La version française de l’Échelle de Positivité : évaluer le facteur commun entre l’estime de soi, l’optimisme et la satisfaction de vie

The purpose of this article is to present the adaptation and the validation of the Positivity Scale (Caprara, Alessandri, Eisenberg, Kupfer, Steca, Caprara, & Abela, 2012) through three studies of 840 adults. Positivity, which is a common latent factor between self-esteem, optimism and life satisfaction (Alessandri, Caprara, & Tisak, 2012; Caprara, Steca, Alessandri, Abela, & McWhinnie, 2010), is “the tendency to view life and experiences with a positive outlook” (Caprara et al., 2012, p. 701). Confirmatory factor analysis supports the unidimensionality of factor G Positivity, coexisting with two specific factors, optimism and self-esteem. The instrument attest very good reliability and the high level of temporal stability indicate a very good fidelity. The validity was demonstrated by a good convergence with self-esteem, optimism, life satisfaction as well as positive affect and good divergence with negative affect. The study of the discriminant validity establishes that it differs from scales measuring self-esteem, optimism and life satisfaction. The study of incremental validity shows that it can contribute significantly, through the effect of three constructs in a single dimension, to the prediction of psychological phenomena. This research provides a valid 7-item scale to measure positivity in French.