Attrition Rates in a Brazilian Longitudinal Survey on Positive Psychology: Empirical and Methodological Considerations

Abstract

This study evaluates how sociodemographic and psychological variables influence the intention in participating in future waves of a positive psychology longitudinal research. Participants were 2551 Brazilian subjects (63% female), ranging in age from 18 to 82 from 21 different States of Brazil, which responded to the first wave of the research. Several constructs of the positive psychology area were assessed. From the total, 37.7% of the participants did not accept to participate in the next waves of the study. Women were more prone to acceptting to participate when compared to men. The women who accepted presented higher levels in all "positive" psychological variables measured, and lower levels in all "negative" variables when compared to those who did not accept. For men, in turn, only pessimism influenced the intention in participating in the future waves of the study. Implications for longitudinal researches in Positive Psychology are discussed.

Keywords

• Positive Psychology
• longitudinal
• research
• gender
• Brazil