Configurations of Positivity: A Latent Profile Analysis of Self-Esteem, Life Satisfaction, and Optimism

Positivity, that is, the tendency to view oneself, one’s life, and one’s future with a favorable outlook, is a key psychological resource for mental and physical well-being. Self-esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism are its expressions, which share a common latent dimension. The present study examined whether positivity reflects qualitatively distinct configurations or a single underlying continuum. Using a person-centered approach, latent profile analysis was applied to a sample of 1346 adult university students in Spain (1375 recruited, of whom 29 were removed as outliers) through two complementary representations of the data. The first (level analysis) identified profiles based on participants’ overall levels of self-esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism. The second (shape analysis) removed overall positivity to examine whether qualitatively distinct configurations of the three components existed. The level analysis identified four profiles ordered along a single positivity continuum; the profiles were weakly separated, and permitting within-class covariance favored a single class. The shape analysis recovered no well-separated structure. Higher positivity profiles were associated with better subsequent self-rated mental and physical health, yet the profiles explained no more variance than a continuous positivity score. The findings support a dimensional account of positivity, where individuals differ primarily in degree, through coordinated variation in self-esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism, rather than in qualitatively distinct subgroups.