Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale: Two Factors or Method Effects

Self-esteem is one of the most studied constructs in psychology. It has been measured with a variety of methods and instruments. Although Rosenberg's (1965) self-report scale is one of the most widely used, empirical evidence on factor validity of this scale is somewhat contradictory, with either 1 or 2 factors. The results of this study suggest the existence of a global self-esteem factor underlying responses to the scale, although the inclusion of method effects is needed to achieve a good model fit.