The assessment of self-esteem: A cautionary note

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Abstract
A cautionary note is sounded on the assessment of self‐esteem. There are very few commercially available instruments which have an adequate theoretical basis and the majority of these have methodological problems which would preclude them from the practitioner's repertoire of self‐esteem tests. However, the Harter Self Perception Profile for Children represents possibly the “state of the art” in self‐esteem assessment although it too has its problems. Further research is required to develop an instrument which is theoretically based and methodologically sound. Recent research indicates that self‐esteem tests should incorporate the duality of descriptive and evaluative information in gaining a fuller picture of one's self‐esteem process.