The Self Scale (Long version)

Developed by Lia DeLand in collaboration with Richard C. Schwartz (copyright 2002)

a= .97; item to total correlations = .58-.86.

Mean for Females = 89.07 (SD = 20.58)

Mean for Males = 93.78 (SD = 17.77)

25 items. Participants are asked how frequently they feel these feelings on a 5-point Likert scale (Never/Almost Never; Seldom; Sometimes; Often; Always/Almost Always)

Items Reflecting Self-Qualities:

  1. I feel energetic and joyful.
  2. I know who I am and what I want from life.
  3. I feel a sense of inner peace.
  4. I feel confident that I’ll reach my goals.
  5. I feel happy and playful.
  6. I feel hopeful and optimistic.
  7. I feel capable and strong.
  8. I accept and like myself, just as I am.
  9. I feel a deep sense of confidence in myself.
  10. I feel content with my life, just as it is.
  11. I feel balanced and calm.
  12. I feel worthy and valuable.
  13. I feel I can choose the life I want.
  14. I feel that there are many people who care about me.
  15. I feel deeply committed to life.

Items Reflecting Self-Leadership:

  1. I feel able to comfort myself when something bad happens.
  2. I feel able to take care of myself.
  3. I can manage okay in the midst of chaos.
  4. I can maintain my inner calm even under pressure.
  5. I feel able to face the bad things I’ve done.
  6. I feel like I have good self-control.
  7. When something upsets me, I can calm myself down in healthy ways.
  8. I’m able to resolve inner conflicts fairly quickly.

Items that load almost equally on both factors:

  1. I feel confident that I can handle whatever life brings me.
  2. I feel able to meet life’s challenges with courage.
© 2025 The IFS Scale