Clinician or parent? Hand your device over with the score hidden, or send the test to their phone.
10 questions · about 2 minutes
For each one, pick the answer that fits you best. There are no right or wrong answers.
Answer how you generally feel about yourself, not just today.
Your answers stay on this device. Nothing is saved or sent unless you choose to email the results. This tool is for educational and self-awareness purposes only. It is not a diagnosis. If feeling worthless comes with thoughts of hurting yourself, call or text 988 now.
- Questions
- 10
- Time
- 2 min
- Looks back over
- No set period
- Score range
- 0–30
- Cost
- Free
What the Rosenberg Self-Esteem measures
- Self-acceptance and satisfaction with yourself
- A sense of your own worth and good qualities
- Self-criticism and feelings of failure (the five reverse-scored statements)
About the Rosenberg Self-Esteem
The scale was written by the sociologist Morris Rosenberg and published in 1965, from a study of more than 5,000 high school students in New York State. It has since been used in thousands of studies and translated into dozens of languages.
It has ten statements: five worded positively ("I feel that I have a number of good qualities") and five negatively ("At times I think I am no good at all"), so that agreeing with everything does not produce a high score. Each is scored 0 to 3, with the negative statements reversed, for a total from 0 to 30.
Rosenberg did not publish cutoffs. A common rule of thumb treats 15 to 25 as the typical range and under 15 as low self-esteem; the ranges here follow it. Self-esteem is not a diagnosis, but persistently low self-esteem often travels with depression and anxiety, and it responds well to therapy. The scale is free to use.
How the Rosenberg Self-Esteem is scored
- Every question offers the same answers, but some are reverse-scored: the same answer adds a point on one question and nothing on another, so it is the pattern of answers that counts, not how far along the scale each one sits.
- The answers are added together for a total from 0 to 30.
Rosenberg Self-Esteem score ranges
The ranges this quiz uses to label a score. They describe where a score falls, not a diagnosis.
| Result | Score |
|---|---|
| Low self-esteem | 0–14 |
| Typical range | 15–25 |
| High self-esteem | 26–30 |
How to read the results
- It is a snapshot, not a diagnosis. A label only says where a score falls compared with the people the questionnaire was tested on. A word like "mild" does not mean a mild disorder.
- Look at the answers, not only the total. Which questions scored highest often says more about what to work on than the number does.
- Compare with yourself over time. Taking it again in a few weeks, or after starting therapy, shows whether things are moving. Compare each score with your own earlier one, not with someone else's.
- Talk it through. A clinician will ask what no questionnaire can: how long it has been like this, what else is going on, and how much it gets in the way.
Using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem with clients
- Baseline, then repeat. Give it at intake, then at regular intervals, and compare each score with the client's own earlier ones to see whether treatment is working.
- Hand to client. Give it on your own device in session. The questions fill the screen with nothing else on it, and the scores stay hidden until you take the device back and press Show results.
- Send to someone. Send a link before the session by text or email. Tick "Ask for a copy of their results" and their results page offers to email you their score. They decide whether to send it. Your address travels in the link itself and never reaches our servers.
- Copy summary and Print. The results screen copies a one-line summary for the session note, or prints the results on their own.
- Nothing is stored. Answers stay in the browser. Results leave it only when someone chooses to email them, and that email is not kept.
Where to go from here
- Individual Counseling at Crown Counseling · in Brooklyn and online across New York
- Free resources for therapists
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale scored?+
Each of the 10 statements scores 0 to 3. For statements 1, 3, 4, 7 and 10, strongly agree scores 3; statements 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9 are reversed, so strongly disagree scores 3. The total runs from 0 to 30, and higher means higher self-esteem.
What is a normal score?+
Rosenberg did not set official cutoffs. A common rule of thumb is that 15 to 25 is the typical range and under 15 suggests low self-esteem.
Is low self-esteem a mental health condition?+
Not on its own. But lasting low self-esteem is often part of depression or anxiety, and it is one of the things therapy helps most with.
Are my responses stored?+
No. All responses remain completely private and local to your browser. No data is collected, stored, or transmitted to any server.
References
- Rosenberg M. Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1965.
- Schmitt DP, Allik J. Simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in 53 nations. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2005;89(4):623-642.