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
▶ Self-Concept
▶ Self-Esteem
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3
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