A confirmatory factor analysis of the Life Orientation Test-Revised with competitive athletes

Current reviews outside of sport indicate that the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) items load on two separate factors (optimism and pessimism) and, therefore, should be treated as independent constructs. However, researchers in the sport sciences continue to use the single composite score reflecting a unidimensional definition of optimism. Hence, I sought to explicitly examine the factor structure of the LOT-R with athletes. Results of this study support the two-factor structure, which is consistent with accumulating evidence outside of sport and exercise science. This contribution is an important first step toward continued examination of this instrument and future work on the influence of optimism (versus pessimism) on sport and exercise behavior.