The Construct, Convergent and Divergent Validity, and Reliability of Three Optimism Scales among North American University Students

Cirilo H. Garcia Cadena, Héctor L. Diaz, Tomas Caycho-Rodríguez

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to compare the construct, convergent and divergent validity and the reliability of three optimism scales. The study relied on a nonprobability sample of 100 social work students at Western Michigan University in the United States (Seventy-nine percent of the sample were female, and 21% were male). The sample’s mean age was 26.35 years, SD = 7.70. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of the respondents self-identified as White, and 31% self-identified as African American, Hispanic/Latino, multiethnic, Native American or Asian American. The study used confirmatory factor and multiple regression analyses (CFA and MRA). The findings show that the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) and the Personal Optimism Scale (POS) were supported by three indicators of goodness of fit, while the Brief Interactive Optimism Scale-Garcia (BIOS-G) was supported by eight. The LOT-R showed no acceptable internal consistency indicators, but the POS and the BIOS-G showed several good internal consistency indicators. Correlations of all of these scales with the Physical Well-being Scale-Garcia (PWS-G) ranged from r (100) =.303, p =.002 to r (100) =.439, p =.000. The three scales had divergent validity because their scores did not differ by gender (LOT-R: t(100) = −.885, p =.383; POS: t(100) = −.263, p =.794; BIOS-G: t(100) = −.840, p =.407). The findings suggest the advisability of recommending the BIOS-G, which is short and easy to use and understand.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1412-1430
Number of pages19
JournalPsychological Reports
Volume124
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • American university students
  • Reliability
  • construct validity
  • convergent validity
  • divergent validity
  • three optimism scales

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