| Rating; 1 = Strongly Disagree to 6 = Strongly Agree | Mean | SD | Factor Analysis | |
| 1 | 2 | |||
| 1. Panic can be easily unlearned, but cannot be cured by medication. | 3.32 | 1.16 | 0.64 | 0.03 |
| 2. Dieting, in the long run, almost never works. | 3.26 | 1.33 | 0.27 | 0.00 |
| 3. The sexual “dysfunctions”―frigidity, impotence, premature ejaculation―are easily unlearned. | 2.90 | 0.98 | 0.66 | −0.06 |
| 4. Kids do not become androgynous easily. | 3.55 | 1.01 | 0.47 | 0.18 |
| 5. Our moods, which can wreak havoc with our physical health, are readily controlled. | 3.23 | 1.11 | 0.61 | 0.11 |
| 6. No treatment is known to improve on the natural course of recovery from alcoholism. | 3.03 | 0.96 | 0.26 | 0.50 |
| 7. Depression can be cured by straightforward changes in conscious thinking or helped by medication, but it cannot be cured by insight into childhood. | 3.18 | 1.13 | 0.09 | 0.74 |
| 8. Homosexuals cannot become heterosexual. | 3.72 | 1.48 | −0.25 | 0.47 |
| 9. Optimism is a learned skill. Once learned, it increases achievement at work and improves physical health. | 3.98 | 1.06 | 0.22 | −0.17 |
| 10. Reliving childhood trauma does not undo adult personality problems. | 3.33 | 1.05 | 0.07 | 0.69 |
| Items in Italics are those Seligman claims are changeable | Eigenvalue | 1.76 | 1.56 | |
| Variance | 117.06 | 15.64 | ||