Evaluation of Locus-of-Hope Scale Psychometric Properties in Iranian Students

Abstract: Hope is one of the positive psychological constructs that has been considered in many studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the factor structure, validity and reliability of the Locus-of-Hope Scale in the Iranian students. The research method was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population of this study was all students of Islamic Azad University, Roodehen, Iran. The sample size was 307 people who were selected by cluster random sampling. The Locus-of-Hope Scale was used to collect data. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed by Cronbach's alpha and the reliability coefficients for the subscales of the questionnaire were obtained between .71 and .87. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the validity of the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a four-factor structure and four subscales (internal, external-family, external-peers, and external-spiritual) were confirmed. Also, all indicators of model fitness were obtained at an appropriate level. As a result, based on the findings of the present study, the Locus-of-Hope Scale can be used for research and treatment purposes related to the hope among Iranian students..