Positivity Scale (POS): New Evidence of Validity in the Brazilian Context

Abstract This study investigates new evidence of validity for the Positivity Scale (POS) to the Brazilian context. 876 individuals (66% women), with age varying from 18 to 83 years old participated in the study. A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate gender measurement invariance. Results showed configural, metric and scalar invariance, suggesting POS to be invariant for both men and women. Two multiple linear regression analysis were conducted to evaluate the relation among the POS with constituent variables of the construct positivity (model 1) and with convergent constructs (model 2). Results from model 1 suggested that, in fact, positivity can be considered a composite of self-esteem, hope, optimism and life satisfaction. Results from model 2 provided further convergent validity evidence for the scale. This study extends the validity evidence for the POS in the Brazilian context.