Mean score of EU-countries on the Rosenberg self-esteem scale in 2004 (Source: MINDFUL, 2007)

Remarks

Self-esteem was measured in 2004 with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the most widely used measure for self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965). The RSES is a 10-item questionnaire, which measures current occurrence and extent of self-esteem. A four-point likert response scale is used that gives a range from 1 to 4, resulting in a total range from 10 (low self esteem) to 40 (high self esteem).

The scores presented in this figure are age- and sex-adjusted mean scores, based on the self-reported responses to the RSES (MINDFUL, 2007). They originate from an international survey on sexuality carried out in 56 nations, in which the RSES was used as a health indicator. The RSES was administered to 16,998 participants across 53 nations (Schmitt & Allik, 2005).

Most samples were composed of college students (return rate around 95%), though some included members of the general community (return rate around 50%). The samples varied between countries from 59 to 812. Three countries had a sample size lower than 150: Cyprus (59), Lithuania (94) and France (130). Therefore, caution should be used when comparing the results between countries. Caution is also warranted due to the fact that the investigators found that the variance in responses to the RSES showed systematic patterning across cultures. More individualistic, power differentiated, and wealthier cultures showed higher standard deviations. This suggests a tendency for people from collectivist cultures to exhibit a neutral response bias and avoid the extreme ends of self-esteem rating scales. In addition, some cultures show systematic differences between answers to negatively worded items and answers to positively worded items.