Positive Psychology Constructs: Development and Measurement
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Date
2023-11
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Avinashilingam
Abstract
The present study examines the factor structure of the C. A. R. E Inventory. This
psychological assessment tool was developed by the researcher in response to the COVID
pandemic when there was a lacuna of locally developed assessment tools to assess
positivity and hence develop such positive psychology constructs for empirical
assessment. After ethical approval, items were generated based on a survey of 2780 adults
on the specific positive psychology constructs necessary during the present pandemic
scenario and its aftermath. The participants gave the maximum rating for four main
positive psychology constructs based on which the acronym C. A. R. E. was devised
where:
C: stands for Compassion and Self-Compassion
A: stands for Achieving a Purpose in Life
R: stands for Relationship Building
E: stands for Enhancing Positive Emotions
Following this, items were generated and subjected to content validity with subject experts
and stakeholders. After establishing the required content validity ratio, normality
assessments were conducted followed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis for
a final sample of 862 adults. CFA models reveal that the 36 item C. A. R. E Inventory has
sufficient model fit indices, namely the normed chi-square (3.68), Comparative Fit Index
(CFI=0.943), Incremental Fit Index (IFI=0.943), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI=0.939),
Normed Fit Index (NFI=0.924), and Relative Fit index (RFI=0.918), all above 0.9,
indicating good model fit. Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) value of
0.056 and a Standardized Root Mean Squared Residual (SRMR) value of 0.0295, all of
them indicate a good fit for the model. All items had a factor loading of above 0.70. This
psychological tool is hence ready for use globally as it has no culturally biased items.
Moreover, an intervention module with the name C. A. R. E Intervention Module, an
activity-based intervention aimed to improve the four aforesaid constructs is also
developed and validated using four randomized control trial experiments.
Keywords: C. A. R. E inventory, C. A. R. E intervention module, positive psychology,
factor analysis model
Description
Keywords
Counselling Psychology