The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory: analysis and partial validation of a modified adult form.

Determined the factor structure of an adult form of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), tested several hypotheses related to its content, and assessed the utility of the five derived scores for differentiating psychiatric outpatients from normals. The modified Self-Esteem Inventory and six other scales were completed by 200 local-government employees. A principal components analysis of correlations among 58 SEI items and two marker variables revealed five factors. The rotated dimensions were labelled (1) anxiety; (2) defensiveness; (3) negative social attitude; (4) rejection of self; and (5) inadequacy of self. Fifty psychiatric outpatients were compared with 100 normals with respect to the five derived factor scores. Tests of significance indicated that the two groups differed significantly on all measures except the defensiveness or lie scale factor. It is concluded that the Coopersmith Inventory is complex and measures several characteristics in addition to self-esteem.