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To exam ine the utility of the rev ised 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 w ere compared. A total of 248 Hong Kong Chinese undergraduates w ere studied in the fall and 165 of these participants were tested agai n 5 months late r. Results indicated that the LOT-R is a reliable and valid measure of dispositional optimism among Hong Kong Chinese. Con® rmatory fac tor analysis showed that the LOT-R represents a one-fac tor model of optimism better than does the original ve rsion. Despite its brevity, the LOT-R is psychometrically sounder than the original sclae. These ® ndings point to the feasibility of replacing the original w ith the revised scale in future research among Hong Kong Chinese. However, the utility of the revised test in cross-c ultural comparisons may still be limited by the absence of emic components. Further research on optimism in the Chinese people w ith the LOT-R should pay more atte ntion to the identi® cation of e mic dimensions.L' utilite  du Life Orientation Test re  vise  (LOT-R) pour mesurer l' optimisme chez des chinois de Hong Kong est e  val ue  e en comparant les proprie  te  s psychome  triques des ve rsions originale et re  vise  e. Un e  c hantillon de 248 e  tudiants pre  gradue  s a e  te  e  tudie  a Á l' automne et 165 de ces participants ont e  te  reteste  s 5 mois plus tard. Les re  sultats indiquent que le LOT-R est une mesure ® able et valide de la tendance a Á l' optimisme chez les chinois de Hong Kong. Une analyse fac torielle con® rmatoire montre que le LOT-R repre  sente mieux que la version originale le mode Á le unifac toriel de l' optimisme. Bien qu' il soit bref, le LOT-R est une meilleure mesure que l' e  preuve originale. Ces re  sultats de  montrent qu' il e st possible maintenant de remplacer l' e  preuve originale par l' e  preuve re  vise  e dans les futures recherches sur les chinois de Hong Kong. Cependant, l' utilite  de l' e  preuve re  vise  e dans les comparaisons interculturelles peut encore demeurer limite  e a Á cause de l' absence de composantes e  miques. A Á l' ave nir, les travaux sur l' optimisme du peuple chinois qui utiliseront le LOT-R devront porter plus atte ntion a Á l' identi® cation des dimensions e  miques.

A self-report measure of dispositional optimism, the Life Orientation Test, was administered to a group of 202 Hong Kong undergraduates. Consistent with prior findings, factor analysis yielded a two-factor solution with all positively worded items loaded on the first factor and all the negatively worded items loaded on the second. Prediction of physical symptom reports from scores on the two subscales was then tested with 85 subjects randomly selected from the original sample. Only the complete test and the subscale defined by the positively phrased items predicted symptom levels concurrently as well as prospectively over 3 wk. The negative subscale suggested by previous research as tapping pessimism rather than dispositional optimism showed no significant correlation with symptom levels. Moreover, when scores of the positive rather than the negative subscale were controlled, the significant correlation between scores on the Life Orientation Test and symptom reports was eliminated. These findings suggested a multidimensional view of the test and that the positive subscale may be sufficient to measure optimism validly. Implications of these for the personality dimensions of positive versus negative affectivity are also discussed.

The relations between hassles, dispositional optimism, and prospective reports of physical symptoms were examined in a group of 90 Hong Kong undergraduates. Given that most hassle scales are confounded by physical and psychological symptomatology, a decontaminated scale specifically tailored to the experiences of college students was used. Multiple regression analyses indicated that hassle scores and the interaction of hassles and optimism uniquely and reliably predicted symptom reporting. Optimism, however, did not reliably predict symptom reports when effects of hassles and the interaction of hassles and optimism were controlled. Inspection of the interaction showed that optimism predicted symptom scores only at high levels of hassles. The underlying mechanisms were discussed in the light of previous data linking optimism and adaptational outcomes via coping. It was suggested that further pursuit of the connection between optimism and coping in relation to measures of life stress would be worthwhile.

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