The aim of this study was to construct a positive and negative affect scale (AS) and to search for validity evidence. The participants were 850 undergraduate students from southern Brazil, 57% female, with a mean age of 21 years (SD=3). A factor analysis extracted two factors: positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). The first one presented an eigenvalue of 5.1 explaining 25.6% of the total variance; the second factor presented an eigenvalue of 2,6 explaining 12.8% of the total variance. The internal consistency for PA was .83, and .77 for NA. High correlations between the two factors of the AS and PANAS were observed: .73 for PA and .74 for NA. It was also observed that PA had positive correlations with life satisfaction, hope, optimism, and self-esteem while NA presented negative correlations with those variables. These results indicate evidences of construct validity and appropriate psychometric properties.
Positive affect; Negative affect; Subjective well-being; Psychometrics
