Your Rosenberg score comes from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), ten statements about how you see yourself overall. On Survey Doctor, each answer scores 1 to 4, so totals run from 10 to 40. Higher scores mean a more positive view of yourself, and 25 is the exact middle.
Many other sources score the same answers 0 to 3, for a total of 0 to 30. Subtract 10 from a Survey Doctor score to compare the two. The RSE has no official cutoffs for low or high self-esteem, and your score is not a diagnosis.
Are there cutoffs for low self-esteem?
The RSE has no official cutoffs. The University of Maryland sociology department publishes the scale. Its FAQ says there are no discrete cutoff points for high and low self-esteem. Instead, it suggests comparing scores with research on similar groups of people.
Many websites repeat a different rule for the 0-to-30 version: 15 to 25 is normal, and under 15 is low. That rule does not come from the scale's developers, and Survey Doctor could not trace it to a published study. On Survey Doctor's 10-to-40 scale, the same rule would read 25 to 35 as normal and under 25 as low.
Older Survey Doctor results or printouts may show a Low, Normal or High label. Those were product labels rather than research cutoffs, so Survey Doctor now shows only the number.
How to score the RSE
Each statement has four answers: strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree. Five statements are positive, such as "On the whole, I am satisfied with myself." The other five are negative, such as "I certainly feel useless at times," and they are scored in reverse. That way a higher number always means a more positive answer.
- Score each positive statement: strongly agree 4, agree 3, disagree 2, strongly disagree 1. On Survey Doctor's form, these are statements 1, 3, 4, 7 and 10.
- Score each negative statement the other way round: strongly agree 1, agree 2, disagree 3, strongly disagree 4. These are statements 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9.
- Add all ten numbers. The total runs from 10 to 40.
- For the 0-to-30 version, take 1 point off every answer before adding, or subtract 10 from the total.
Three negative statements are about feeling no good at all, having little to be proud of and feeling useless. The other two are about wanting more self-respect and feeling like a failure. Printed copies list the statements in different orders. The University of Maryland copy numbers its reversed items 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10, so go by the wording.
Survey Doctor does the arithmetic for you. You can take the RSE without an account and see your total as soon as you finish.
Convert and read your score
To convert, subtract 10 from a Survey Doctor score, or add 10 to a 0-to-30 score. A Survey Doctor score of 25 is 15 on the 0-to-30 version, and both sit at the exact middle of the scale. The descriptions below come from the answers themselves, not from research cutoffs.
| Survey Doctor score (10-40) | Same answers on the 0-30 version | What the answers describe, on average |
|---|---|---|
| 10-14 | 0-4 | Strongly negative answers to most items |
| 15-19 | 5-9 | Mostly negative answers, many strongly so |
| 20-24 | 10-14 | Mildly negative answers on balance |
| 25 | 15 | The exact middle of the scale |
| 26-29 | 16-19 | Mildly positive answers on balance |
| 30-34 | 20-24 | Mostly positive answers |
| 35-40 | 25-30 | Strongly positive answers to most items |
These conversions only work between the two versions above, which both have four answer choices. Rosenberg's original 1965 study used a different scoring method, and some researchers add a fifth or seventh answer choice. Those versions have different ranges, so adding or subtracting 10 does not convert them.
Two people with the same total can have answered quite differently. One may agree mildly with everything positive, while another swings between strong answers. Your answers to single statements often say more than the total.
What higher and lower scores describe
A higher score means you agreed more with positive statements, such as having a number of good qualities. It also means you disagreed more with the negative ones. The RSE describes your overall sense of self-worth, not confidence in one skill or role.
A lower score means you agreed more often with the negative statements, such as feeling useless or like a failure. It describes how you saw yourself when you answered. It cannot tell you why, whether the cause is mood, stress, relationships, health, unfair treatment or something else.
Average scores tend to sit above the middle. One study gave the RSE to 16,998 people in 53 nations. Every nation's average was above the middle of the scale (Schmitt and Allik, 2005). The same study found that people in different countries read the negative statements differently, which is one reason no single normal score fits everyone.
If you take the RSE again, your total may move with your circumstances or your mood that day. No agreed number of points counts as real change, so compare your answers as well as the total.
When to talk to someone
Use how you feel, not a number, to decide. Consider talking with a doctor or therapist if a low view of yourself lasts for weeks or causes distress. The same applies if it gets in the way of relationships, work, school, sleep or daily care.
You do not need a low score to ask for help. A high score is not a reason to stop care you already have.
The RSE does not measure depression, so it cannot replace a depression check. If low mood, loss of interest or poor sleep are part of the picture, consider the PHQ-9. It asks about those problems over the past two weeks. You can take the PHQ-9 and then read the PHQ-9 score guide.
The RSE also has no question about self-harm, so a high score says nothing about those thoughts. If you have thoughts of harming yourself or ending your life, get support now, whatever your score.
If you need help now. In the US, Call 988 or text 988. Call 911 if you are in immediate danger. Outside the US, contact your local emergency number or find support in your country.
It can help to bring your answers to the ten statements. Add how long you have felt this way and what it makes harder. A doctor or therapist can look at the wider picture, which one questionnaire cannot do.