In the first study the development of the scale for measuring self-efficacy optimism, which was added to the other scales, is described. Three studies which were conducted for extending the existing set of scales and for obtaining validity information are described. This paper presents the POSO-E which is a self-report questionnaire for the assessment of three components of optimism: personal, social and self-efficacy optimism. It is a useful tool to monitor attitudes toward HIV therapies and possible associations with risk practices. Our scale of optimism-scepticism in the context of new HIV therapies is a brief, reliable instrument which can be incorporated within broader questionnaires and interview schedules. Similar validation was provided from separate samples of gay men in Queensland and Sydney. Providing preliminary evidence of validity, men who reported unprotected anal intercourse with a causal partner 'in the past six months' had a significantly higher mean score (21.3) than those who did not report this risk practice (19.5, p < 0.001). The scale had high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.79). Principal axes factor analysis and item refinement yielded an optimism-scepticism scale based on 12 items (range 12-48, with higher scores indicating greater optimism). By way of anonymous, self-complete questionnaires, these items were put to 532 gay men recruited at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day in February 1999. Following comprehensive literature search and communication with other researchers, 34 items about viral load testing, HIV therapies and concern about HIV infection were generated. The aim of this research was to develop a brief scale of gay men's optimism-scepticism in the context of new HIV treatments. Discussion centers on other health related applications of the optimism scale, and the relationships between our theoretical orientation and several related theories. This effect tended to be stronger among persons high in private self-consciousness than among those lower in private self-consciousness. Consistent with predictions, subjects who initially reported being highly optimistic were subsequently less likely to report being bothered by symptoms (even after correcting for initial symptom-report levels) than were subjects who initially reported being less optimistic. Subjects completed the same set of questionnaires again on the last day of class. Included in the questionnaire battery was the measure of optimism, a measure of private self-consciousness, and a 39-item physical symptom checklist. Specifically, respondents were asked to complete three questionnaires 4 weeks before the end of a semester. The scale was then used in a longitudinal study of symptom reporting among a group of undergraduates. Two preliminary studies assessed the scale's psychometric properties and its relationships with several other instruments. This article describes a scale measuring dispositional optimism, defined in terms of generalized outcome expectancies.
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