The Utility of the Revised Life Orientation Test to Measure Optimism among Hong Kong Chinese

Abstract

To examine the utility of the revised Life Orientation Test (LOT‐R) to measure optimism among Hong Kong Chinese, the psychometric properties of the revised and the original versions of the Life Orientation Test were compared. A total of 248 Hong Kong Chinese undergraduates were studied in the fall and 165 of these participants were tested again 5 months later. Results indicated that the LOT‐R is a reliable and valid measure of dispositional optimism among Hong Kong Chinese. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the LOT‐R represents a one‐factor model of optimism better than does the original version. Despite its brevity, the LOT‐R is psychometrically sounder than the original sclae. These findings point to the feasibility of replacing the original with the revised scale in future research among Hong Kong Chinese. However, the utility of the revised test in cross‐cultural comparisons may still be limited by the absence of emic components. Further research on optimism in the Chinese people with the LOT‐R should pay more attention to the identification of emic dimensions.