Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1985). Optimism, coping, and health: assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health psychology, 4(3), 219.
Summary
This article details the construction of the Life Orientation Test (LOT), a scale that measures outcome expectancy in terms of dispositional optimism. The LOT consists of eight items and four filler items. Of the eight items, four are reverse scored. Scale validation was completed using principal-factors as opposed to principal component analysis. LOT scores positively correlated with a higher internal locus of control and self-esteem. They negatively correlated with hopelessness, depression, perceived stress, alienation, and social anxiety.
An experiment used the LOT to longitudinally sample undergraduate students a month before finals and immediately before finals. Additionally, information was collected using the Self-Consciousness Scale and a 39-item checklist of physical symptoms. Students who initially tested high on the LOT (i.e., were optimistic) were less bothered by physical symptoms that developed during the assessment period. This was especially true for students who were also high in private self-consciousness.
Application
The LOT seems to be a valid and useful test for assessing optimism. Additionally, the researchers did something to establish convergent/divergent validity that I haven’t encountered before. Rather than simply relying on interscale correlations, they performed factor analysis with the LOT and each of the additional scales together. For example, they conducted Factor Analysis on the LOT and the Hopelessness scale, and on the LOT and Depression Inventory. This allowed them to show specifically that their items weren’t loading onto the same factors as other measures.
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