Cross-cultural validation of the positivity-scale in five European countries

•The P-Scale assesses individuals’ orientation towards self, life, and future.•Validity was tested in samples from Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland, and Serbia.•Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the one-factor structure of the P-Scale.•Results revealed the P-Scale’s cross-cultural validity and gender invariance.•The P-Scale was positively related to self-esteem, life satisfaction, optimism.

The aim of the present paper was to test the cross-cultural validity of the Positivity-Scale (P-Scale), a new questionnaire designed for the measurement of positivity (i.e., general tendency to evaluate self, life, and future in a positive way). Participants (N = 3544) from Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland, and Serbia answered eight items of the P-Scale and responded to items from other well-validated measures. Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the assumed one-factor structure of the P-Scale and demonstrated its gender invariance in each country and cross-cultural validity. Correlation analyses revealed significant and positive associations of the P-Scale with self-esteem, life satisfaction, optimism, and a latent factor variable of positivity, and a negative relation to depression. The findings provided support for the convergent validity of the P-Scale across countries. Possible applications of the P-Scale are suggested. Implications for further research on conditions and outcomes of positivity in different cultural contexts are discussed.