Collective Self-Esteem Scale

What it measures

Measures self-esteem derived from one's memberships in social groups, based on Tajfel & Turner's Social Identity Theory. Membership Esteem captures how good a member of social groups one perceives oneself to be. Private Collective Self-Esteem captures personal evaluation of one's social groups (whether one thinks positively of them privately). Public Collective Self-Esteem captures perceptions of how outsiders evaluate one's social groups. Importance to Identity captures how central group memberships are to one's self-concept. Collective self-esteem is a key moderator of intergroup behaviour — high collective self-esteem predicts stronger in-group favouritism, resistance to threats to group identity, and group-based consumption behaviours. Widely relevant to brand community research, nationality-based consumer ethnocentrism, and group identity in inclusive advertising contexts.

Representative items

• I am a worthy member of the social groups I belong to. (Membership)
• I feel good about the social groups I belong to. (Private)
• Overall, my social groups are considered good by others. (Public)
• In general, my group memberships have very little to do with how I feel about myself. (R, Importance)
• Most people consider my social groups, on average, to be more worthless than other social groups. (R, Public)

Citation

Luhtanen, R., & Crocker, J. (1992). A collective self-esteem scale: Self-evaluation of one's social identity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18(3), 302–318.