Educational and Psychological

Measurement
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A Spanish-Language Version of the Herth Hope Scale: Development and

Psychometric Evaluation in a Peruvian Sample
Randolph C. Arnau, Patricia Martinez, Isabel Nio de Guzmn, Kaye Herth and Carlos
Yoshiyuki Konishi
Educational and Psychological Measurement 2010 70: 808 originally published online
21 January 2010
DOI: 10.1177/0013164409355701
The online version of this article can be found at:
http://epm.sagepub.com/content/70/5/808

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Validity Study

A Spanish-Language
Version of the Herth Hope
Scale: Development and
Psychometric Evaluation
in a Peruvian Sample

Educational and Psychological

Measurement
70(5) 808824
The Author(s) 2010
Reprints and permission:
sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0013164409355701
http://epm.sagepub.com

Randolph C. Arnau1, Patricia Martinez2,

Isabel Nio de Guzmn1, Kaye Herth3,
and Carlos Yoshiyuki Konishi1

Abstract
Hope is a motivational/cognitive attribute that is theoretically necessary to initiate and
sustain action toward goal attainment. The Herth Hope Scale (HHS) not only appears
to tap into some of the same Agency and Pathways content of the commonly used
Adult Hope Scale developed by Snyder et al. but also contains some more spiritual
and social support-oriented content as well as more optimism content. The purpose
of the current study was the development and initial psychometric evaluation of a
Spanish-language version of the HHS, using a Latino sample. The study participants
were 315 college students from a private university in Lima, Peru. Both first-order
and a hierarchical, second-order factor analyses were conducted, yielding evidence
of a theoretically salient four-factor structure similar to that found with the English
version. Internal consistency of scores on the total and factor-analytically derived
subscales were found to be satisfactory. It was concluded that the Spanish-language
translation of the HHS appears to yield psychometrically sound scores and should
have utility for studies of hope in Spanish-speaking samples.
Keywords
Herth Hope Scale, psychometric evaluation, factor analysis, Spanish translation, hope
1

University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, USA

Pontificia Universidad Catlica del Per, San Miguel, Lima, Peru
3
Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN, USA
2

Corresponding Author:
Randolph C. Arnau, University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Drive #5025, Hattiesburg, MS 394065025, USA
Email: randolph.arnau@usm.edu

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Arnau et al.

With the recent resurgence of research on positive psychological attributes, the construct of hope has received considerable attention. Hope is a motivational and cognitive
attribute that is theoretically necessary to initiate and sustain action toward goal attainment. Indeed, without any hope that goal attainment is possible, one is doomed to
cower in the corner in the face of stressors, as was the case with Seligmans dogs who
had learned that they were helpless to affect any change in their environment that
would allow them to escape painful electrical shocks (Overmier & Seligman, 1967;
Seligman & Maier, 1967). Hope gives one a reason to take action.
Although at its most basic level hope is associated with an initiation of action
toward goal attainment, empirical studies have uncovered a host of other positive
outcomes associated with hope. For example, hope has been found to be related to
adaptive coping styles (Arnau, Rosen, & Green, 2006; Snyder et al., 1991), academic
achievement, and athletic performance in college students (Curry, Snyder, Cook,
Ruby, & Rehm, 1997). A number of studies have documented a negative association
between hope and maladjustment. For example, hope has been found to be negatively
related to symptoms of depression (Arnau & Rosen, 2005; Chang, 2003, Chang &
DeSimone, 2001; Kwon, 2000), anxiety (Arnau & Rosen, 2005), general maladjustment (Cramer & Dyrkacz, 1998), and suicidal ideation (Range & Penton, 1994).
Hope has also been related to better adjustment in a group of adults with recent
spinal cord injuries (Elliott, Witty, Herrick, & Hoffman, 1991) and more adaptive
coping and better functioning in a group of visually impaired veterans (Jackson, Taylor,
Palmatier, Elliott, & Elliott, 1998). Results of a longitudinal study of college students
indicated that levels of hope were related to later decreases in both anxiety and depression, 1 and 2 months later (Arnau, Rosen, Finch, Rhudy, & Fortunato, 2007).

Theories of Hope
Snyders Hope Theory
In the current psychological literature, the theory of hope that has received the most
attention has been that put forth by C. R. Snyder (see Snyder, 1994; Snyder, Rand, &
Sigmon, 2002). Snyders theory built on early conceptions of hope as the perceived
probability of goal attainment (e.g., Stotland, 1969), expanding the conception to
include cognitive components not related simply to such a perceived expectation, but
also cognitions that he theorized to be conducive to initiating and sustaining actual
action toward goal attainment. Beyond the necessity of having goals that are considered important, he theorizes hope to be composed of two related cognitive components,
Agency and Pathways. Agency is a cognitive set consisting of both having goals and
the motivation and ability to initial action toward goals. Pathways relates to ones perceived capabilities at generating workable routes to desired goals (Snyder et al., 2002,
p. 258) as well as the perceived ability to generate other feasible routes in the face of
obstacles. These two components are theorized to be related, but distinct and both
necessary components of hope.

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Educational and Psychological Measurement 70(5)

Dufault and Martocchios Model and the Herth Hope Scale

Based on a qualitative study of the concept of hope, Dufault and Martocchio (1985)
conceptualized the following six dimensions of hope: affective, cognitive, behavioral,
affiliative, temporal, and contextual. Herth (1991) used the Dufault and Martocchio
model as a starting point for the development of the Herth Hope Scale (HHS), a selfreport measure of hope. Specifically, based on conceptual overlap of some of the
dimensions identified by Dufault and Martocchio study, Herth (1991) generated items
to tap into each of the three following dimensions of hope: cognitivetemporal,
affectivebehavioral, and affiliativecontextual. The cognitivetemporal dimension
taps into the perception that the desired outcome is realistically probable, whereas
the affectivebehavioral dimension refers to a feeling of confidence with the initiation of plans to achieve the desired goals (Farran, Herth, & Popovich, 1995, p. 62).
Both of these dimensions cover content that is conceptually similar to Snyders agency
and pathways components of hope. However, the third dimension in Herths conceptualization, affiliativecontextual, appears to be a dimension that does not overlap
with Snyders model. This dimension refers to the recognition of the interconnectedness between self and others and between self and spirit (Farran et al., 1995, p. 62).
As such, this dimension can also be thought of as an interpersonal connectedness and
spiritual dimension. Essentially, it contains items related to perceived social support,
perceived spiritual support, and a sense of meaning and belongingness. As Peterson
(2000) noted, the link between optimism and religion is often overlooked in empirical
studies. Given the broader bandwidth theoretical base, while also incorporating some
of the Agency and Pathways components of hope that have demonstrated utility, it
seems reasonable that the HHS would have potential utility as a measure of hope.

Psychometric Studies of the Herth Hope Scale

For the initial development of the HHS, it was administered to 185 general adults
(Herth, 1988, as cited in Herth, 1992), 180 cancer patients (Herth, 1989), 40 elderly
adults (Herth, 1988, as cited in Herth, 1992), and 75 widows and widowers (Herth,
1990). In these studies, the reliability of HHS scores ranged from satisfactory to excellent, with coefficient alpha between .75 and .94. Other researchers have found similar
alpha coefficients of .92 (Mascaro & Rosen, 2005) and .93 (Arnau & Rosen, 2005).
Herth (1991) also reported good temporal stability of scores, with testretest reliability coefficients between .89 and .91 across 3-week intervals. Herth (1991) documented
convergent validity of HHS scores with a negative correlation of -.69 with the Beck
Hopelessness Scale.
In the original development of the HHS, Herth (1991) found evidence for three
factors that corresponded to the theoretical dimensions of hope that the HHS was
designed to capture. The first factor, which Herth labeled Temporality and Future,
consisted primarily of items taping Agency and general optimism. The second factor
Herth labeled Positive Readiness and Expectancy, and the third factor was labeled

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Interconnectedness and consisted of items relating to a sense of social support and

meaning.
Arnau (2002) also evaluated the factor structure of the HHS, using both exploratory
and confirmatory factor analyses and found about equal support for a three-factor and
a four-factor solution. For the three-factor solution, the factors were labeled Optimism/
Support, Agency, and Hopelessness. The Optimism/Support factor consisted of items
related to general optimism and a sense of social and spiritual support. The Agency
factor contained primarily items related to having and initiating action toward goals.
The Hopelessness factor was made up of all of the negatively worded items related to
a lack of hope and a bleak outlook. For the four-factor solution, the factors were
labeled Optimism/Spiritual Support, Social Support, Hopelessness, and Agency. The
factors were essentially same as those for the three-factor solution, except that the
social support items clustered together in their own factor.
In a recent reevaluation of the Arnau (2002) results, using a more rigorous method
of determining the number of factors, Arnau and Rosen (2005) found evidence for just
two factors: Hope and Hopelessness, with the Hopelessness factor made up of all of
the negatively worded items.
Given the frequent use of the Snyder Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991), a selfreport scale designed to measure Snyders Agency and Pathways model of hope,
Arnau et al. (2006) conducted a comparative validity study of the HHS and Snyder
Hope Scale. In that study, the criterion-related validities of scores from the two hope
measures were compared in terms of their ability to predict several coping styles,
assessed using the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (Folkman & Lazarus, 1985). Using
hierarchical regression analyses, Arnau et al. found evidence for the incremental
validity of HHS scores in predicting Problem-Focused coping, Displacement coping,
and Emotional-Support Seeking styles of coping. Therefore, it appears that the HHS,
in addition to capturing a broader perspective on hope, also may have more utility in
certain assessment situations.

Goals of the Present Study

Given its more broad-bandwidth theoretical base and empirical research so far, it would
appear that the HHS is certainly worthy of further study. Given the strong need for
measures of positive psychological constructs in other languages and the utility of the
HHS as a measure of hope, the purpose of the present study was the development and
initial psychometric study of a Spanish-language version of the HHS. Specifically, the
following were the objectives of the present study: (a) translate the HHS items into
Spanish; (b) using a sample of native Spanish speakers, perform an item analysis and
eliminate items that are not functioning properly; (c) evaluate the factor structure of
scores from the measure and delete items that do not conform to the expected factor
structure; (d) construct factor-based subscales; and (e) evaluate the internal consistency
reliability of total and subscales scores from the final measure. Given that there has
been evidence for two-, three-, and four-factor solutions of the HHS, and the fact that

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Educational and Psychological Measurement 70(5)

this was the first evaluation of the Spanish translation of the HHS, we opted to use an
exploratory factor analysis approach, rather than confirmatory factor analysis.

Method
Participants
In total, 315 college students from a private university in Lima, Peru, consented to
participate in the study. Participants included 140 (44.4%) men and 175 (55.6%)
women. Participants ages ranged from 16 to 33 years (M = 19.7, SD = 2.63), of whom
202 (64.1%) were 16 to 20 years old, 107 (34%) were 21 to 24 years old, and 6 (1.9%)
were 25 to 33 years old. Participants represented a variety of degree programs. The
majority of participants had majors in the colleges of Arts and Letters (26%), Science
and Technology (22.9%), and Psychology (19%), but there were also majors in the colleges of Social Science (5.1%), Education (5.4%), Business (10.8%), Engineering and
Architecture (2.5%), and the Law School (8.3%).

Procedure
Spanish translation of Herth Hope Scale. Two of the authors of the present study, both
fluent in English and Spanish, served as translators. A back-translation procedure was
used, such that one individual translated the measure from English to Spanish and then
the second translator independently translated the Spanish back into English. Next,
the back-translated English version was compared with the original English version,
and both translators discussed any discrepancies and came to a consensus on the best
wording when there were any discrepancies. A few minor wording discrepancies were
deemed unimportant. One problem arose with item 29. The back-translated version of
item 29 did not directly capture the intended meaning of the original English version
of this item. Neither translator knew of a way to directly express the intended meaning
of this item in Spanish, so they agreed on the closest approximation they deemed possible. The original English item 29 reads as follows I believe my outlook affects my
life. The final Spanish version of this item, Creo que mi manera de ver las cosas afecta
mi vida, literally translates as I believe my way of seeing things affects my life, which
the translators reported does not completely capture the intended meaning of the English version of the item.
Test administration. Approval was obtained from the appropriate parties at the Pontificia Universidad Catlica of Peru, where the study was conducted. Participants were
recruited from General Studies and Psychology courses and those choosing to participate provided verbal informed consent. Participants were not provided with any
compensation for participation, and it was also made clear that participation was
voluntary and that there were no consequences for nonparticipation. Participants
completed the Spanish translation of the HHS as part of a larger battery of questionnaires, which took approximately 30 minutes.

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Arnau et al.

Psychometric evaluation and item refinement. A number of procedures were used for
psychometric evaluation of the responses to the Spanish translation of the HHS. First,
an item analysis was performed, which included an evaluation of the means and standard deviations of the item responses, corrected itemtotal correlations, and an
alpha-if-deleted analysis. Second, after any bad items were deleted, the internal consistency of scores from the final scale was evaluated via Cronbachs coefficient alpha.
Given the HHS is a research instrument and is not used to make decisions about individuals, we used a coefficient alpha magnitude of .70 as a minimally acceptable cutoff
and at least .80 or higher as the goal (see Henson, 2001; Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994).
Finally, both a first-order and a second-order factor analysis were performed to evaluate the theoretical salience of the factor structure and to determine if any additional
items should be removed from the measure.

Results
Item Analysis
All negatively worded items were reverse-scored prior to item analyses. For the complete set of items, the internal consistency of scores was excellent, with a = .872.
However, the item analysis indicated that one item was clearly not functioning properly. Specifically, the corrected itemtotal correlation for Item 29 was small and
negative (r = -.202), and the alpha-if-deleted analysis indicated that alpha would
increase to .887 if the item was deleted from the scale. Therefore, Item 29 was deleted
and the item analysis repeated. Based on the new item-analysis statistics, the decision
was made to keep all of the additional items as this stage. The internal consistency of
scores from the revised scale was excellent (a = .887). Table 1 presents the means,
standard deviations, and corrected itemtotal correlations for the remaining Spanish
HHS items. Although somewhat arbitrary, an itemtotal correlation of at least .30 is
generally recommended as indicative of good item discrimination (Nunnally &
Bernstein, 1994, p. 304). It should be noted that Items 6 and 11 were retained at this
stage, despite corrected itemtotal correlations somewhat lower than the recommended .30. The increases in alpha of between .001 and .002 that would be gained
from dropping these items were deemed trivial and, in light of the desire to maintain a
measure that is as equivalent as possible to the English version, it was decided to keep
these two items at this stage of the analysis.

Factor Analysis
A factor analysis was performed on the item correlations of the revised scale to evaluate the theoretical salience of the internal structure and to determine if any additional
items should be discarded.
Determination of number of factors. To determine the number of factors to retain, a
parallel analysis (Horn, 1965) was performed. Monte Carlo simulations have demonstrated that parallel analysis yields a more accurate determination of the number of

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Educational and Psychological Measurement 70(5)

Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, Corrected ItemTotal Correlations, and Alpha if

Deleted
Item
1. Look forward future
2. Sense loved ones
3. Inner strength
4. Plans for future
5. Inner positive energy
6. Scared about future
7. Keep going when hurt
8. Faith gives comfort
9. Good always possible
10. At loss nowhere to turn
11. Time heals
12. Support from those close
13. Overwhelmed trapped
14. Recall happy times
15. There is hope
16. Seek/receive help
17. Immobilized by fear
18. Life meaning/purpose
19. See positive in situations
20. goals next 3-6 months
21. committed find my way
22. all alone
23. coped well in past
24. feel loved/needed
25. each day potential
26. cannot bring pos change
27. see light even in tunnel
28. hope when plans astray
30. plans for today/next week

SD

rt

Alpha if Deleted

3.74
3.58
3.32
3.66
3.38
2.25
3.53
3.26
3.52
2.94
3.25
3.71
2.73
3.65
3.24
3.33
2.79
3.72
3.37
3.58
3.65
3.19
3.15
3.41
3.35
3.03
3.34
3.43
3.54

.51
.60
.65
.55
.64
.81
.61
.81
.61
.80
.74
.57
.85
.61
.74
.75
.82
.58
.68
.68
.62
.78
.66
.70
.71
.81
.77
.63
.70

.424
.449
.522
.423
.536
.286
.384
.426
.355
.367
.192
.376
.422
.427
.338
.467
.411
.574
.604
.424
.516
.404
.421
.544
.594
.417
.554
.571
.387

.844
.883
.882
.883
.881
.887
.884
.884
.885
.885
.889
.885
.884
.884
.886
.883
.884
.881
.880
.884
.882
.884
.884
.881
.880
.884
.881
.881
.884

Note: Item content appearing in the table is abbreviated item content rather than the complete item.

factors as compared with other retention rules, such as the Kaisers eigenvalue-greaterthan-one rule and the Scree test (Crawford & Koopman, 1973; Zwick & Velicer,
1986). The basic idea of parallel analysis is that factors with eigenvalues greater than
eigenvalues yielded by a parallel but random data set, are retained. Typically, a number
of such parallel random data sets are generated, with the same number of cases, variables, and range of scores as the original data set and either the mean or 90th or 95th
percentiles are used as the comparison eigenvalues.
For the current study, instead of generating random data sets with random-number
generation procedures, we used a variation of the procedure which generates the random
data sets via random permutations of the actual data. More specifically, item responses
from the actual data are randomly shuffled across individuals, but within variables,

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Arnau et al.

which leads to a random data set that is exactly parallel (i.e., all variables retain the
same distributional properties as the actual data). This method was used, given that
responses to a number of the HHS items tend to be skewed due to the nature of the
construct. Therefore, data sets generated via a random permutation of the actual data
yielded more appropriately parallel data sets than would be yielded by the generation of random normal data generators.
The SPSS program written by OConner (2000) was used to generate 100 random
permutations of the actual HHS data, and the 90th percentile eigenvalues of the resulting random data sets were computed. The first 10 eigenvalues from the actual data were
7.457, 2.769, 1.772, 1.475, 1.204, 1.175, 1.045, 0.927, 0.881, and 0.865. The corresponding 90th percentile random-data eigenvalues were as follows: 1.666, 1.568,
1.494, 1.434, 1.384, 1.334, 1.286, 1.243, 1.204, and 1.167. Therefore, four factors were
retained.
Given that the factors were all expected to relate to the more broad-bandwidth
construct of hope, we expected the factors to be correlated. Therefore, the four
retained factors were rotated using the promax procedure, which allows factors to be
correlated and tends to do a good job approximating simple structure (Gorsuch,
1983). Rotated factor-pattern coefficients with an absolute value of at least .30 or
larger were considered to be salient, which is a commonly used minimum criterion
(Gorsuch, 1983; Thompson, 2004).
The four-factor solution accounted for 38.6% of the total variance. The promaxrotated factor-pattern matrix for the Spanish HHS is depicted in Table 2. Based on the
content of items with salient pattern coefficients, Factor 1 was given the label Optimism/Spiritual Support, with items such as I just know there is hope, I have faith
that gives me comfort, I see the positive in most situations. One item (I have deep
inner strength) did not quite reach the criterion for salience based on the pattern coefficient, but was correlated with all four factors as evidenced by the structure
coefficients. Factor 2 was given the label Hopelessness, as it contained all of the items
that are scored in the negative direction. For example, the Hopelessness factor contains items such as I feel overwhelmed and trapped, and I cant bring about positive
change. Although the pattern coefficient for this item was negative, its magnitude did
not reach the threshold to be considered salient. Factor 3 was given the label Agency,
because the content of the items with salient pattern coefficients for this factor tend to
tap into having important goals and a sense of energy to initial action toward goal
attainment. For example, this factor contains items such as I have plans for the
future, I am committed to finding my way, and Life has meaning and purpose.
Factor 4 was given the name Social Support/Belonging, with contributions from items
such as I have support from those close to me, I sense the presence of loved ones,
and I feel loved and needed.
The correlations among the rotated factors are presented in Table 3. As seen in
Table 3, the largest correlation was between the Optimism/Spiritual Support and
Agency factors (r = .56) and the smallest correlation was between the Optimism/
Spiritual Support and Hopelessness factors (r = -.27). As would be expected, all of the
correlations with the Hopelessness factor were negative in direction.

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Table 2. Promax-Rotated Factor Pattern and Structure Matrices: Spanish Herth Hope Scale

Factor

Item
28. hope when plans astray
7. keep going when hurt
27. see light even in tunnel
19. see positive in situations
15. there is hope
25. each day potential
8. faith gives comfort
23. coped well in past
9. good always possible
5. inner positive energy
11. time heals
3. inner strength
17. immobilized by fear
13. overwhelmed and trapped
10. at loss nowhere to turn
6. scared about future
22. all alone
26. cannot bring pos. change
4. plans for future
21. committed find my way
1. look forward future
20. goals next 3-6 months
30. plans for today/next week
18. life meaning/purpose
12. support from those close
2. sense loved ones
14. recall happy times
24. feel loved/needed
16. seek/receive help

.722 (.708)
.649 (.533)
.580 (.642)
.568 (.629)
.516 (.503)
.514 (.666)
.470 (.512)
.451 (.442)
.405 (.443)
.375 (.538)
.326 (.272)
.280 (.480)
-.021 (-.230)
.147 (-.182)
.153 (-.132)
-.071 (-.169)
.153 (-.173)
-.242 (-.345)
-.287 (.315)
.137 (.515)
.003 (.397)
.129 (.431)
.156 (.384)
.228 (.539)
-.077 (.268)
.030 (.341)
.170 (.381)
.112 (.452)
.275 (.481)

-.041 (-.261)
.016 (-.141)
-.042 (-.274)
-.279 (-.461)
.305 (.060)
.006 (-.261)
.082 (-.134)
-.202 (-.325)
.110 (-.072)
-.217 (-.392)
.163 (.028)
-.269 (-.430)
.798 (.751)
.777 (.762)
.703 (.688)
.556 (.511)
.552 (.607)
.400 (.459)
-.002 (-.212)
.001 (-.232)
.081 (-.143)
-.005 (-.185)
-.020 (-.186)
-.102 (-.340)
.046 (-.210)
-.103 (-.322)
.051 (-.191)
-.097 (-.350)
.112 (-.156)

.065 (.482)
-.093 (.274)
.036 (.441)
-.073 (.390)
.036 (.326)
.181 (.540)
.010 (.338)
-.171 (.209)
.105 (.336)
.138 (.448)
-.126 (.099)
.115 (.410)
-.010 (-.221)
-.052 (-.233)
.048 (-.143)
.018 (-.138)
.042 (-.176)
.015 (-.248)
.916 (.745)
.641 (.701)
.609 (.612)
.585 (.607)
.349 (.453)
.314 (.556)
-.049 (.217)
.000 (.284)
-.056 (.259)
.116 (.414)
.083 (.384)

-.141 (.259)
-.103 (.173)
.049 (.367)
.022 (.378)
.141 (.297)
.077 (.405)
.130 (.336)
.059 (.288)
.019 (.222)
-.001 (.324)
.167 (.215)
.067 (.355)
.154 (-.162)
-.050 (-.292)
-.143 (-.312)
.171 (-.067)
-.324 (-.439)
.053 (-.211)
.030 (.270)
-.065 (.270)
.065 (.290)
-.151 (.159)
-.006 (.225)
.150 (.432)
.792 (.717)
.554 (.608)
.535 (.576)
.469 (.609)
.387 (.515)

Note: Pattern coefficient with an absolute value of .30 or greater are in bold. Structure coefficients are in
parentheses. Factor 1 = Optimism/Spiritual Support; Factor 2 = Hopelessness; Factor 3 = Agency; Factor
4 = Social Support/Belonging.

Table 3. First-Order Factor Correlation Matrix

Factor
1
2
3
4

-.35

.64
-.33

.50
-.38
.42

Note: Factor 1 = Optimism/Spiritual Support; Factor 2 = Hopelessness; Factor 3 = Agency; Factor

4 = Social Support/Belonging.

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Arnau et al.

Second-Order Factor Analysis

Given that the four first-order factors were intercorrelated, a second-order factor analysis was possible. Furthermore, a second-order factor analysis was deemed to be useful
and theoretically relevant, given that the four first-order factors are all thought to be
facets of the broader bandwidth construct of hope. Essentially, a second-order factor
analysis provides a broader perspective on the data, providing information about the
degree to which the relationships among the first-order factors can be accounted for by
one or more broader, higher order factors. Although an easy way to perform a secondorder factor analysis is to simply factor analyze the first-order correlation matrix, one
is left with somewhat of an interpretive problem if the analysis stops there. Essentially,
at this point, the second-order factors are defined by pattern coefficients indicating the
contribution of the first-order factors to the second-order factors. Because the labels
given to the first-order factors are themselves essentially an interpretation, one is left
with the problem of basing interpretations upon interpretations of interpretations
(Gorsuch, 1983, p. 245). A solution to this interpretive ambiguity is to follow-up a
second-order factor analysis with a SchmidLeiman transformation (Schmid & Leiman,
1957), which yields a hierarchical solution in which (a) the second-order factors are
defined by pattern coefficients indicating the contribution of the measured variables
and (b) the first-order factors are orthogonal to the second-order factors. Given these
advantages, a SchmidLeiman transformation of the second-order factor solution was
performed for the current study.
The eigenvalues from the second-order factor analysis were 2.317, 0.750, 0.582, and
0.351, indicating clear evidence for a single higher order factor. The SchmidLeiman
orthogonalized solution is presented in Table 4. As an orientation to Table 4, the first
column presents the second-order pattern coefficients. The next four columns represent
the pattern coefficients for the measured variables at the first-order level, after being
residualized of the variance accounted for by the higher-order factor. There are several
results of note. First, as seen in Table 4, for all but two of the measured variables,
the higher-order factor explains more variance in the measured variables than do the
orthogonalized first-order factors. In addition, all but three items demonstrated salient
pattern coefficients for the higher-order factor, which is strong evidence that the higherorder factor can be labeled Hope. The three items that did not make salient contributions
to the second-order factor were item 11, with a pattern coefficient of .201, Item 6, with
a pattern coefficient of -.203, and Item 10, with a pattern coefficient of -.282. The
decision was made to drop Items 11 and 6, from the final version of the Spanish HHS,
given their weak relationship with the second-order Hope factor. We decided to leave
Item 10, given that its relationship with the Hope factor was quite close to salient and
also because an Item analysis indicated that removal of this Item would not lead to an
increase in the internal consistency of scores for either the total or the subscale.
Another result to note from Table 4 relates to the amount of variance in the
first-order factors after being residualized of variance captured by the second-order
level. All four of the first-order factors appear to have some common variance that is

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Table 4. SchmidLeiman Orthogonalized Second-Order Solution

Factor

Item

Hope

28. hope when plans astray

7. keep going when hurt
27. see light even in tunnel
19. see positive in situations
15. there is hope
25. each day potential
8. faith gives comfort
23. coped well in past
9. good always possible
5. inner positive energy
11. time heals
3. inner strength
17. immobilized by fear
13. overwhelmed and trapped
10. at loss nowhere to turn
6. scared about future
22. all alone
26. cannot bring pos change
4. plans for future
21. committed find my way
1. look forward future
20. goals next 3-6 months
30. plans for today/next week
18. life meaning/purpose
12. support from those close
2. sense loved ones
14. recall happy times
24. feel loved/needed
16. seek/receive help
Trace

.571
.393
.552
.559
.392
.599
.434
.377
.368
.511
.201
.483
-.309
-.318
-.282
-.203
-.307
-.345
.454
.540
.450
.442
.389
.558
.371
.418
.406
.514
.473
7.411

.413
.371
.332
.325
.295
.294
.269
.258
.232
.215
.187
.160
-.012
.084
.088
-.041
.088
-.139
-.164
.078
.002
.074
.089
.130
-.044
.017
.097
.064
.157
1.391

-.036
.014
-.037
-.246
.268
.005
.072
-.178
.097
-.191
.143
-.237
.702
.684
.619
.489
.486
.352
-.002
.001
.071
-.004
-.018
-.090
.040
-.091
.045
-.085
.099
2.233

.044
-.063
.025
-.050
.025
.124
.007
-.117
.072
.094
-.086
.078
-.008
-.035
.033
.012
.029
.010
.625
.437
.416
.399
.238
.214
-.033
.000
-.038
.079
.057
1.244

-.111
-.081
.038
.017
.111
.060
.102
.046
.015
-.001
.131
.053
.121
.039
-.112
.134
-.254
.042
.024
-.051
.051
-.118
-.005
.118
.621
.434
.419
.368
.303
1.274

Note: The Hope column represents the second-order factor. The Factors 1, 2, 3, and 4 columns represent
the first-order solution, based on the variance orthogonal to the second-order factor (Gorsuch, 1983).
Coefficients with an absolute value of .30 or greater are in bold. Factor 1 = Optimism/Spiritual Support;
Factor 2 = Hopelessness; Factor 3 = Agency; Factor 4 = Social Support/Belonging.

unaccounted for by the second-order factor, as evidenced by the presence of a number

of factor-pattern coefficients that remained salient (.30). However, comparison of
first-order to second-order pattern coefficients reveals that for the majority of the items,
the pattern coefficients are larger for the second-order versus the first-order level. Consequently, the trace for the second-order Hope factor of 7.411 is quite a bit larger than
the trace for any of the first-order factors, indicating that the second-order factor is
accounting for more of the itemresponse covariance than the first-order factors.

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Arnau et al.

Finally, an interesting pattern of results for the Hopelessness factor is noteworthy.

Inspection of the pattern coefficients for the items making salient contributions to
this factor indicates that although these items also make salient contributions to the
second-order factor, there appears to be more variance that is uniquely captured by the
first-order factor than by the second-order factor. This is evidenced by the larger magnitude of the pattern coefficients for these items at the first-order versus second-order
level. This can be explained by the fact that the Hopelessness factor consistently had
lowest interfactor correlations among the four factors, and thus, was relatively less
related to the second-order Hope factor.

Reliability of Final Total and Subscale Scores

Given that two additional items were dropped based on results of the factor analysis,
the internal consistency of total scores from the final scale was evaluated. In addition,
the internal consistencies of scores from the factor-derived subscales were also evaluated. Subscales were created using items from the final item pool that demonstrated
pattern coefficients of at least .30 or greater in the first-order factor analysis. The internal consistency of the total scores from the final item pool was excellent (a = .890). The
internal consistencies of the subscale scores were also good, with alphas as follows:
Optimism/Spiritual Support (a = .819), Hopelessness (a = .789), Agency (a = .775),
Social-Support/Belonging (a = .736)

Discussion
The purpose of the current study was to develop a Spanish-language version of the
HHS. Three items from the original HHS were deleted, one that initially had translation problems and yielded a negative itemtotal correlation and two that were deleted
because of weak relationships with the second-order Hope factor. A factor analysis
yielded good evidence for factorial validity, with a theoretically reasonable four-factor
solution that had excellent simple structure. In addition, a second-order hierarchical
factor analysis demonstrated evidence for a single higher order factor composed of
contributions from all four of the first-order factors. Internal consistency was very
good for both the total score as well as the factor-derived subscale scores.
The factor structure of the Spanish HHS bears both similarities and differences to
previous studies of the original English version. In Herths (1991) original factor analyses, the Temporality and Future factor was composed of items from the Agency and
OptimismSpiritual Support factors found in the current study, whereas Herths Positive Readiness and Expectancy factor was composed of almost exclusively of items
tapping general optimism and several negatively worded hopelessness items (in a
negative direction). Herths Interconnectedness factor consisted of all of the items
making up the Social Support/Belonging factor found for the Spanish version as well
as two negatively worded Hopelessness items. It is interesting to note that Herth
(1991) did not find a single Hopelessness factor, but rather these items were dispersed
across all three of the factors in a negative direction.

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The structure of the Spanish version was quite similar to the three- and four-factor
solutions reported by Arnau (2002). In relation to Arnaus three-factor solution, the
Optimism/Support factor from the English version broke out into the Optimism/
Spiritual Support and Social Support/Belonging factors on the Spanish version, and
the Agency and Hopelessness factors were nearly identical in item content across the
English and Spanish versions. In relation to Arnaus four-factor solution, the
Optimism/Spiritual Support factors for the English and Spanish version were nearly
identical. The Social Support factors were also remarkably similar across the two versions, the only difference being in the Spanish version the inner positive energy and
each day has potential items both loaded on the Optimism/Spiritual Support factor
rather than the Social Support factor, where they loaded on the English version. The
Agency factors were also nearly identical, the only difference being the addition of the
meaning and purpose item on this factor for the Spanish version. Finally, the Hopelessness factors were identical in item content across the Spanish and English versions.
In summary, the structure of the Spanish HHS developed in the current study bears
some differences to those found for the English version, but overall is remarkably
similar and also is theoretically coherent and meaningful.
Another interesting finding from the current study regarding the structure of the
Spanish HHS was the emergence of a Hopelessness factor composed of the negatively worded items. These Hopelessness items made noteworthy contributions to the
second-order hope factor, as evidenced by the salient loadings onto the higher order
factor in the SchmidLeiman solution. However, the second-order loadings for these
items are weaker than those of most of the other items. In fact, more of the variance of
the Hopelessness items is at the first-order level, which is orthogonal to the secondorder Hope factors. Essentially, this means that, although the negatively worded
Hopelessness items contribute important information for the measurement of hope,
Hopelessness actually may be a distinct construct and not simply the opposite end of
a bipolar continuum of hope. It is also possible that these items are confounded with
method effect variance due to wording style.
Nevertheless, similar findings have occurred for optimism, a construct that is similar to hope. Several studies have indicated that the factor structure of the Life
Orientation Test (Scheier & Carver, 1985) a commonly used measure of optimism,
breaks into two factors of optimism and pessimism, with the pessimism factor being
made up of the negatively worded items (Marshall, Wortman, Kusulas, Hervig, &
Vickers, 1992; Robinson-Whelen, Kim, MacCallum, & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1997; Scheier
& Carver, 1985). Although the two factors tend to be moderately correlated, evidence
has been found indicating that these are related, but independent constructs. For example, Marshall et al. (1992) found a different pattern of correlates for the optimism and
pessimism factors, with optimism being more strongly related to extraversion and
positive affect and pessimism being more strongly related to neuroticism and negative
affect. Also, a series of confirmatory factor models, including a method artifact model,
yielded evidence that the emergence of the optimism and pessimism factors appears to
be because of substantive reasons, rather than because of an artifact of the positive and
negative wording (see Kubzansky, Kubzansky, & Maselko, 2004).

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Arnau et al.

One way to further investigate this issue with the hope construct would be to evaluate external correlates of the hope factors as compared with correlates of the overall
hope score. If the separate hopelessness factor is merely a statistical artifact of the
negative wording of the items, then the hopelessness factor should have the same correlates, of roughly the same magnitude (albeit opposite direction), as that of the other
hope factors. To the extent that the Hopelessness factor demonstrates a different pattern of correlates than that of the other factors, such would be evidence that hopelessness
is not simply the opposite end of the hope continuum. Furthermore, such results would
also demonstrate some evidence for the incremental utility of including the hopelessness dimensions in the measurement of hope.
In a preliminary look at this issue, Arnau et al. (2006) compared the relationships
between the Hope versus the Hopelessness factor of the HHS with various coping
styles. They found that the correlations of the Hope factor with certain adaptive coping
styles, such as problem-focused and emotional-support seeking, were stronger than
those of the Hopelessness factor. On the other hand, the Hopelessness factor correlated
more strongly with ostensibly less adaptive coping, such as engaging in fantasy/
wishful thinking and displacement. Although more research is needed to address this
issue, these findings appear to suggest that Hope and Hopelessness may be related, but
not opposite ends of a single continuum, similar to what has been found for optimism
and pessimism.

Future Research
There are a number of different avenues of further psychometric research that would
be useful for this measure. For example, evaluating the reliability and validity of
scores from Spanish-speaking countries other than Peru would be useful. As more data
accumulates, confirmatory factor analysis would be useful to provide more rigorous
tests of the factor structure, and confirmatory multigroup models can be used to explore
the degree of invariance of the factor structure across different countries and/or genders. Finally, the relationships between HHS scores and other constructs would be
useful to further demonstrate convergent and construct validity. For instance, although
there are theoretical and conceptual differences between the constructs of hope, dispositional optimism, and explanatory style, there are enough similarities to expect
some relationships among these constructs. Therefore, studies of the correlations
between the Spanish HHS and measures of these other constructs would provide further evidence for the validity of the Spanish HHS. In addition, given the conceptual
overlap and distinctions among these constructs, a multitraitmultimethod analysis
may be informative to demonstrate convergent and divergent validity. Given the relationship between hope, depression, mental health, and coping with physical illness,
psychometric studies of the measure in psychiatric and medical sample would be useful
to demonstrate the potential utility of the measure in clinical populations. Finally, more
substantive investigations of the hope construct, evaluating theory-based predictions
about relationships between hope and external constructs, will ultimately yield the

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Educational and Psychological Measurement 70(5)

best information about construct-related validity. The current study has provided a
Spanish-language version of the HHS that yields scores with good reliability and
validity, thus providing the groundwork for future studies of hope in Spanish-speaking
populations.
Authors Note
Portions of this article were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality
Assessment, March 2008.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of
this article.

Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.

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