Sept. 27, 2005 -- Want to boost your self-esteem? Your global neighbors might be able to give you some pointers.
A new international self-esteem survey puts Serbia at the top, Japan at the bottom, and the U.S. in sixth place.
The researchers included David Schmitt, PhD. He is an associate professor and chairman of the psychology department at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill.
The results are due to appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
10 Highest, Lowest Rankings
The countries in the survey's top 10 list for self-esteem are:
- Serbia
- Chile
- Israel
- Peru
- Estonia
- U.S.
- Turkey
- Mexico
- Croatia
- Austria
The 10 lowest-ranked nations are:
- South Korea
- Switzerland
- Morocco
- Slovakia
- Fiji
- Taiwan
- Czech Republic
- Bangladesh
- Hong Kong
- Japan
About the Survey
Self-esteem scores were based on anonymous surveys given to nearly 17,000 people in 53 nations. The survey was translated into 28 languages.
Most people who returned a completed survey were college students. Both men and women participated in all countries. The number of participants in each country ranged from 59 in Cyprus to more than 2,700 in the U.S.
The survey asked people to rate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with statements such as "I am able to do things as well as most other people," "I take a positive attitude toward myself," and "All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure."
The survey also covered personality and romantic relationships
