Abstract
Optimism consists of positive expectations about the future and persistence in the face of adversities. Due to the theoretical gaps regarding its evaluation at the national level, this research aimed to develop an optimism scale for adults and investigated their psychometric properties. The participants were 555 adults, aged from 18 to 77 years (M = 33.6; SD = 11.5), most of them women (65.4%). After the development of the scale items, the semantic analysis, the analysis by the judges, and the exploratory factorial analysis were performed and reliability was verified. The semantic analysis and the analysis by the judges indicated evidence of validity based on content. The exploratory factorial analysis indicated a two-factor solution, which explained 47.3% of data variance. Cronbach’s alpha values indicated the reliability of the instrument (α = 0.94 - Factor 1 and α = 0.92 - Factor 2). It was concluded that the proposed scale presents evidence of validity based on content, internal structure, and reliability.
Keywords:
optimism; positive psychology; mental health; psychological assessment
