Development of the positive personality traits scale for the university students

Abstract

Objective To develop positive personality scale for the university students (PPTSUS). Methods According to the hypothesis lexicology, interviewing, literature study and questionnaire survey were used to develop the structure and items of the PPSUS. Using cluster random sampling method, total 1100 undergraduates were tested with PPTSUS.Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the scale. Results Exploratory principal component analysis of the items identified that the scale had 11 factors. The reliability test, Cronbach'α coefficient, split-half and test-retest correlation coefficients were 0. 931, 0.900 and 0.835 respectively for the total scale. The correlations between the factors and total scores were all bigger than 0.499 (P<0.01). And in the validate factor analysis, χ2/df was 1.91, RMSEA was 0.045, NNFI was 0.742, and CFI was 0.856. Conclusion The PPSUS has good construct validity, excellent levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. And it achieves the basic demand of psychometrics. Key words: Positive Personality traits; Reliability; Validity; Factor analysis