Abstract

This article reports the results of two studies that were conducted to develop and validate a scale that measures three dimensions of psychological "empowerment", identified by work and community psychology researchers: 1) capacity to set objectives and achieve them effectively; 2) learned hopelessness; 3) sociopolitical interest. In the first study, factor analyses were conducted with 300 Ss to evaluate the internal structure of the scale. Confirmatory factor analyses were carried out in a second study (with 229 Ss), which also explored the construct validity and the discriminant validity of the scale. Results confirm the three-dimensional structure of the scale. Reliability coefficients for the subscales ranged from.072 to 0.86. The results of correlational analyses supported the construct validity of the scale. Finally the subscale that measures sociopolitical interest discriminated among three groups, with different degrees of political involvement.