Confirmatory factor analysis of the collective self esteem scale

Abstract

Self-esteem and measurement thereof is a very prominent phenomenon in psychology and related fields of study. In contrast to traditional measures of selfesteem which focus on individual self-esteem, Luhtanen and Crocker (1992) developed a measure of Collective self-esteem (CSE) with the following subscales: membership self-esteem, private collective self-esteem, public collective self-esteem and importance to identity. The aim of this study was to determine if the instrument is a valid measurement of collective self-esteem in the South African context. The CSE was evaluated using item analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. According to the findings of this study the Collective Self Esteem Scale is a reliable instrument for South African use, but confirmatory factor analysis determined that it is not factorially valid. The fit indexes indicate that the theorized four-factor model is not a good fit to the data in the South African context and should pave the way for further research on the construct validity of the Collective Self esteem Scale. Copyright 2010, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Rossouw, A 2010, Confirmatory factor analysis of the collective self esteem scale, MCom dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02212012-122435 / > C12/4/134/gm