Self-Esteem

Global self-esteem is an overall evaluation of whether individuals are satisfied with and like themselves. Having high self-esteem does not necessarily denote feeling superior to others (i.e., being narcissistic), and having low self-esteem does not imply being depressed. Self-esteem is an important mental health construct throughout each developmental stage and has lasting impacts across later life periods. For example, adolescents with high self-esteem are less likely in adulthood to be unemployed or commit crimes and more likely to be well educated and physically and mentally healthy. Self-esteem is typically measured by questionnaires asking participants to rate their self-regard on a numerical scale. The most widely used self-esteem measure, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale, lists 10 statements such as “I feel that I have a number of ...