Alena Slezackova
Psychosocial Correlates and Benefits
Hope and Well-being
Centre for Resilience and
Socio-Emotional Health
Hope and Well-being
Psychosocial Correlates and Benefits
Alena Slezackova
Fourth Monograph in Resilience and Health, Centre for Resilience
and Socio-Emotional Health, University of Malta, 2017
Hope and Well-being
Psychosocial Correlates and Benefits
Fourth Monograph in Resilience and Health by the Centre for
Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health, University of Malta
First Published in 2017
© Alena Slezackova
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior written permisssion of the author and
the publisher.
ISBN: 978-99957-890-2-2 (electronic)
ISBN: 978-99957-890-1-5 (paperback)
Design and layout: Alemar Studio
Cover design: Alemar Studio
Resilience and Health Monograph Series
Series Editors: Carmel Cefai & Paul Cooper
We are pleased to publish the fourth monograph in the Resilience and
Health series by the Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health
at the University of Malta. The series aims to provide an open access
platform for the dissemination of knowledge and research in educational
resilience and social and emotional health. We have one e-publication
per year in such areas as social and emotional development, health,
resilience and wellbeing in children and young people, social and
emotional learning, mental health in schools and professionals’ health
and wellbeing.
The publication of the Resilience and Health Monograph Series is based
on the philosophy of the Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional
Health, which develops and promotes the science and evidence-based
practice of social and emotional health and resilience in children and
young people.
We welcome contributions from colleagues who would like to share
their work with others in the field.
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Content
About the Author..............................................................................vii
Acknowledgements .........................................................................viii
Chapter 1. Introduction.......................................................................1
1.2 Positive Psychology and Hope.................................................2
Chapter 2. Approaches and Theories of Hope....................................7
2.1 Hope as a Cognitive Style ......................................................10
2.1.1 Hope Development in Childhood....................................15
2.1.2 False Hope.......................................................................16
2.2 Hope as a Positive Emotion....................................................18
2.3 Hope as a Character Strength .................................................20
2.3.1 Research on Hope as Character Strength ........................23
2.4 Perceived Hope.......................................................................24
2.5 Other Approaches to Hope.....................................................25
2.6 Measuring Hope .....................................................................26
Chapter 3. Hope during the Life Course ..........................................30
3.1 Hope in Children and Youth...................................................31
3.2 Hope in Adults........................................................................34
3.3 Hope in Older Adults .............................................................36
Chapter 4. Hope and Mental Health.................................................40
4.1 Hope, Anxiety and Depression...............................................41
4.2 Hope and Coping with Stress .................................................43
4.3 Hope and Resilience...............................................................45
4.4 Hope and Well-being..............................................................46
4.5 Hope, Spirituality and Meaningfulness..................................49
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Chapter 5. Hope Interventions..........................................................52
5.1 Hope in Schools......................................................................52
5.2 Hope in Therapy and Counselling..........................................54
5.3 The Therapist’s Hope .............................................................58
Chapter 6. Hope and Trauma............................................................61
6.1 Trauma and Posttraumatic Growth.........................................62
6.2 Hope and Posttraumatic Growth.............................................66
Chapter 7. A Study on Hope and Posttraumatic Changes ...............69
7.1 Background ............................................................................69
7.2 Objectives...............................................................................70
7.3 Method....................................................................................70
7.3.1 Sample.............................................................................70
7.3.2 Measures..........................................................................71
7.3.3 Procedure.........................................................................74
7.4 Results ....................................................................................74
7.4.1 Hope Objects, Hope Activities and Hope Providers .......74
7.4.2 Correlates and Predictors of Posttraumatic Growth ........75
7.4.3 Demographic Variables and Hope...................................78
7.5 Discussion ..............................................................................80
7.5.1 Limitations and Future Research.....................................86
Chapter 8. Conclusion ......................................................................87
References ........................................................................................89
Summary ........................................................................................121
Index...............................................................................................122
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About the Author
Alena Slezackova, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Psychology at
Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts, Brno, Czech Republic. She earned
her Ph.D. in clinical psychology and habilitation in general psychology.
She teaches Positive Psychology, Health Psychology, Psychology of
Mental Health and Well-being besides many other courses. She is
a founder and director of the Czech Positive Psychology Centre (CPPC)
which organizes conferences, workshops, and special lectures on
positive psychology. Alena conducts her research within the newly
established Academic Center for Positive Psychology affiliated to
Masaryk University in Brno. Her main scientific interests include hope,
mental health, and well-being. In addition to her research and teaching,
she is a member of the Editorial Board of five academic journals. She is
also a member of the Advisory Council of the International Positive
Psychology Association (IPPA) and the Country Representative for the
Czech Republic in the European Network for Positive Psychology
(ENPP). She is also the author of the first comprehensive monograph on
Positive Psychology in Czech, and of a number of research publications
and science popularization articles on the topics of positive psychology,
health psychology and personal growth.
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Acknowledgements
There are numerous people who I deeply value and who deserve my
thanks.
I would like to thank Prof. Carmel Cefai, the Director of the Centre
for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health and Associate Professor at
the Department of Psychology at the University of Malta, for
encouraging me to write this book and providing me with the unique
opportunity to introduce positive psychology to the University of Malta.
I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Andreas Krafft for
inviting me to participate in the Hope Barometer project and for the long
and inspiring cooperation. Thank you also for the useful comments on
the manuscript.
I would also like to thank Dr. Pavel Humpolicek, the Head of the
Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University,
Brno, Czech Republic, for actively supporting my research,
publications, educational and organisational activities related to the
development of the field of positive psychology.
I would also like to acknowledge with gratitude the participation of
all my students and supervisees for collecting and analysing the research
data in some of the studies.
Great thanks, of course, go to my family members for their
unwavering love and support.
Chapter 1 Introduction
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Chapter 1. Introduction
“Hope is not the conviction that things will turn out well, but the
conviction that what you are doing is meaningful, regardless of how it
will turn out in the end.”
Vaclav Havel
The central topic of the book is the phenomenon of hope, which has
increasingly drawn the attention of psychological scientists and nonscientists
alike.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of the concept of
hope, introducing the reader to the theoretical framework, the varying
approaches to hope and the measurement methods used, as well as to the
principal results of studies investigating the role of hope in relation to
mental health and well-being among different population samples.
Since the role hope plays over the life course may change, special
attention is paid to investigating hope in children, adolescents, adults
and old people in different contexts.
There is evidence that hope does not only have an important effect
on subjective well-being in everyday life but that it also acts as
a significant protective factor during life crises. For this reason, we also
discuss hope in the context of coping with challenging life situations
and posttraumatic growth.
In addition to an overview of studies by international researchers, we
present the results of our own studies focusing on the psychosocial
correlates of hope in different contexts and among varying research
samples. The studies were carried out within the Czech Positive
Psychology Center (CPPC), whose research activites have since 2014
been merged with those of the newly established Academic Center for
Positive Psychology affiliated to the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk
University in Brno, Czech Republic. Long-term research into hope has
Chapter 1 Introduction
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2
been made possible by the engagement of Alena Slezackova, the author
of this text, in international research projects such as Hope Barometer,
International Well-being Study among others. The results of the studies
have already been presented at numerous international conferences and
scientific symposia. Some of the data was also included in master’s
degree theses supervised by the author of this text and successfully
defended by students of the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of
Arts, Masaryk University in Brno. The present work summarises the
results of the author’s original research on hope and puts them in the
context of the existing knowledge base on the topic.
In addition, in view of the significant practical implications of hope,
a brief description of the programmes and hope-enhancing interventions
used in education, psychotherapy and counselling is presented in
Chapter 5.
1.2 Positive Psychology and Hope
Positive psychology is a relatively new domain of psychology
introduced by Seligman and Csikszentmihályi (2000). Rather than
dealing with the concept of mental health, positive psychology is
concerned with factors that lead to a fulfilling life. It is defined as
a study of optimal human functioning (Linley, Joseph, Harrington, &
Wood, 2006), focusing on the conditions and processes that contribute
to the flourishing of people, groups, and institutions, as well as on the
understanding and facilitation of their positive developmental outcomes
(Gable & Haidt, 2005; Seligman, 2011). Positive psychology has made
a notable change in psychology, diverting the psychologists’ attention
from maladaptive behaviour, negative thinking and mental suffering to
well-being and other factors that make our life worth living.
However, the focus on the positive aspects of life is definitely not
a modern invention. The issues of happiness and fulfilment have itched
people’s curiosity from time immemorial. The roots of philosophical
thinking about happiness and well-being date back to ancient times. The
two primary ancient constructs are Aristotle’s eudaimonia, which is
happiness resulting from a virtuous and meaningful life and connected
Chapter 1 Introduction
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with a pursuit of moral excellence, and Epicurus’ hedonism, which is
related to happiness obtained through sensory pleasure. Yet it was only
recently that the issue of happiness began receiving scientific attention.
A significant contribution to the study of positive personality traits was
made by humanistic psychology. One of the prominent sources of
humanistic psychology is the work by Abraham Maslow. Maslow was
the first person to coin the term “positive psychology” in Motivation
and Personality published in 1954. Another valuable source is the work
of Carl Rogers (1961), one of the founders of humanistic psychology,
who came up with the concept of a fully functioning person, i.e. one
who is open to experience and able to interpret that experience
accurately in order to achieve his or her “best self”. Viktor Frankl
(1992) also gave a positive message when he founded a mode of
psychotherapy which draws on man’s motivation to search for meaning
(“will to meaning”). In addition, important contributions have also been
made to the field of psychology of health between the 1950s and 1980s.
These drew particular attention to mental and physical health-protective
factors (Antonovsky, 1984; Jahoda, 1958; Kobasa, Maddi, & Khan,
1982; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Rotter, 1966). Among the prominent
predecessors of positive psychologists are Allport (1961) who focused
on personality development and maturity, Greenberger (1984), the
author of a multidimensional model of psychosocial maturity in
adolescence (the dimensions are similar to the current conception of
character strengths), and Ryff (1989) whose conception of personal
growth refers to an individual’s directed enegagement in continual
development, openness towards people and events and conscious
expansion and improvement. The issue of life meaningfulness has been
addressed by a range of existential psychologists and psychotherapists
including Baumeister (1991) and Yalom (1980).
The science of positive psychology originated in the USA at the turn
of the 21st
century. Its development was sparked by researchers focusing
on positive personal characteristics and aspects of life including
subjective well-being (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999), optimism
(Peterson, 1991; Scheier & Carver, 1985; Seligman, 1991), motivation
(Deci & Ryan, 1985), creativity and flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990),
positive emotions (Fredrickson, 1998; Isen, 1993), and positive youth
Chapter 1 Introduction
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4
development (Larson, 2000). The main idea of the initiators of positive
psychology was to draw attention away from the focus on negativity
which dominated psychological research and turn it towards the
neglected aspects of life and society which focused on well-being,
optimism, and aspirations.
The last two decades of positive psychology research have seen the
development of several theories of happiness. Seligman (2002)
proposed a theory of Authentic Happiness, according to which
an individual’s happiness can be analysed into three distinct elements:
positive emotions, engagement, and meaning. Recent research has seen
a preference for broader conceptions of flourishing which encompass
both the hedonic (feeling good) and the eudaimonic (functioning well)
components of happiness. Keyes (2002) defined flourishing as
a combination of high levels of emotional well-being, psychological
well-being, and social well-being. A broader concept of happiness was
introduced by Martin Seligman (2011) in his book Flourish. Seligman’s
PERMA model distinguishes five components of a happy and fulfilled
life: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaningfulness,
and Accomplishment. Huppert and So (2011) attributed ten features in
their conceptualisation of flourishing: positive emotions, engagement,
meaning, competence, emotional stability, resilience, optimism, vitality,
self-esteem, and positive relationships. Existing research on the notion
of hope shows that both hedonic and eudaimonic components of wellbeing
significantly contribute to flourishing in life (Delle Fave, Brdar,
Freire, Vella-Brodrick, & Wissing, 2011; Wissing, Potgeieter, Guse,
Khumalo, & Nel, 2014).
The domain of positive psychology has rapidly become a marked
part of world psychology, offering a wide range of practical applications
(Linley & Joseph, 2004). Positive psychology places an emphasis on the
implementation of research findings into education (Gilman, Huebner,
& Furlong, 2009; Seligman et al., 2009), coaching (Biswas-Diener,
2010), and particularly into psychotherapy and counselling (Joseph &
Linley, 2004; Seligman & Peterson, 2003), where it reveals the client’s
strengths and supports the development of his or her inner potential.
Elements of positive psychology are also beneficial to the field of work
Chapter 1 Introduction
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psychology, emphasising ethics in work and business (Damon, 2004;
Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi, & Damon, 2002), health service and health
psychology (Seligman, 2008), and in the helping professions in general.
A clinically important area is that of posttraumatic growth research,
which combines the existing research findings on the detrimental effects
of a traumatic experience (often in the form of a posttraumatic stress
disorder, PTSD) with a new perspective of traumatic situations, namely
that of a positive psychological change which is experienced as a result
of adverse experiences (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 2006; Joseph, 2011).
At this point it must be stressed that the current science of positive
psychology is not a one-sided “science of happiness”. Its purpose is not
to encourage a rose-coloured view of the world or to downplay the
significance of negative life experiences. An interest in positive aspects
of life does not imply ignorance of the negative aspects of human
existence, for it is often the undesirable life situations that make us
appreciate and value the positive and pleasurable ones. Massive surges
of effort and creativity as well as moments of deep humanity and
compassion are very frequently driven by adverse experiences and
emotions, which doubtless have their place in people’s internal life.
Current positive psychology is based on the results of empirical
research including qualitative, quantitative, comparative and
experimental studies that have been utilising state-of-the-art
instrumental and imaging technicques, like magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), as well as
research which explores the genetic background of well-being. With
vigorous research behind it, the science of positive psychology does not
aim to provide guaranteed “recipes for happiness” or show simple routes
to the positive things in life; rather, it suggests new research directions
and offers suggestions and practical interventions formulated on the
basis of scientifically proven findings.
One of the primary topics covered by positive psychology is the
phenomenon of hope. The psychology of hope has become a dynamic
branch of research that is being developed by numerous scientists across
the world. The contributions on hope research findings, hope projects
and interventions of one hundred of these scientists have been recently
summarised by Bormans (2016).
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Hope has many facets: it can be seen as hopeful thinking, an emotion
or a personality trait. Alternatively, it can be viewed as something which
transcends us, something close to our ultimate goals and spirituality.
Hope as a positive expectation and desire for a particular thing to
happen plays an important role in philosophy, theology, religious
studies, anthropology, and behavioural and other social sciences.
The following pages present varying theoretical approaches to hope.
The results of studies revealing its importance, its relation to mental
health and subjective well-being at different developmental stages, and
the connection between hope and meaningfulness, spirituality,
resilience, and posttraumatic growth are also presented. Additionally,
hope-enhancing strategies and interventions for clinical and counselling
practice are briefly introduced in a separate chapter.
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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Chapter 2. Approaches and Theories of Hope
Hope has always been the center of attention for theologists,
philosophers, sociologists and, recently, also psychologists (Scioli &
Biller, 2009, 2010). Philosophical and theological perspectives on hope
were broadly elaborated by Krafft and Walker (in press).
In classical Greek literature, Aristotle used the word hope (elpis) to
refer to the expectation of both a positive or a negative future. However,
when Aristotle wanted to indicate specifically a hope for a positive
future or good things, he generally used the term euelpis, hopeful.
Interestingly, Aristotle stated that one cannot truly hope unless one has
experienced fear (Gravlee, 2000).
According to the Christian tradition, hope constitutes one of the three
theological virtues, along with faith and love (charity). Augustine
describes hope, faith, and love as ’graces’ rather than virtues. He held
that love and hope are interdependent and that both of them are
dependent on faith (Augustine, 1996). Thomas Aquinas made
a distinction between natural virtues, which can be achieved by one’s
own effort, and infused virtues which are brought about by the grace of
God. The infused virtues are made up of the theological virtues - faith,
hope and love - and the cardinal virtues - temperance, courage, justice,
and prudence. Hope in the theological sense is made possible by faith,
and the two together are the conditions for the possibility of love
(Aquinas, 1920; Kaczor, 2008).
Aquinas also distinguished hope in the secular sense from wishes and
desires, claiming that hope must meet the following four conditions:
 hope must be for something good;
 hope’s object must be in the future;
 hope’s object must be something demanding and not easy to
attain; and
 hope’s object must be attainable.
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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The beginnings of a scientific study of hope date back to the 1960s
and 1970s. Since its introduction into academic research, hope has been
conceptualised in many ways and against a number of varying
theoretical backgrounds. Hope was described as a one-dimensional
phenomenon (Menninger, 1959; Mowrer, 1960; Stotland, 1969), a twodimensional
phenomenon (Snyder at al., 1991), a construct involving
three factors (Miller & Powers, 1988), or as a phenomenon based on
four primary “rules” (Averill et al., 1990), or five themes (Herth, 1992,
1998), or seven components (Morse & Doberneck, 1995).
Numerous other approaches to hope have been employed: hope has
been defined as hopeful thinking (Snyder, 2000a), positive emotional
experience (Fredrickson, 2009), character strength (Peterson &
Seligman, 2004), or a transcendental phenomenon (Emmons, 2005;
Vaillant, 2008).
The multitude of different perspectives of hope complicates any
attempts to merge the approaches into a coherent whole (Snyder,
2000b). Nevertheless, most scientists agree that hope is primarily
connected with positive expectations of the future outcomes. However,
there is a need to clarify the distinction between hope and other related
constructs, such as optimism, self-efficacy, self-determination and
resilience among others (Krafft, Martin-Krumm, & Fenouillet, 2017;
Snyder, Rand, & Sigmon, 2002).
A fairly complex approach to hope was adapted by Dufault and
Martocchio (1985, p. 380) who defined hope as a “multidimensional life
force characterized by a confident yet uncertain expectation of
achieving a future good which, to the hoping person, is realistically
possible and personally significant”. They identified six dimensions
which reflect the multidimensional nature of hope and can either operate
independently or in conjuction with each other (Dufault & Martocchio,
1985). The six dimensions are:
 Affective dimension concerns the emotions and sensations
related to the hoping process. It covers the hoping person’s
feelings of attraction to the desirable outcome or goal, feelings
of both confidence and uncertainty about the outcome, and
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a sense of personal significance of the object of hope for the
person’s well-being.
 Cognitive dimension encompasses a wide range of thinking
processes and cognitive strategies, e.g. identification of the
object of hope, assessment of the probability of achieving the
goal, discrimination of both internal and external hopepromoting
factors from hope-inhibiting factors, and use of
imagination.
 Behavioural dimension includes psychological, physical, social,
and spiritual actions, i.e. specific behavioural activities aimed at
achieving the desired goal.
 Affiliative dimension is related to an individual’s interpersonal
relationships and connections to natural or spiritual world. It
includes a sense of relatedness, intimacy, and mutuality.
 Temporal dimension concerns an individual’s experience of
time in relation to the hoping process. While hope is typically
directed towards the future, it may also involve past (in the form
of positive memories providing encouragement and belief in the
possibility of hopes being fulfilled), and the present, which
provides grounds for future goals and desires.
 Contextual dimension builds on the fact that objects of hope are
set and activated within a specific context. The contextual
dimension focuses on life situations and circumstances that are
a part of a person’s hope, e.g. age, developmental period of the
individual, and hierarchy of needs.
With respect to the degree of specificity of hope, Dufault and
Martocchio (1985) distinguish between generalised hope, i.e. positive
but indefinite expectation about future grounded in reality, and
particularised hope, focusing on specific future outcomes. Hope can
also be viewed as having both an internal, subjective existence (to be
owned by the individual), and an external, objective existence that is
“out there somewhere” (O’Hara, 2013).
Shrank, Stanghellini and Slade (2008) compiled a comprehensive
overview of publications on the conceptualisation and measurement of
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hope, and on its use as a predictive variable in mental health patients.
The authors identified 49 definitions of hope and grouped them into
seven dimensions (time, goals, likelihood of success, relations, personal
characteristics, locus of control, undesiderable starting points). These
dimensions formed the basis for the formulation of an integrative
definition namely “hope [is] a primarily future-oriented expectation
(sometimes but not always informed by negative experiences such as
mental illness) of attaining personally valued goals, relationships or
spirituality, where attainment: i) will give meaning, ii) is subjectively
considered realistic or possible, and iii) depends on personal activity or
characteristics (e.g. resilience and courage) or external factors (e.g.
resource availability)” (Schrank et al., 2008, p. 426). The authors
distinguish four basic components of hope:
 cognitive (e.g. past experience, goal setting, planning and
assessment of the probability of success);
 affective (e.g. reliability, humour, positive emotions);
 behavioural (e.g. motivation and action);
 external factors (e.g. availability of resources, healthcare,
relationships).
The following section presents those theories and approaches to hope
that emphasize its cognitive dimension.
2.1 Hope as a Cognitive Style
Hope can be viewed either as an emotional state, or as a cognitive
and motivational state prompting the hoping person to reach a particular
goal (Snyder, 2000a; Snyder, Irving, & Anderson, 1991). Lopez (2013)
believes that the way in which people think about the future, that is how
they hope, determines their success in relationships, career and business.
Snyder, the author of the cognitive theory of hope, defined hope as
“the sum of perceived capacities to produce routes to desired goals,
along with the perceived motivation to use those routes” (Snyder,
2000a, p. 8). In other words, hope is seen as a “positive motivational
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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state that is based on an interactively derived sense of (a) agency (goaloriented
energy) and (b) pathways (planning to meet the goals)”
(Snyder, Irving, & Anderson, 1991, p. 287, as cited by Snyder, 2000a).
Snyder’s cognitive hope theory perceives hope as involving four
components: Agency, Pathways, Goal, and Barriers.
Agency refers to the motivation and energy one possesses to be able
to undertake the routes towards one’s goals. Lopez (2013) assumes that,
over time, people develop and build capacity for persistence and longtime
efforts that makes them the authors of their lives.
Pathways refers to the routes people take to achieve their desired
goals, and the individual’s perceived ability to produce these routes
(Snyder, 2000a). The pathways component of hope requires the
anticipation of varying means and paths, the ability to asses their
effectiveness, and the understanding of causal relations. Many people
are capable of generating multiple pathways (multiple pathway
thinking) from which they then select the most suitable or simple one.
Both agency and pathways are essential for goal attainment (Snyder et
al., 1991).
Goals are abstract mental targets that guide human behaviours (Rand
& Cheavens, 2009). The targets play a highly important role in hopeful
thinking because they provide a direction and an endpoint (Snyder,
2000a). Their effect is both motivational and invigorating and it reflects
the strength of an individual’s resolution to achieve the desired
outcome. Thus, targets are an indispensable part of the process. An
essential characteristics of the target is its subjective value (Snyder,
2002). Moreover, in order to exhibit a positive impact on the hoping
person’s motivation, the goal needs to be attainable. The probability of
achieving the goal lies between zero (goal cannot be achieved) and
100 % (goal is attainable under any circumstances). The greatest
motivational force is associated with medium-probability goals
(Cheavens et al., 2006).
Snyder (2002) distinguishes two basic types of goals:
A. Positive or “approach” goals:
 a goal that is desired for the first time;
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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 a goal which serves to maintain an already achieved goal;
 a goal aimed at continuous progress when some advances have
already been made.
B. Negative goals:
 to stop or deter something before it happens;
 to delay or deter the occurence of something happening.
The combination of the three components - agency, pathways and
goals - form the motivational concept of hope. These three core
elements are accompanied by a fourth one: barriers.
Barriers impede the attainment of desired goals. If a barrier occurs,
the hoping person will either give up or use pathway thoughts to create
new routes (Snyder, 2000a). Barriers disturb the simplicity of goal
attainment and force people to conjure up more effective pathways; yet,
they need to be viewed as natural parts of life that can occur at any
moment.
In accordance with the cognitive theory of hope, there are three
stages of “goal-oriented thinking” (Snyder, Rand, & Sigmon, 2002):
 learning history,
 pre-event, and
 event sequence.
The importance of an individual’s experience history springs from
the fact that agency and goals start forming early in childhood. Early
attempts at pathway seeking occur at the time when the child begins to
form associations between simultaneously occurring phenomena.
Agency comes into play when the child realizes he is not a mere
onlooker, but an active participant in life events. Agency and pathways
interact with each other throughout the life course and they are
inevitably accompanied by emotions. The emotions are determined by
previous experience, that is whether the goal was attained or abandoned.
The emotional mindset of individuals with high hope levels holds
feelings of joy and assurance, while that of low-hope individuals is
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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13
characterized by passivity and negative feelings (Snyder, Rand, &
Sigmon, 2002).
Prior to the hoping event, the subjective value of the expected goal is
assessed. The hoping event will only be initiated if the subjective
importance of the goal is past a certain (subjective) threshold and the
goal is considered to be worthwhile. Once a goal-directed action is
started, agency and pathways continuously interact with each other.
These also have an effect on the perceived value of the goal. If the goal
is worthwhile, then agency leads the individual to use a suitable path to
achieve the goal. However, the individual may decide that the goal is
not worth the effort, in which case the goal will be abandoned or
changed. The final result (goal attainment vs. failure to attain the goal)
generates positive or negative emotions, respectively. These emotions in
turn affect the future hoping processes, including goal setting, pathway
choice and agency levels, revealing the cyclic nature of the whole
process (Snyder, Rand, & Sigmon, 2002).
According to Snyder (2000b), hope can be understood either as
a changeable state determined by life events which the individual
experiences, or as a relatively stable personality trait (dispositional
hope). Based on his research into correlates of hope as a personality
trait, Snyder came to distinguish between high-hopers and low-hopers.
High-hopers do not give up when faced with obstacles; rather, they view
their problems as manageable and try to rise to the challenge and seek
alternative solutions. Low-hopers, on the other hand, view obstacles as
“traps” from which it would be very difficult to escape. The two types
also differ in the number of goals they set for themselves. Low-hopers
often tend to hold onto a single goal, while those with high hope levels
are more flexible with respect to their goals and are more ready to create
alternative ones. Further differences experienced by the two types are
related to stress-coping capacity, intensity of negative emotions, and the
time needed for recovery. In addition, it was found that high-hopers tend
to set goals that are completely in accordance with their value system
and that make their lives meaningful, while low-hopers tend to feel less
strongly about their goals (Snyder, 2000b).
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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14
Hope as an important cognitive and motivational element also
appears in the work by Stotland (1969) who sees hope as
a unidimensional motivational phenomenon involved in any goaloriented
process.
The motivational aspect is also strongly present in the work of
Breznitz (1999) who understands hope as a subjective phenomenon
encompassing emotional as well as cognitive processes. Here, hope
involves one’s expectations about the future; these expectations can be
affected by new information. Hope levels also depend on the goal and
the conditions that need to be met for that goal to be attained.
Bernardo (2010) proposed to broaden Snyder’s theory by drawing
a distinction between an internal and external locus of hope. External
agents may be family members, peers, or a supernatural/spiritual being.
Locus of hope thus comes in four forms: internal, external-family,
external-peers, and external-spiritual.
Snyder, Ilardi, Michael, and Cheavens (2000) described the
differences and similarities between Snyder’s Hope Theory and
a variety of other theories, including dispositional optimism (Scheier &
Carver, 1985), learned optimism (Seligman, 1991), problem solving
(Heppner & Hillerbrand, 1991), self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997), and selfesteem
(Hewitt, 1998).
A number of authors have particularly emphasised the need to
distinguish between hope as defined by Snyder’s cognitive theory, and
optimism and self-efficacy, since all three concepts involve expectation
of future outcomes (Alarcon, Bowling, & Khazon, 2013; Arnau, Rosen,
Finch, Rhudy, & Fortunato, 2007; Magaletta & Oliver, 1999).
Gallagher and Lopez (2009) see hope and optimism as two different
constructs, each of which explains a proportion of variance in subjective
well-being. Alarcon et al. (2013) in conducting a meta-analytic
examination of hope and optimism found it suitable to distinguish
between the two phenomena. While optimism tends to be contextindependent,
hope is prominent in situations that are personally relevant
(Arnau et al., 2007; Bruininks, Malle, Johnson, & Bryant, 2005). Bryant
and Cvengros (2004) revealed that optimism has a significantly stronger
impact on positive reassessment of a situation. On the other hand,
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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dispositional hope exhibits a far stronger impact on self-efficacy levels
than optimism does. Based on the above findings the authors view hope
as being directly related to goal attainment, while optimism is seen as
more general in nature, related to the quality of the outcome rather than
to a particular goal.
Likewise, it is necessary to distinguish between hope and selfefficacy.
Although these two concepts are similar they are still not
identical. Self-efficacy refers to the perceived ability to produce and
control events in one’s life (Bandura, 1982). From the hope perspective,
although the desired outcome can be obtained through one’s own
efforts, it can also be a product of circumstances, completely or
partially, beyond an individual’s control. The above distinction is
congruent with a study by Magaletta and Oliver (1999) whose findings
show that hope explains a unique proportion of variance in subjective
well-being, independently of self-efficacy.
To sum up, both self-efficacy and optimism have much in common
with the motivational component of hope. While self-efficacy can be
viewed as more related to the pathway component, optimism seems to
be more associated with agency. However, Feldman, Rand, and KahleWrobleski
(2009) claim that neither self-efficacy nor optimism bear
a direct connection to goal-directed planning in the sense in which
Snyder understands hope.
2.1.1 Hope Development in Childhood
Hopeful and goal-directed thinking is acquired in early childhood as
a part of social learning and is related to the child’s attachment bond
with his closest family. If the bond is impaired by distrust, it can lead to
hope destruction (Snyder, 2000a). An important role in the development
of hopeful thinking is played by observational learning (i.e. by
observing parents, teachers, peers and strong individuals who provided
an inspiration for the child in terms of hopeful thinking), by upbringing
delivered by parents and teachers, and by the child’s own experience.
The lack of hopeful thinking in some people can, according to
Snyder and colleagues (2002), be explained in two ways: either the
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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16
process of childhood learning was so inadequate that hopeful thinking
never developed, or it was lost due to adverse life experience. In
childhood, the situation which is the most detrimental to hopeful
thinking development is child neglect; adults can lose hopeful thinking
as a result of a traumatic experience such as rape, assault, loss of a close
friend or a family member, and a severe car accident. Such a traumatic
experience can “turn off” the existing (and effective) cognitive and
coping strategies, resulting in the child adopting only one strategy - the
“play-safe” strategy - by which the individual seeks to avoid life
challenges and obstacles and minimise their goal-directed efforts
(Snyder et al., 2002).
2.1.2 False Hope
Several researchers and clinical psychologists pointed out the
problems associated with “false” hope (Snyder, Rand, King, Feldman,
& Woodward, 2002). Research points to three reasons why false hope is
likely to occur: when expectations are based on illusions rather than
reality (e.g., Beavers & Kaslow, 1981); when inappropriate goals are
pursued (Rule, 1982, as cited by Snyder et al., 2002); and when poor
strategies or methods are used to achieve the desired goals (Kwon,
2000, 2002).
Snyder et al. (2002) used Snyder’s hope theory to address some of
the above issues. On the first point, they argued that false hope does not
necessarily involve major reality distortions: while high-hope
individuals do make use of positive illusions that influence their views
of reality, they do not engage in counter-productive illusions leading to
severe reality distortions. In other words, hope does not prevent highhopers
from recognizing inappropriate or unattainable goals (Snyder,
1998). Indeed, as mentioned by Taylor, Lichtman, and Wood (1984)
a certain amount of positive illusions can be beneficial. Positive
illusions seem to be linked with a sense of agency: those who perceive
themselves and their environment in a positive light feel more
empowered as causal agents in effecting changes to their environment
(Sigmon & Snyder, 1993). On the other hand, having extremely high
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17
illusions is not desirable because it can lead people to engage in
inappropriate or risky behaviours (Weinstein & Klein, 1996, as cited by
Snyder et al., 2002).
On another issue related to false hope namely that one may be
pursuing a maladaptive, counterproductive, or unattainable goal (Rule,
1982), Snyder et al. (2002) point out that the appropriateness of goals is
often based on a subjective judgment. They report to have found no
empirical evidence of false hopes centering on inappropriate goals.
Their research suggests that some individuals do set lofty and difficult
goals but these are typicaly high-hope individuals rather than low-hope
ones. Moreover, resesearch also suggests that high-hopers often meet
these goals and they set a significantly larger amount of goals. However,
there is still the possibility that a person may be delusional about the
probability of achieving a desired goal, which may lead to failure at goal
pursuit, and also increased maladjustment and decreased psychological
well-being.
Kwon (2002) defined false hope as having goals and motivation (i.e.
agency) for an outcome, but lacking the proper plans or resources (i.e.
pathways) to achieve them. In his response to Kwon’s objection, Snyder
states that within the context of his hope theory, hope is defined as the
perceived ability to produce routes to desired goals, and the motivation
to use these routes. Numerous studies drawing on Snyder’s hope theory
showed that high-hope people choose appropriate pathways for their
goals (e.g. Snyder, 1994, 2000a, 2000b). Thus, these studies based on
hope as defined in Synder’s hope theory contradict Kwon’s concept of
false hope as poor planning.
It must also be added that in the context of coping with situations of
terminal illness or approaching death there is no such thing as ‘false’
hope (Eliott & Olver, 2007, 2009; Herth, 1990). In this setting, hope
was defined as an inner power directed towards enrichment of 'being',
and appeared functioning to value the lives of the patients and their
connections with others.
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2.2 Hope as a Positive Emotion
While the previous section dealt with hope as a cognitive strategy,
the present section focuses on hope as an emotional state. Individuals’
perspective of themselves, other people and the world in general affects
their emotional state and vice versa, cognitive processes are influenced
by emotions. Negative interpretations of events produce negative
emotions; optimistic thoughts, on the other hand, lead to positive
emotions (Fredrickson, 2009). The above principle is utilised in
cognitive therapy and rational emotive therapy (Beck, 1976; Ellis,
2001), which employ a range of powerful therapeutic tools and
techniques.
The affective component of subjective well-being is comprised of the
frequency and intensity of positive and negative emotions (Diener,
Lucas, & Oishi, 2002). While the adverse effects of long-term, recurrent
negative emotions (anxiety, fear, anger, guilt) on health and life quality
have been relatively well investigated, positive emotions and their
effects have largely been sidelined by psychology researchers
(Fredrickson, 1998).
In his cognitive theory of hope Synder emphasized the “thinking”
aspect of hope thus subordinating the emotional aspect of hope to the
cognitive one. Positive emotions were understood as products of goalpursuit
cognition and successful goal attainment (Snyder et al., 1996;
Snyder, Rand, & Sigmon, 2002). There is evidence that dispositional
hope positively correlates with positive emotions and negatively
correlates with negative emotions (Snyder et al., 1996).
Mowrer (1960, as cited in Cheavens & Ritschel, 2014) viewed hope
as an emotion associated with the expectation of pleasurable stimuli,
driving movement towards one’s goals.
Lazarus (1999) conceptualised hope as an emotion arising from the
expectation to attain the desired goals. While negative emotions stem
from delay or unattainment of goals, positive emotions result from
conditions that facilitate goal attainment. Hope can provoke efforts to
seek improvement of an unsatisfactory situation, and is therefore
considered a vital coping resource against despair.
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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Hope as an emotion which motivates behaviour was also described
by Farran, Herth, and Popovich (1995). Averill and colleagues (Averill,
Catlin, & Chon, 1990; Averill, 1994) proposed an “emotion” theory of
hope which is based on hope meeting the following four rules:
 prudential rule, i.e. probability of goal attainment is realistic;
 moralistic rule, i.e. what is hoped for is deemed to be personally
or socially acceptable;
 priority rule, i.e. outcomes and events are appraised as
important;
 action rule, i.e. there is willingness to take appropriate action.
Fredrickson (2009) sees hope as occupying a special place among
positive emotions (such as joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, pride,
amusement, inspiration, awe, and love). However, while positive
emotions typically develop when we feel comfortable and safe, hope is
often related to difficult and challenging situations.
Fredrickson (1998, 2002) created a Broaden-and-Build Theory
focusing on the beneficial effects of positive emotions. Based on her
extensive research (2009), Fredrickson declared that positive emotions
broaden an individual’s momentary thought-action repertoire because
they open one’s mind to new stimuli and promote discovery of novel
and creative ideas, and social bonds. These serve to build one’s personal
capacities and resources (physical, psychological, intellectual and
social). Positive emotions create more space for intuition and creative
solutions to problems; they also promote activity and successful
performance. Moreover, positive emotions also have significant
favourable effects on motivation. People who are in a positive mood see
goals as being more easily attainable, and they show greater persistence
in goal pursuits.
Fredrickson’s findings suggest that positive emotions improve
physical and mental capabilities as well as long-term well-being
(Fredrickson, 2009). People with abundance of positive emotions in
their daily lives show high levels of positive mental health and
flourishing (Diehl, Hay, & Berg, 2011; Fredrickson, 2004). Unlike
individuals with low levels of positive mental health and even
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20
symptoms of depression, “optimistic” persons displayed significantly
more positive emotional reactions to daily activities and events (social
interactions, learning, play, intellectual and spiritual activities, helping
others). Over time, the increased positive reactivity predicted higher
levels of mindfulness, which in turn had positive benefits on mental
health (Catalino & Fredrickson, 2011).
Nowadays, advanced technologies make it possible to study positive
emotions not only at the psychological level, but also at the
neurophysiological and biochemical levels. There is strong evidence
that positive emotions, with limbic representations and connections
involving the immune and endocrine systems, have a significant effect
on health (Barefoot, Maynard, & Beckham, 1998; Cohen, Doyle,
Turner, Alper, & Skoner, 2003; Emmons & McCullough, 2003). Not
only do positive emotions and feelings of inner peace have
a harmonising effect on homeostasis, but they also facilitate the
excretion of undesirable substances (Fredrickson, 2009).
A predominance of positive feelings has been found to predict lower
stress hormone blood levels and to boost the immune system through
increased dopamine and serotonin production, while also reducing
inflammatory responses to stress. The role of oxytocine whose
contribution to health consists in attenuating the course of stress
reactions was also studied (Reis & Gable, 2007). Positive emotions were
also linked to lower blood pressure, improved sleep quality, lower risk
of the development of a cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and
increased vagus nerve activity (Fredrickson, 2009; Kok et al., 2013).
2.3 Hope as a Character Strength
According to Erikson (Erikson, 1994; Erikson & Erikson, 1998),
hope is the basic strength (virtue or ego competence) of the first of eight
developmental stages, one that arises from successful resolution of the
identity crisis faced by the individual at that stage and which is related
to basic trust versus basic mistrust. Hope as conceived by Erikson is a
type of innate drive motivating the child to take action to achieve his or
her goals. He sees basic hope as being particularly important for
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psychosocial development because it develops first and becomes the
most permanent of all the ego strengths, paving the way for the next ego
competences with which it participates in the process of shaping the
individual’s personality. Thus, basic hope is seen as a prerequisite for all
the other strengths.
In positive psychology, character strengths and virtues are
understood as those personality traits which not only facilitate effective
coping with difficult life situations, but also promote successful social
functioning, self-development and goal attainment.
Snyder and Lopez (2007) define character strengths as the capacities
that people have for thinking, feeling and behaving, and which enable
them to flourish. Linley (2008) understands character strengths as
encompassing intellectual character strengths, components of social
intelligence, and virtues. According to him, character strengths begin to
show themselves in early childhood and they can be retained and
cultivated throughout life. Recognizing and utilizing these strengths
gives us a feeling of authenticity – a feeling that we are ourselves.
Moreover, character strengths also constitute an important source of
inner energy and motivation.
At its inception, positive psychology lacked a common scientific
vocabulary for discussing measurable personality traits. According to
Seligman (2002), a fundamental concept in the study of human
behaviour is that of character. In cooperation with other positive
psychology researchers, Peterson and Seligman (2004) developed the
VIA Inventory of Strengths, an extensive system for the classification
and measurement of character strengths. The authors openly admit to
being inspired by earlier works on the topic of positive personality traits.
For instance, Thorndike, one of the most influential psychologists in the
early positive psychology’s era, wrote extensively on character
cultivation (Thorndike, 1940). Another well-known psychologist,
Erikson, mentioned above, proposed a theory of psychosocial
development. The ability to successfully pass the stages that a healthily
developing individual should go through from infancy to late adulthood
was found to be closely related to character strengths (Erikson &
Erikson, 1998). Maslow (2000) who proposed the hierarchy of needs,
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the top level of which covers such needs as self-actualisation and
transcendence, also deserves a mention. According to Maslow, selfactualisation
is characterised by “the full use and exploitation of talents,
capacities, potentialities” (Maslow, 1970, as cited in Peterson &
Seligman, 2004).
The VIA Inventory of Strengths contains three levels of abstraction
of the good character. The highest level comprises six broad virtue
categories (wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and
transcendence), which in turn cover 24 character strengths (second
level). These are psychological mechanisms and processes defining
virtues. The lowest level of abstraction consists of “situational themes”.
These are defined as the particular habits that lead people to show given
character strengths in given situations (Peterson & Seligman, 2004).
Peterson and Seligman argue that people typically have certain
signature strengths, which they frequently exercise. Signature strengths
are similar to Allport’s personality traits (Allport, 1961).
Peterson and Seligman (2004) classify hope as falling under the
broad virtue category of Transcendence, as shown in Table 1.
Transcendance encompasses those character strengths that forge an
individual’s connections to the universe, make it possible to appreciate
one’s life and other life forms, and provide meaning to life.
Hope as a stable personality trait (fundamental hope) was defined by
Scioli and Biller (2009, p. 30) as a “future-directed, four-channel
network, constructed from biological, psychological, and social
resources”. Its principal dimensions are four human needs: attachment
(basic trust and openness), mastery (higher goals, empowerment beliefs,
and collaborative tendencies), survival (liberation beliefs and selfregulation
capacities), and spirituality (Scioli et al., 2011). The authors
describe hope network as a five-level foundation comprising biological
systems, genetic dispositions and expressions, as well as psychological,
social, and spiritual components (Scioli et al., 2016).
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Table 1 VIA Classification of Virtues and Character Strengths (CS)
(Peterson & Seligman, 2004)
Virtue Wisdom Courage Humanity Justice Temperance Transcendence
CS
Creativity Bravery Love Teamwork Forgiveness
Appreciation of
Beauty &
Excellence
Curiosity Perseverence Kindness Fairness Humility Gratitude
Judgment Honesty
Social
Intelligence
Leadership Prudence Hope
Love of
Learning
Zest
Self-
Regulation
Humor
Perspective Spirituality
2.3.1 Research on Hope as Character Strength
Numerous studies on character strengths have highlighted the
importance of hope. For example, hope is one of the character strengths
which most closely correlates with life satisfaction and happiness across
cultures (Buschor, Proyer, & Ruch, 2013; Martinez-Marti & Ruch,
2014; Park, Peterson, & Seligman, 2004; Shimai et al., 2006), and with
work satisfaction across occupations (Peterson, Stephens, Park, Lee, &
Seligman, 2010; Slezackova & Skrabska, 2013).
In the context of education, higher hope levels were also associated
with positive classroom behavior (Wagner & Ruch, 2015), better
academic achievement (Park & Peterson, 2009) and college satisfaction
(Lounsbury et al., 2009). In a study on adolescents with and without
cognitive disabilities, both hope and optimism predicted life satisfaction
(Shogren et al., 2006). Teachers high in hope, zest and emotional
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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24
strengths tended to experience more positive emotions, less negative
emotions, and greater life satisfaction (Chan, 2009).
Hope as a character strength is also positively correlated with mental
health. Together with zest and leadership, hope was found to be
substantially related to fewer anxiety and depression issues (Park &
Peterson, 2008). Hope, along with kindness, social intelligence, selfregulation,
and perspective, functions as a buffer against the negative
effects of stress and trauma (Park & Peterson, 2006, 2009). Hope is also
negatively related to indicators of psychological distress and school
maladjustment among adolescents (Gilman, Dooley, & Florell, 2006).
Within a healthcare context, hope was found to be a significant predictor
of medication adherence among child asthma patients (Berg, Rapoff,
Snyder, & Belmont, 2007).
2.4 Perceived Hope
The relatively new concept of perceived hope is broader than that of
dispositional hope. Perceived hope refers to hopeful feelings in the
sense of having a deep trust in positive outcomes, particularly in
difficult life situations that are beyond our direct control (Krafft et al.,
2017; Krafft & Walker, in press).
This latest conceptualisation of hope accommodates two different
perspectives on hope: the individualistic and cognitive vs.
transcendental and emotional. Krafft, the author of the concept of
perceived hope (Krafft, 2014, 2015), aims to fill the missing pieces in
Snyder’s theory, such as the spiritual and the relational aspects. His aim
is also to account for phenomena that are beyond human control;
attempting to explain the related efforts in terms of Snyder’s pathways
and agency is inadequate. Krafft distinguishes perceived hope from
optimism and dispositional hope, which he compares to self-efficacy.
While other approaches utilise the self-concerned model of goal
attainment, Krafft realized that the sources of deeper feeling of hope
were principally linked to a faith and belief in something or someone
greater than oneself. The perceived hope is thus more strongly related to
self-transcendent views and desires such as experiencing meaning in
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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life, helping other people, enjoying close and trusted relationships as
well as having spiritual or religious experience.
In addition to the above, Krafft’s concept of perceived hope follows
from “implicit” theories of hope, i.e. from how people define hope for
themselves.
2.5 Other Approaches to Hope
Several authors created definitions of the concept of hope to be used
in health promotion. Obayuwana and Carter (1982) defined hope as
a state of mind resulting from the positive outcome of the “hope
pentagram”. Its five components - ego strength, perceived family
support, education, religion, and economic assets - are considered
important determinants of hope.
According to Morse and Doberneck (1995), hope is a response to
a threat, and an act that allows one to overcome despair and reduce
suffering. They studied hope on four groups of respondents: breastfeeding
mothers returning to work; survivors of breast cancer; patients
with spinal cord injuries; and people awaiting heart transplants. Based
on their research they defined seven basic components of hope:
 a realistic initial assessment of the predicament or threat;
 envisioning of alternatives and setting of goals;
 a bracing for negative outcomes;
 a realistic assessment of personal resources and of external
conditions and resources;
 the solicitation of mutually supportive relationships;
 the continuous evaluation for signs that reinforce the selected
goals;
 a determination to endure.
The four different groups of research participants yielded several
different hope patterns: hoping for a chance (finding a suitable donor,
return to health); incremental hope (for instance, when weaning
a patient off ventilatory support, every moment brings the person closer
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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26
to independent breathing); hoping against rational expectations (for
instance, recovered cancer patients hope for positive results of regular
check-ups); and provisional hope (Morse & Doberneck, 1995).
A dynamic perspective on hope was proposed by Farran, Herth, and
Popovich (1995). Morse and Penrod (1999) also viewed hope as
a process. Their concept of hope comprises the components of enduring,
uncertainty, suffering, and hope, which are related to goals, pathways,
time perspective, and cognitive level.
Another approach drawing on medical environments was developed
by Li (2000), who understands hope as arising out of interpersonal
interactions. Hope is created, reinforced or lost through communication
between a patient and medical staff. In this context, hope is seen as
comprising three stages: identification of the initial level of hope,
creation of a trustful alliance, and, most importantly, hope
transformation. The last stage (or component) occurs through
viewpoint-sharing between the patient and the medical practitioner.
2.6 Measuring Hope
Several scales have been developed to assess various aspects of hope
and to obtain insight into the affective, cognitive, relational, or spiritual
elements of hope.
The Hope Scale (Erickson, Post, & Paige, 1975) is one of the oldest
methods of hope measurement. It is one dimensional and contains 20
statements describing possible goals that individuals can set for
themselves, along with the probability of attaining these goals.
The Hope Index Scale (Obayuwana et al., 1982) includes 60 items
divided into 5 sub-scales: ego strength, religion, family support,
education and economic assets.
The Miller Hope Scale (Miller & Powers, 1988) contains 40 items
grouped into three categories: satisfaction with self, others and life;
avoidance of hope threats; and anticipation of a future.
The Nowotny Hope Scale (NHS; Nowotny, 1989) is a 29-item multidimensional
questionnaire that measures six components of hope:
confidence in outcome, relationships with others, belief in the
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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possibility of a future, spiritual beliefs, active involvement, and inner
readiness.
The most common method of hope measurement which is currently
being used is the Adult Dispositional Hope Scale (ADHS; Snyder et al.,
1991), which measures Snyder’s cognitive model of hope. It contains 12
items, four of which measure pathways thinking, four measure agency
thinking and four are fillers. The scale, frequently named “The Future
Scale”, is used for adults aged over 15 years. Each item is answered
using an 8-point Likert-type scale (1 = Definitely False; 8 = Definitely
True). The scale generates three scores: one for pathways, one for
agency, and an overal hope score that is created by summing the agency
and pathway items. The higher the total score, the higher the overall
degree of the respondent’s hope. The Agency score can range from
a minimum of 4 to a maximum of 32 points, with higher numbers
reflecting a higher amount of goal-directed energy. The Pathways score
can also range from 4 to 32 points, with higher numbers indicating
a greater capability for planning to accomplish goals. Since the above
scale only taps into trait hope, measuring general characteristics rather
than context-dependent hope levels, an Adult State Hope Scale was
developed (ASHS; Snyder et al., 1996). This scale assesses hope as
a state, measuring goal-directed thinking in any given moment.
Snyder et al. (1996) also developed a 6-item Children’s Hope Scale
intended for children and adolescents aged between 7 and 16 years.
McDermott et al. developed the Young Children’s Hope Scale (YCHS;
McDermott, Hastings, Gariglietti, & Callahan, 1997) designed for
children aged 5 to 7.
While both ADHS and ASHS measure “general hope” independently
of different life domains, Sympson (1999, as cited in Lopez, Ciarlelli,
Coffman, Stone, & Wyatt, 2000) created the Adult Domain-Specific
Hope Scale (ADSHS) that measures an individual’s level of
dispositional hope within six specific life domains: social (friendship,
casual acquaintances), academic (school, coursework), romantic
relationships, family life, work, and leisure activities.
Other methods of hope assessment include the Children’s Hope
Scale (CHS) Observer Rating Form (Snyder & McDermott, 1998, as
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28
cited in Lopez et al., 2000) and the Narrative Hope Scale (Vance, 1996,
as cited in Lopez et al., 2000).
Another method, the Herth Hope Scale (HHS; Herth, 1991), includes
30 items and covers three dimensions of hope (cognitive-temporal,
affective behavioral and affiliative-contextual) as conceptualized by
Dufault and Martocchio (1985); an abbreviated version of the HHS is
the Herth Hope Index (Herth, 1992) containing only 12 items. The HHS
aims to capture the multidimensional quality of hope which is measured
in terms of temporality and future, positive readiness and expectancy,
and interconnectedness.
Hopefulness Scale for Adolescents (Hinds & Gattuso, 1991) is a 24item
self-report scale measuring the degree to which an adolescent
possesses a comforting, life-sustaining, reality-based belief that
a positive future exists for self or others.
Basic Hope Questionnaire BHI-12 developed by Polish researchers
Trzebiński and Zięba (2003) is a 12-item Polish method which measures
the strength of basic hope understood as in Erikson’s theory, i.e. as the
individual’s conviction that all is well with the world which is
organised, meaningful and benevolent.
Comprehensive Hope Scales (Scioli, Ricci, Nyugen, & Scioli, 2011;
Scioli, Scioli-Salter, Sykes, Anderson, & Fedele, 2016) measure trait
hope and state hope. Hope as a personality trait is measured by the
Comprehensive Trait Hope Scale, a multidimensional measure
consisting of 56 items that comprise 14 subscales in four dimensions
(attachment, mastery, survival, and spirituality). The scales and items
were derived from an integrative theory of hope (Scioli & Biller, 2009,
2010). The 14 subscales are made up of non-spiritual and spiritual
scales. The non-spiritual scales are: Mastery (Ultimate Ends; Supported
Mastery), Attachment (Trust; Openness), Survival (Personal and Social
Terror-Management), and Positive or Negative Views of the Future. The
remaining scales are explicitly spiritual (Spiritual Empowerment,
Benign Universe, Spiritual Openness, Mystical Experience, Spiritual
Terror Management, Symbolic Immortality, and Spiritual Integrity).
Five scores are computed as follows: Mastery, Attachment, Survival,
Spiritual, and Total Hope (Scioli et al., 2016). Hope as a state is
Chapter 2 Approaches and Theories of Hope
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measured by the Comprehensive State Hope Scale consisting of 40
items in 10 subscales.
Tong et al. (2010, as cited in Krafft et al., 2017) have used a oneitem
measure for a quick assessment of an individual’s level of hope (“I
feel hopeful about the future”).
The most recent method of hope measurement is a 6-item Perceived
Hope Scale (Krafft et al., 2017) which aims to measure the role and
importance of hope as perceived by the public. The authors have adapted
and reformulated four items from the hope and optimism subscale of the
World Health Organization’s Quality of Life, Spirituality, Religion and
Personal Beliefs Questionnaire (WHOQOL SRPB Group, 2006, as
cited by Krafft et al., 2017) and added two additional items related to
the aspects of hope not covered by the WHOQOL-SRPB (one
recognizing the dialectical relation between hope and anxiety, and
another one to assess the degree of fulfillment of one’s own hopes). The
primary advantage of the Perceived Hope Scale is that the items do not
mix hope with optimism and they cover varying aspects of hope: level
of hope; fulfillment of hope; effect of hope; hope/anxiety duality; and
the special situations in which hope arises (Krafft et al., 2017).
Chapter 3 Hope during the Life Course
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30
Chapter 3. Hope during the Life Course
As one of the main demographic variables, age should not be
overlooked in any attempt to provide a coherent account of the
phenomenon of hope. The role and importance of hope with respect to
varying age groups have been studied by numerous researchers;
allowing for the construction of the evolution of hope over the life
course.
Bailey and Snyder (2007) studied hope levels among a sample of 215
persons aged 18 and over. They focused on age-related changes in hope
and on the dependence of hope on an individual’s marital status. The
study revealed significant differences in the level of hope across varying
age cohorts. More specifically, dispositional hope was found to be
significantly lower for the older cohort (age 54-65) than for the other
cohorts. The above finding can be explained by the fact that older
people tend to pay increased attention to their health issues and to
achieving financial security for retirement; thus, their goal-directed
thinking can be sidelined (Snyder, 2000a). The study by Bailey and
Snyder (2007) showed no differences in hope between men and women
from the same age cohort. As regards possible differences in
dispositional hope levels related to marital status, low hope levels were
found among those who were separated, divorced, or widowed.
Slezackova and Vemolova (20171
) also sought to reveal possible
age-related differences in dispositional hope in their study on a sample
of 1,634 individuals aged 15 to 93 years. Young adults (20 – 35 years)
were found to exhibit significantly higher hope levels than both
adolescents (15 to 19 years) and middle adults (35 – 50 years).
Some studies have not found hope to be age-dependent; for instance,
McGill and Paul (1993). However, this may have been due to the
narrow age cohort chosen for the study (65 to 86 years).
1
The study was a part of a project entitled Health-Enhancing and HealthThreatening
Behaviour: Determinants, Models and Consequences funded by
the Czech Science Foundation (grant No. 13-19808S, 2013-2016).
Chapter 3 Hope during the Life Course
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3.1 Hope in Children and Youth
Current studies focusing on hope in children bring scientifically
interesting findings related to a correlation of hope to social support
(Kemer & Atik, 2012; McCoy & Bowen, 2015; Morley & Kohrt, 2013;
Ng, Chan, & Lai, 2014), positive emotionality in parents (Hoy, Suldo, &
Mendez, 2013) and health (Venning et al., 2007).
Snyder et al. (1996) examined the relationship between hopeful
thinking and perceived competence and control among school-age
children. The children completed the method which measured their selfperceptions
in five areas: perceived performance at school; degree of
felt popularity with peers; perceived ability to perform in sports;
contentment with one’s appearance; and contentment with the way they
behaved. The study confirmed the authors’ hypotheses that children who
are happy with their looks and behaviour and who view themselves as
more popular among peers exhibit elevated hope; the same was true for
children who viewed themselves as more capable at performing well in
sports and at school. Moreover, the study revealed a tendency in
children with elevated hope levels to moderately overestimate
themselves, making them less mentally vulnerable to sources of possible
harm in their environments (Snyder et al., 1996).
The positive relationship between hope (as understood by Snyder’s
model) and better performance at school and in sports was confirmed by
Curry, Snyder, Cook, Ruby, and Rehm (1997). A positive correlation
between hope and school performance, life satisfaction and effective
coping strategies in students was revealed by numerous studies,
including Chang (1998), Ciarrochi et al. (2007), Leeson, Ciarrochi, and
Heaven (2008), Range and Penton (1994), and Snyder et al. (2002).
A study by Peterson and Steen (2002) showed that hope, along with
optimism and self-esteem, is a key protective factor in the psychological
development of adolescents.
Ciarrochi, Parker, Kashdan, Heaven, and Barkus (2015) conducted
a longitudinal study investigating the effects of hope on emotional wellbeing
among a sample of 975 adolescents. Hope turned out to be
a reliable predictor of future emotional well-being particularly during
Chapter 3 Hope during the Life Course
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32
their transition years (for instance, starting secondary school or
changing school).
Holden (2006) studied hope and concerns about the future in
schoolchildren aged 9 to 11 years. The children were asked about the
wishes they had for the future for themselves, for the area they lived in
and for the world. Holden’s aim was to examine their ways of thinking
in relation to phenomena wider than those involving their immediate
self. In general, the children hoped their future would be better than
what they were experiencing at the moment of testing, though a small
proportion of them had a negative view of the future. The latter were
mostly boys from urban environments who had to cope with the
negative consequences of moving to a city.
A number of studies focusing on children and adolescents and
investigating the relationship of dispositional hope to different variables
were carried out within the Czech Positive Psychology Centre. Of these,
five are presented below.
A study conducted by Benesova and colleagues on a sample of 350
Czech children aged 8 to 12 years revealed significant differences
between children with high and low hope. The children with high hope
exhibited greater satisfaction with their lives, physical appearance and
family background, and were more physically active in comparison with
their less hopeful peers (Benesova et al., 2014).
Slezackova and Gregussova (2012) investigated the relationship that
hope, gratitude and perceived meaningfulness of one’s life have with
subjective well-being. The research sample comprised 175 secondary
school students (mean age 18 years) and 175 university students (mean
age 22.2 years). The aim of the study was twofold: the first was to
compare the results from the two age cohorts; and the second was to
compare hope levels among Czech secondary-school and university
students with hope levels among students from neighbouring Slovakia
(Halama, 2001). Czech university students were found to exhibit
significantly higher levels of hope and well-being than secondary school
students. Well-being in secondary school students was primarily
affected by perceived meaningfulness of life; in university students it
was mostly affected by hope levels. While Slovak secondary school
Chapter 3 Hope during the Life Course
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33
students had higher hope than their Czech counterparts, hope levels in
university students were similar for both countries.
Slezackova and Blahovska (2013) focused on examining how hope is
related to gratitude, forgiveness, subjective well-being, and perceived
health among Czech and Slovak university students. Significant positive
relations were revealed among all the examined variables in both
samples. Interestingly, the closest relationship was found to be that
between hope and forgiveness. Hope (more specifically, its agency
component) served as the strongest independent predictor of the
students’ psychological well-being.
Another cross-cultural comparative study aimed to explore the
importance of dispositional hope and perceived hope for life satisfaction
among 111 Czech and 129 Indian respondents aged 18 to 29 years
(Slezackova & Choubisa, 2017). A secondary objective was to
investigate the relationships between hope, spirituality, meaningfulness
of life, depression, quality of relationships and life satisfaction, and to
reveal possible differences between the two samples (Czech and Indian)
in predictors of life satisfaction. A comparative analysis showed that
Czech young adults scored significantly higher in perceived hope, life
satisfaction, spirituality, meaning of life, and positive relationships,
while Indian respondents reported higher depression. Cultural
differences were also revealed with respect to hope: among the Czech
sample, perceived hope was found to correlate more closely with the
other investigated variables than dispositional hope, while among the
Indian sample it was dispositional hope that showed closer correlations
with the other variables. Based on a regression analysis, the main
independent predictors of life satisfaction among the Czech sample were
depression and perceived hope; on the other hand, life satisfaction
among the Indian responsents was mainly affected by dispositional
hope, meaningfulness, and spirituality. The results of the study did not
only reveal cultural differences in life satisfaction, but they also pointed
out the importance of distinguishing between the two concepts of hope.
The last example of the studies conducted by CPPC is that which
focused on the object of hope in children and youth. Slezackova et al.
(2015) conducted a study of children’s hopes and wishes on a sample of
Chapter 3 Hope during the Life Course
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34
350 Czech children aged between 8 and 14. Most frequently, the
children’s strongest wishes were related to social relationships (wish for
a loving family, for siblings and friends). Their next set of wishes were
related to material objects. Other wishes concerned achieving personal
goals in the area of education, sports, profession and lifestyle. The
participants also wished for happiness, life satisfaction, health and
feelings of safety. In addition to the above, the younger schoolchildren
engaged in wishes for supernatural powers and the ability to control
reality.
As hope tends to arise in dire circumstances, much can be learnt
from investigating hope in children who are in difficulties. Herth (1998)
focused on “hope as seen through the eyes of homeless children”. Using
the methods of semi-structured interviews and drawings, the author
collected data on a sample of 60 American children aged 6 to 16 living
in shelters for the homeless. The data revealed a total of five protective
techniques that the children used to foster and maintain their hope:
connectedness (a close bond with at least one person), internal resources
(personal strengths shaping the child’s psychological response to
difficult situations), cognitive strategies (conscious efforts to set one’s
mind on a positive perception of reality), energy (physical vigour and
psychosocial vitality promoting goal attainment actions), and hope
objects (personally valuable things).
The results of all of the above studies confirm the role of hope as an
important factor in childhood and adolescence development.
3.2 Hope in Adults
While hope has been established to be closely related to social
support in children, studies conducted on various samples of adult
population revealed a tight correlation between hope and quality social
relationships (Horton & Wallander, 2001), life statisfaction (Slezackova,
2015; Slezackova & Krafft, 2016), work contentment (Duggleby,
Cooper, & Penz, 2009) and the overall quality of life (O’Sullivan, 2010;
Wu, 2011).
Chapter 3 Hope during the Life Course
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35
Reichard, Avey, Lopez, and Dollwet (2013) investigated hope in
work settings. Individuals with high hope displayed higher levels of job
satisfaction, well-being, perceived competency and commitment; at the
same time, they experienced less stress and burnout.
Brustmannova and Slezackova (2016) explored the relationship
between hope, psychological well-being, persistence, and negative life
events on a sample of 338 respondents aged between 15 and 76 years.
The results showed that hope served as the strongest independent
predictor of well-being. No significant differences in hope were
revealed with regard to either gender or age. However, people living in a
long-term partnership showed higher levels of hope than those who
were single.
A study by Slezackova and Vemolova (2017) investigated the
connections between hope, physical and mental health, and healthpromoting
behaviour. High-hope individuals were found to take better
care of their health. They also reported fewer health complaints and
better mental health. A more detailed analysis revealed that the strongest
predictor of perceived health was the agency hope component.
Several CPPC studies investigated the role of hope in adults who
found themselves in grim life circumstances. The results were presented
in two Master’s degree theses (Biskupic, 2014; Hanysova, 2015)
supervised by the author of this text. Both studies were conducted in
cooperation with a Czech local branch of the Salvation Army which
provides a shelter for homeless people.
The study by Hanysova (2015) was conducted using a sample of 65
homeless people (83 % male and 17 % female, aged 19 to 75 years).
The results showed that those with higher hope levels were also more
grateful for the good things in their life and reported higher levels of
psychological flourishing. Hope and gratitude served as independent
predictors of flourishing. Interestingly, hope was unrelated to age,
gender or even the duration of homelessness, but it was connected with
religiousness and spirituality. Homeless believers showed more hope
and gratitude than non-believers. The participants also reported that
serving a higher purpose helped them cope with what would have
otherwise been unbearable circumstances. The survey included
Chapter 3 Hope during the Life Course
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36
a question asking about sources of hope. The principal source of hope
for the participants were their families, particularly their children.
Nevertheless, they often added that “you need to seek hope in yourself
in the first place”. A minority of respondents felt a lack of hope: 13 %
reported that nothing in life gave them hope; 16 % were dissatisfied
with all of their life, and 8 % saw no purpose in life.
Similar results were obtained in a study conducted by Biskupic
(2014) and focusing on hope in homeless shelter workers. The research
sample consisted of 54 Salvation Army employees (54 % male and 46
% female, aged 23 to 74 years). The same positive relationship was
found between hope, gratitude and flourishing. With reference to the
sources of hope, the respondents drew hope primarily from their
families, but their religious faith served as an important additional
source. In fact, the ability to maintain hope proved to be the strongest
predictor of the workers’ flourishing.
Taken together, these two studies have found that, while the
homeless people did not significantly differ in their level of hope and
gratitude from the Salvation Army workers, their psychological
flourishing was significantly lower (Biskupic, 2014; Hanysova, 2015).
3.3 Hope in Older Adults
Older adults may find it particularly difficult to maintain hope and an
optimistic view on life. Yet, a positive perspective on the future is one
of the key components of successful ageing, along with factors such as
a satisfactory state of health, financial security, productivity,
independence and engagement in meaningful relationships and activities
(Baltes & Baltes, 1990; Williamson, 2002). Lavretsky and Irwin (2007)
consider the ability to maintain hope and optimism to be one of
the components of healthy ageing. The other components are normal
intellectual functioning, the ability to control emotions, healthy selfconfidence,
altruism, sense of humour, and an active approach to coping
with difficulties.
An advanced age brings with it numerous challenges in the form of
deterioration of health and intellectual abilities, as well as having to face
Chapter 3 Hope during the Life Course
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37
psychologically demanding situations such as retirement and the loss of
a life partner. Coupled with awareness of the finite nature of human life,
the above factors can easily lead to a decrease in hope (Cheavens &
Gum, 2000; Snyder, 2002; Thomé, Dykes, & Hallberg, 2004).
Evidence for an age-related decrease in hope was found by Bailey
and Snyder (2007) mentioned above. In their study, the oldest age
cohort (55 – 65 years) showed lower hope scores and was less
successful in pathways thinking than all the three younger cohorts (25 –
34 years, 35 – 44 years, 45 – 54 years). The decrease in hope among the
elderly can be explained by a greater focus on health issues and
diversion from pursuing one’s goals (Snyder, 2000a). Wrobleski and
Snyder (2005) revealed that the elderly with higher hope displayed
higher life satisfaction and were more confident about reaching their
goals. However, as has already been noted, some researchers do not
hold the view that hope is age-related; rather, they believe it is
correlated with personality traits and social relationships throughout
an individual’s life (Buckley & Herth, 2004; Windsor, 2009). Agerelatednesss
of hope was not confirmed for instance by McGill and Paul
(1993). Esbensen, Osterlind, Roer, and Hallberg (2004) identified low
hope levels together with serious health issues as predictors of decreased
quality of life in elderly people.
It is important to note that hope can also be influenced by long past
events, particularly those affecting relationships with significant others
(Westburg, 2001). Westburg studied hope levels on a small sample of
women aged 70 or older. The women were interviewed about their
perceptions of their close relationships. To assess their hope level,
Snyder’s Hope Scale was administered. The lowest hope levels were
found in women whose mother-daughter bond was broken (either
through death or separation) when they were under 10. Overall, the
women were found to be hopeful, which was related to their satisfactory
social relationships both in the past and the present. Windsor (2009)
supplied evidence that hope, healthy social relationships and
engagement in pleasant activities facilitate coping with age-related
changes.
Chapter 3 Hope during the Life Course
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38
A study by Moraitou, Kolovou, Papasozomenou and Paschoula
(2006) examined the relationship between dispositional hope, adaptation
to old age and demographic characteristics. The research sample
comprised 150 adults of Greek nationality aged 60 to 93 years. Hope
levels and adaptation to old age were found to be nearly independent of
gender and education. Interestingly, the effect of the old people’s health
status on their hope levels was equally mild. The only significant
relationship was established between hope levels on the one hand and
age, marital status and place of residence on the other. Advanced age
was also identified as a limiting factor with respect to adaptation
possibilities. The single elderly displayed lower hope levels than those
living with a partner. Moreover, people living in urban areas were less
hopeful than those residing in rural areas.
Another researcher reporting that hope bears a close connection to
both current and expected quality of life (QoL) of the elderly is Staats
(1991). In her preliminary report on a project aiming to increase hope
and QoL in older people, she presents data indicating that hope levels
can indeed be increased through specially designed training sessions
promoting hopeful thinking.
Olsen (2013) addressed the question of whether, and to what extent,
it is possible to increase hope levels in the elderly residing in nursing
homes and who have to face significant life changes and losses.
According to Olsen, a rediscovered feeling of hope helps to increase the
quality of life, thus contributing to “successful ageing”. He stresses the
importance of the role of nursing staff, who can significantly contribute
to increasing hope in nursing home residents by their care, attention and
appreciation. Another key factor is cooperation between the nursing
staff and the old people’s family members. Increased hope in family
members can also boost hopeful thinking in the elderly.
Hope in older adults was also the focus of one of the studies
conducted within the CPPC (Hesova, 2014). The study aimed to
investigate the relationships between hope, life satisfaction, perceived
meaningfulness of life, and the factors of healthy ageing as defined by
Vaillant (2002), i.e. the absence of smoking, absence of alcohol abuse,
adaptive coping style, healthy weight, stable partnership (marriage),
Chapter 3 Hope during the Life Course
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39
physical exercise and education. The research sample comprised 53
nursing home residents aged 62 to 99 (40 % male and 60 % female;
mean age 78 years). More predictors of healthy ageing were seen in the
elderly with higher levels of hope and perceived meaningfulness. Hope
levels depended primarily on the healthy ageing predictors related to the
participants’ approach to life up to the time they were 50 years old.
A relationship of linear correlation was found between the two concepts:
the more predictors an individual showed, the higher the hope levels
detected. On the other hand, the effect of the predictors related to the old
people’s current lifestyle was marginal. No statistically significant
differences were found between men and women with respect to hope,
life satisfaction or perceived meaningfulness of life.
A range of studies focusing on older adults’ perceptions of the
quality of their lives point out that high levels of hope, perceived
meaningfulness of life and life satisfaction significantly contribute to
successful ageing (Strawbridge, Cohen, Shema, & Kaplan, 1996;
Vaillant, 2004).
Chapter 4 Hope and Mental Health
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40
Chapter 4. Hope and Mental Health
Hope is considered to be an important variable in mental health
practice because it is central to human adaptation, resilience and,
importantly, recovery from mental disorders. The connection between
hope and mental health (including stress levels and coping strategies)
has drawn the attention of numerous researchers. Gallagher and Lopez
(2009) showed that hope, optimism and positive expectations about the
future have a favourable effect on mental health.
Shorey, Snyder, Young, and Lewin (2003) investigated the
mediating role of hope in mental health and adult attachment. Erickson,
Post, and Paige (1975) focused on the relationship between
psychopathology and hope (which they defined as “the probability of
goal attainment”) utilising a research sample consisting of adult patients
with acute schizophrenia and healthy controls. In their study, higher
hope levels were found to negatively correlate with psychopathology.
Benzein and Berg (2005) investigated the relationship between hope
(as measured by the Herth Hope Index), hopelessness (measured by
Beck’s Hopelessness Scale) and fatigue on a sample of palliative care
patients and their families. Quite interestingly, hope levels proved to be
significantly lower among the family members than among the patients.
For the patients, a significantly positive relationship was found between
age and hopelessness, and a negative correlation was established
between hopelessness and hope. For the family members, negative
correlations were found between hope and age, hope and hopelessness,
and hope and fatigue. Based on the above results the authors concluded
that any efforts to increase hope and decrease hopelessness and fatigue
needed to include not only the patients in palliative care but their family
members as well.
Chapter 4 Hope and Mental Health
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41
4.1 Hope, Anxiety and Depression
Depression is one of the most common mental health issues.
Cheavens (2000) used Snyder’s hope theory to gain a better
understanding of the onset and development of depression as well as to
suggest effective intervention methods. In her work she focused on hope
(or hopelessness) as a variable that can be viewed as one of the
symptoms which may play an important role in the development of
depression. She explains that depressive people tend to engage in few
goal-related thoughts but the goals are perceived by the patient as being
of crucial importance. The patient’s inability to achieve the goals (often
because they are unrealistic to achieve) aggravates the already existing
feelings of worthlessness, inadequacy and despair, which in turn has
a negative effect on the person’s agency. Consequently, generating
pathways is impaired by the person’s lack of self-confidence, learned
helplessness and inability to abandon unproductive means of solving the
problem at hand. By contrast, high-hopers typically set many goals for
themselves while at the same time being able to generate feasible
pathways and abandon dead-end ones.
Cheaven’s views are in line with the findings by Banks, Singleton,
and Kohn-Wood (2008), whose results show that high hope is directly
related to low levels of depressive symptoms.
Visser, Loess, Jeglic, and Hirsch (2013) focused on factors affecting
depressiveness across different racial and ethnic groups. In their study,
women were found to be more prone to depressive symptoms than men,
and they also showed lower trait hope.
In a study by Gottschalk (1974), hope was found to be a worthy
predictor of a favourable outcome among psychiatric outpatients. In
addition, the patients with higher hope scores were more likely to follow
doctors’ recommendations. The positive impact of hope on depressive
symptoms and on coping with physical disability was also shown by
Elliott, Witty, Herrick, and Hoffman (1991) who conducted a study on
a sample of 57 adults with severe physical disabilities. Hopeful people
showed lower depression and better social relations than those with
lower levels of hope. The mediating effects of hope on perfectionism
Chapter 4 Hope and Mental Health
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42
and depression were investigated by Mathew, Dunning, Coats, and
Whelan (2014). Contrary to the authors’ expectations, the results
showed that maladaptive perfectionists displayed higher levels of the
agency hope component than non-perfectionists. Based on their findings
the authors suggested using interventions that promote pathways
thinking and the ability to actually utilize the generated pathways to
combat depression in maladaptive perfectionists.
Xingwei, Qin, Xiang, and Taisheng (2016) studied the relationship
between hope and the number of perceived reasons for living in
a clinical sample of depressive patients. The results confirmed the
authors’ hypothesis that hope and reasons for living may act as
protective factors against suicidal ideation and attempts. Moreover, hope
was found to significantly inhibit the transition of suicidal thoughts to
suicidal attempts.
Hope has also been studied in patients who showed numerous
depressive symptoms coupled with low hope following a traumatic
brain injury (Peleg, Barak, Harel, Rochberg, & Hoofien, 2009). In this
study, hope was among the significant predictors of depression severity.
Michael (2000) addressed the mechanisms of interaction of hope
with anxiety. While moderate anxiety can boost action, severe anxiety
along with the related feelings of helplessness and insecurity inhibits the
search for constructive solutions, reduces the agency component of hope
and decreases the perceived probability of goal attainment. This study
showed that hope was found to act as a resource that may prevent
anxiety from overwhelming and disabling the patient. Thus, hope
appeared to have a moderating effect on anxiety; hopeful people are
capable of defying the effects of anxiety by their conscious efforts to
focus on goal attainment. The energy incited by anxiety can also be used
to fuel goal-directed action.
The mitigating effects of hope on dysphoria were demonstrated by
Chang and DeSimon (2001). In their study, high hope was found to
significantly predict effective coping strategies and positive adjustment
to difficult life situations.
Our own research, which was a part of an international project
entitled Hope Barometer (Krafft, 2015; Krafft, Martin-Krumm,
Chapter 4 Hope and Mental Health
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43
Slezackova, Izdebski, & Kasprzak, 2016), aimed to reveal the predictors
of depression and to investigate the expected protective role of
dispositional and perceived hope (Slezackova, 2015). The study was
conducted on a sample of 753 adult Czech respondents aged 15 to 80.
Perceived hope showed a stronger negative correlation to depression
than dispositional hope. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed
perceived hope, life satisfaction, meaningfulness and gratitude as the
independent negative predictors of depression. Mediation analyses
showed a direct effect of dispositional hope on depression, but the
indirect effect through perceived hope was stronger. The above findings
support the legitimacy of the distinction drawn between the concepts of
perceived hope and dispositional hope (Krafft, 2014, 2015; Krafft et al.,
2107; Slezackova & Choubisa, 2017).
Another set of Hope Barometer data was analysed by Dvorska
(2016). The resarch sample comprised 178 Czech respondents aged 18
to 69 years. The results confirmed the hypothesised negative
relationship both between depression and perceived hope, and between
depression and meaningfulness. However, it was found that the only
independent predictor of depression was the concept of perceived hope;
the predictive effects of the other variables (meaningfulness,
generativity, and religiosity) were not statistically significant. Hope
scores appeared to be unrelated to either gender or age, but they did
differ depending on marital status. Single people exhibited significantly
lower levels of perceived hope than those who were married or living
with a partner.
The results of the above studies are in congruence with Snyder
(2004) and they point to the importance of hope as a protective force
against depression.
4.2 Hope and Coping with Stress
The effects of hope on the ability to cope with stress have been the
focus of numerous studies. Snyder (2000a) demonstrated a positive
impact of dispositional hope on coping with problems. Additionally,
hope was found to affect the ability to cope with unpredictable stressors.
Chapter 4 Hope and Mental Health
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44
According to Snyder and Pulvers (2001), low hopers tend to have
a catastrophic view of the future while high hopers were more inclined
to use effective coping strategies more frequently.
Snyder and Dinoff (1999, p. 5) define coping as a “response aimed at
diminishing the physical, emotional, and psychological burden that is
linked to stressful life events and daily hassles”. The question of what
coping strategies, namely techniques that people use to handle stress, are
typically used by high hopers and how they differ from the strategies
typically employed by low hopers was addressed by one of the studies
conducted under the CPPC (Slezackova & Piskova, 2017). The research
sample consisted of 196 young adults aged between 19 and 33 years
(70.4 % female and 26.5 % male). People with high hope levels
preferred coping strategies such as problem-solving, positive cognitive
restructuring, and social support. They also displayed greater happiness
and subjectively perceived health. By contrast, low hopers tended to
employ wishful thinking, self-criticism, and social withdrawal. Similar
results were obtained by Vatan, Lester and Gunn (2014), who
investigated the relationship between hopelessness and problem-solving
on a sample of Turkish undergraduates. In congruence with the above
study by Slezackova and Piskova (2017), the strongest predictor of hope
was the coping strategy of problem-solving.
Another study which focused on the connection between hope,
coping strategies and problem-solving abilities was that by Chang
(1998). The author examined the effects of high vs low hope on
problem-solving capabilities and coping with stressful situations on
a sample of 211 college students. High-hopers were found to be better at
problem-solving and at utilising fewer disengagement strategies than
low-hope students. However, the above distinction concerned academic
situations only; no differences were found between the two groups of
students with respect to coping with stressful interpersonal situations.
Hope also proved to be an important predictor of both interpersonal and
academic life satisfaction, regardless of the coping strategies employed.
Lopes and Cunha (2008) examined the potentially moderating role of
hope in the relationship between optimism and proactive coping.
Optimists were found to be more proactive than pessimists, irrespective
Chapter 4 Hope and Mental Health
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45
of hope levels. However, the high hope scores of some pessimists
showed that their coping strategies were less maladaptive.
The impact of hope on the effectiveness of coping strategies was also
studied by Hirth and Stewart (1994), who focused on whether it is social
support or hope that predominantly enables coping in adults waiting for
a heart transplant. The results indicated that hope was the only variable
that affected coping effectiveness.
There is also evidence that hope dampens the impact of everyday
stress on workers in the helping professions and serves as a prevention
of fatigue and depersonalisation (Sherwin, Elliott, Rybarczyk, Frank,
Hanson, & Hoffman, 1992). Ong, Edwards and Bergeman (2006)
showed that hope leads to faster adaptation to stress, less frequent
occurrence of negative emotions and less neuroticism in later adulthood.
4.3 Hope and Resilience
The concept of resilience, i.e. the ability to bounce back to healthy
functioning after stressful experiences, is closely connected with many
notions addressed within the field of positive psychology, namely
subjective well-being, positive adaptation, effective coping in the face
of adversity, and healthy functioning (Cefai et al., 2015; Joseph, 2011;
Joseph & Linley, 2008a; Lemay & Ghazal, 2001; Masten, 2001;
Seligman, 2011). The importance of retaining hope in adverse
circumstances was demonstrated by Frankl in his book Man’s Search
for Meaning. Hope is described as an essential factor that sustained the
prisoners throughout their time in the concentration camp (Frankl,
1992). According to Rutter (1993), coping strategies based on hopeful
thinking are important for resilience to psycho-social adversity.
McCubbin et al. (1997) list a realistic hope and positive outlook
among family resilience factors. These act protectively in adaptation to
chronic stress, and also help in overcoming a crisis and restoring family
functioning (McCubbin et al., 1997; Slezackova & Sobotkova, 2017).
Brooks and Goldstein (2001) include parental optimism and hope
among the important factors that may build or strengthen resilience in
children.
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Wu (2011) investigated the protective effects of hope and resilience
on the quality of life of the families coping with criminal traumatisation
of one of its members. The results showed that resilience and hope
significantly mitigated the impact of a post-traumatic stress disorder and
depression in the victims of criminal acts and in their family members.
Higher hope levels also increased the probability of receiving social
support, which encouraged the people to nurture a positive view of
themselves and to maintain or re-create a hopeful attitude towards their
goals.
Horton and Wallander (2001) studied the impact of hope and social
support on resilience and psychological distress in mothers of
chronically ill children. The mothers with higher-quality social
connections and higher hope scores were found to show greater
resilience in stressful and mentally demanding situations.
The connection between hope and resilience was also investigated in
a clinical environment. Ho, Ho, Bonanno, Chu, and Chan (2010) have
found hope to predict resilience after genetic testing for hereditary
colorectal cancer.
Satici (2016) demonstrated the mediating role of hope in the
relationship between resilience, mental vulnerability and well-being in
Turkish college students. A similar result regarding the moderating
effect of resilience on the relationship between perceived hope and
depression was obtained in one of the Czech Hope Barometer substudies
(Panek, 2017).
4.4 Hope and Well-being
A lack of hope is an important indicator of a malfunction of some
sort (Bernardo & Estrellado, 2014). Previous studies (Bailey & Snyder,
2007; Ciarrochi et al., 2015) have established a positive relationship
between hope and subjective well-being. High-hopers tend to be better
at achieving their goals (including academic achievement, coping with
stress, sport) than low-hopers, which in turn has a positive impact on
their well-being and self-evaluation (Snyder, Rand, & Sigmon, 2002).
Chapter 4 Hope and Mental Health
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Kato and Snyder (2005) focused on the connection between hope and
subjective well-being when testing the reliability and validity of the
Japanese version of the Dispositional Hope Scale. Their results
confirmed the hypothesised correlation between hope and well-being.
Hope was also negatively correlated with hopelessness, anxiety and
depresssive tendencies. In two studies by Bailey, Eng, Frisch, and
Snyder (2007), hope and optimism served as unique predictors of life
satisfaction. The strongest unique predictor of life satisfaction was the
agency component of hope. Demirli, Türkmen and Arik (2015)
investigated the relations between dispositional and state hope scores
and well-being on a sample of 881 college students. Dispositional hope
was found to bear a positive relation to positive emotionality and
flourishing, and a negative relation to negative emotionality.
Magaletta and Oliver (1999) studied the connections between the
concepts of hope, self-efficacy, and optimism. The authors were also
interested in the hypothesised ability of hope, self-efficacy and
optimism to predict well-being. The investigated variables were
positively correlated with each other, with hope being the most reliable
predictor of well-being. The findings suggested that although hope, selfefficacy
and optimism are closely related, they are separate constructs
that should be studied independently.
Similarly, O’Sullivan (2010) revealed a positive correlation of hope,
self-efficacy and eustress to life satisfaction among a sample of
undergraduates. In line with the study by Magaletta and Oliver, hope
was the most significant predictor of life satisfaction. The predictive
effect of eustress, hope and self-efficacy was stronger than the
predictive effect of eustress alone.
In a study by Duggleby, Cooper, and Penze (2009) conducted on
a sample of 64 Continuing Care Assistants, hope along with selfefficacy
and spiritual well-being was also positively correlated with job
satisfaction.
Yarcheski, Mahon, and Yarcheski (2001) found a positive
relationship between subjective well-being and social support mediated
by hopefulness and self-esteem. In another study, hope was found to be
a mediator in the relationship between personality traits (neuroticism,
Chapter 4 Hope and Mental Health
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extraversion, and conscientiousness) and life satisfaction (Halama,
2010).
Werner (2012) examined a mediation model for the relation between
hope and subjective well-being among individuals with a serious mental
illness. Both hope and needs (as measured by the Camberwell
Assessment of Needs) were predictive of 40 % of the variance in
subjective well-being, with hope being a stronger predictor. Path
analyses revealed a strong direct effect of hope on subjective wellbeing,
and a weaker (although still strong) indirect effect mediated
through needs. Hope thus enhances the effectiveness of fulfilling one’s
needs, which in turn increases the individual’s subjective well-being.
Faso, Neal-Beavers, and Carlson (2013) addressed the relation
between dispositional hope and well-being in parents of children with an
autism-spectrum disorder. The results indicated that regardless of
symptom severity, vicarious futurity (which encompasses both positive
and negative components of parental attitudes towards their child)
strongly predicted the level of stress experienced by parents, hope
predicted depressive symptoms, and both predicted life satisfaction.
Hope and vicarious futurity were found to be weakly correlated. The
findings suggested that both concepts were largely independent when
influencing the well-being of parents raising an autistic child. Of the two
components of hope, agency was found to be more consistent than
pathways in predicting parental well-being.
The relation of hope to life satisfaction and meaningfulness was
examined by Slezackova and Krafft (2016). The findings revealed
significant intercorrelations between life satisfaction, perceived hope,
dispositional hope and meaningfulness. Linear regression showed that
perceived hope, dispositional hope, and meaningfulness served as
independent predictors of life satisfaction, with perceived hope
exhibiting the closest relationship to life statisfaction of all the
investigated variables. In another study, Slezackova, Humpolicek, and
Malatincova (2014) found significant correlations between dispositional
hope and subjective health.
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4.5 Hope, Spirituality and Meaningfulness
Many researchers consider hope to be closely connected with
spirituality and meaningfulness (Dufault & Martocchio, 1985; MillerPerrin
& Krumrei Mancuso, 2015; Scioli et al., 2011). According to
Vaillant (2003), positive emotions such as hope, love, compassion and
forgiveness foster an individual’s sense of connection with
a transcendent power - whether it is viewed as a single deity or anything
which is more powerful than one’s self. Together they form the core of
spirituality (Vaillant, 2008).
Bennett (2011) considers hope in the context of religion. He sees
religion as a function of the social and biological necessity of hope,
claiming that it is a special preserve of religious institutions to offer
hope in the face of the profound questions of human existence. In his
conceptual study, the author analyses how religions manufacture hope in
three ways: through the production of meaning; through their models of
divine justice; and through theories of ultimate destiny. He discusses the
above in the context of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.
However, the results of a longitudinal study by Marques, Lopez, and
Mitchell (2013) focusing on hope, spirituality, religious practice and life
satisfaction among Portugese adolescents indicated that hope and
spirituality, but not religious practice, were strongly linked to
adolescents’ life satisfaction. Hope significantly predicted life
satisfaction at the first time point measured, after six months and after
one year.
The positive relation between hope and feelings of meaningfulness
was confirmed by numerous authors. A significant correlation between
the two was found in a study by Halama and Dedova (2007)
investigating the correlates and predictors of positive mental health in
adolescents. Halama (2003) also demonstrated a positive causal
influence of meaningfulness and hope on positive psychological
functioning in adults aged over 50 years. A positive relationship
between hope and feelings of meaningfulness was also revealed by
Feldman and Snyder (2005).
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Mascaro and Rosen (2005) explored the role of existential meaning
in the enhancement of hope and the prevention of depressive symptoms
in young adults. The authors drew a distinction between an explicit
meaning (an individual’s sense of coherence and purpose in life) and an
implicit meaning (an individual’s perception of the factors that are
normatively considered as comprising a meaningful life). In the study,
both types of meaning bore a positive relation to trait hope and state
hope, and a negative relation to depressive symptoms. In other words,
the individuals with a strong sense and perception of meaning tended to
be more hopeful (i.e. to demonstrate higher scores in dispositional and
state hope tests), and to show fewer symptoms of depression than those
with a weak sense and perception of meaning.
In a study conducted by Varahrami, Arnau, Rosen, and Mascaro
(2010) on 301 undergraduates (average age 19.07), hope levels were
positively correlated with positive-outcome stages of Erikson’s model
of psychosocial development, and with a sense that life is meaningful.
Bronk, Hill, Lapsley, Talib, and Finch (2009) studied the
relationships between hope, life purpose and life satisfaction in
adolescents, emerging adults and adults. The results showed that having
identified a purpose in life was associated with greater life satisfaction
among all the three age groups. While agency mediated the relationship
between purpose and life satisfaction at all three stages of life, pathways
and overal hopefulness affected life satisfaction and meaningfulness
only in adults.
A Czech study conducted within the Hope Barometer project
investigated the relationships between hope, optimism and
meaningfulness, and the relations of these concepts to cognitive (life
satisfaction) and emotional (positive mood) aspects of well-being
(Slezackova, 2014). The research sample comprised 1,409 Czech
respondents aged 15 to 75 years. Hope, optimism and meaningfulness
were all found to be highly significantly correlated with both cognitive
and emotional aspects of well-being. A regression analysis revealed
significant relationships among hope, meaningfulness and optimism.
The main independent predictor of life satisfaction was meaningfulness,
while positive mood was best predicted by optimism. Dispositional hope
Chapter 4 Hope and Mental Health
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served as a stronger predictor of life satisfaction than perceived hope,
which was more closely related to positive mood. The results of the
above study supported the importance of the eudaimonic aspects of
well-being.
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Chapter 5. Hope Interventions
The recent surge of research interest in the positive impact of hope
has led to increased implementation of hope interventions in
counselling, psychotherapy, and psychological programmes for
schoolchildren and adolescents. Hope-related literature suggests that
hope-enhancing and hope-reminding may be best achieved by
integrating cognitive-behavioural, solution-focused, and narrative
interventions (Lopez, Floyd, Ulven, & Snyder, 2000).
5.1 Hope in Schools
The research studies revealing the close relationship between hope,
subjective well-being and academic acheievement (Gilman, Dooley, &
Florell, 2006; Holder, 2012) in children and adolescents point to the
importance of hope for optimal functioning in youth.
One of the first training programmes designed among other things to
build optimism, well-being and a hopeful approach to life was the Penn
Resilience Program (PRP; Seligman, Randal, Gillham, Reivich, &
Linkins, 2009). Its main goal was to increase individuals’ ability to
handle day-to-day problems that are common in adolescence. Seligman
(2011) reported that PRP significantly reduced hopelessness and
increased both optimism and subjective well-being.
Lopez and colleagues (2009) described how strategies for enhancing
hope in children can be implemented in public schools. Several
programmes have been developed for students of different ages.
Edwards and Lopez (2000, as cited in Lopez et al., 2004) developed an
elementary school intervention entitled Making Hope Happen for Kids
for fourth-grade children. The five-session programme involved ageappropriate
lessons and activities that helped children apply hope
constructs in their lives. Pedrotti, Lopez, and Krieshok (2000, as cited in
Lopez et al., 2004) developed a junior high school Making Hope
Happen programme for seventh-graders. The programme was designed
to enhance hope in youth by teaching them about the hope model
Chapter 5 Hope Interventions
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53
through pictorial representations, exercises and narratives depicting
characters with high levels of hope. One of the tools used in the sessions
was G-POWER, an acronym whose constituent letters reminded the
students of the various components of the hope model (Goal, Pathways,
Obstacles, Willpower, Election of pathways, Re-thinking the process).
The components of the hope model were also reinforced through other
media developed specifically for the programme, such as Hope Game,
Hope Talk and Hope Buddies (Lopez et al., 2004, p. 395). The
participants in the elementary school programme displayed a significant
increase in hope levels from the pre- to the post-test. Similarly, the
students who had received the junior high school programme showed
significantly higher levels of hope in comparison with those who had
not participated. Moreover, the higher hope levels were maintained for
a period of 6 months, evidencing the effectiveness of the intervention
(Magyar-Moe, Owens, & Conoley, 2015).
Marques, Lopez, and Pais-Riberio (2011) demonstrated the
effectiveness of a hope-based intervention programme for middleschool
children. The five-week programme aimed at helping students
conceptualise clear goals, generate alternative ways for goal attainment,
remain motivated and committed to goal attainment, and reframe
obstacles as challenges. The students who received the hope
intervention had enhanced hope, life satisfaction and self-worth in
comparison with a control group, and the benefits of the intervention
were maintained for 18 months.
Feldman and Dreher (2012) reported an increase in hope, life
purpose, and vocational calling in college students after a single 90minute
session aimed to increase hopeful thinking.
In addition to the above, numerous other programmes for
schoolchildren have been developed. These focus predominantly on the
development of character strengths and on enhancing well-being and
resilience but often also include hope-elevating interventions (Cefai et
al., 2015; Rey, Valero, Paniello, & Monge, 2012).
Chapter 5 Hope Interventions
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5.2 Hope in Therapy and Counselling
Hope enhancement strategies building on Snyder’s cognitive hope
theory are designed to help clients in conceptualising clear goals,
producing various pathways to goal attainment, stimulating the mental
energy to maintain motivation and the goal pursuit, and reframing
obstacles as challenges that can be overcome (Snyder, 2000a, 2000b).
Snyder (1994) provides numerous recommendations for eliciting and
maintaining hope that clinicians can use in their work with clients.
Snyder (2000a) lists a range of psychotherapeutical areas that can
benefit from hope-enhancing interventions. Hope theory can help people
suffering from depression and anxiety (Cheavens, 2000), eating
disorders (Irving & Cannon, 2000) traumatic experience (Sympson,
2000), serious illnesses such as cancer (Taylor, 2000), AIDS (Moon &
Snyder, 2000) and physical disability (Elliot & Kurylo, 2000).
Larsen and Stege (2010a, 2010b) focused on hope-based
psychological interventions aimed at enhancing the patient’s level of
hope. They distinguish between implicit and explicit interventions,
which can either be used separately or in combination.
Implicit hope-promoting interventions (Larsen & Stege, 2010a) are
those where the word “hope” is not explicitly mentioned during the
therapy; rather, the therapist concentrates either on establishing
a hopeful therapeutic relationship with the patient (relation-focused
strategies), or on helping the patient to adopt a hopeful mindset
(perspective-change strategies). A therapist who is relationship-focused
will patiently accompany the client in the hopelessness and
psychological pain with empathic and compassionate listening. The
clients will also be asked to remember when they had successfully used
their own strengths. By highlighting the client’s own resources, the
therapist will guide him or her to apply these to the situation at hand. By
contrast, perspective-change interventions aim to expand or shift the
client’s point of view. This can be done through reframing (a conscious
shift in a person’s perspective), use of metaphors providing associative
links to alternative meanings and perspectives, externalisation (the
client’s problem is projected onto the outside world and thus “located”
Chapter 5 Hope Interventions
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outside of the client’s mind) and humour, which provides a stress
release and has the potential to normalise the problem and facilitate the
client’s reception of the therapist’s message.
Explicit hope-based interventions, on the other hand, are based
largely on a psychoeducational approach teaching clients about various
views on the concept of hope and its multimensionality. These tend to
be more theoretical in nature and seek to reframe potential threats to
hope. The explicit interventions include goal-setting techniques based
on Snyder’s cognitive hope theory, support of goal-oriented actions (e.g.
taking up a sport or hobby or joining a community group) and
enhancing awareness of the temporal dimensions of hope (i.e. that hope
can be drawn from the past, present and future alike). In addition to this
there are various strategies which can be employed that help the clients
to get in touch with their feelings and reflect on how they feel physically
and emotionally in relation to the problem. Moreover, the clients are
encouraged to build and maintain close relationships to enhance their
hope.
Hope in a clinical context was also studied by Herth (1993) who, in
her work, explored the meaning of hope and focused on strategies that
are employed to foster hope in family caregivers of terminally ill family
members. The author identified six domains of hope-fostering strategies
and three domains of hope-hindering strategies.
The hope-fostering domains are: (1) sustaining warm, encouraging
and caring relationships that serve as a source of social support; (2) use
of cognitive reframing, i.e. conscious reworking of negative perceptions
into more positive ones such as humour, positive imaginations, and selftalk;
(3) engagement in spiritual beliefs and practices, including prayers,
meditation, reading holy texts and listening to inspirational music;
(4) having feasible expectations; the category refers not only to the need
to set attainable goals, but also to the ability to reset them as need be
(5) shift of focus from future expectations to daily activities; and
(6) energy-replenishing activities such as listening to music and
engaging in hobbies.
The three hope-hindering domains comprised (1) social isolation
namely the emotional, physical or spiritual sense of separation from
Chapter 5 Hope Interventions
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56
significant others or higher power; (2) multiple and concurrent losses
that may lead to feelings of hopelessness and psychological overload;
and (3) poor control over the pain and distress of the terminally ill
family member.
For the purposes of clinical psychological practice, Weingarten
(2010a) developed a concept of reasonable hope. Reasonable hope is
viewed as directing one’s attention to what is within reach rather than
what may be desired but is unattainable. Thus, reasonable hope is
a more robust concept than hope in general, softening the polarity
between hope and hopelessness and allowing more people to perceive
themselves as hopeful. The author also stresses that the way in which
clinicians themselves think about hope has a decisive impact on whether
they can increase hope in their clients. Therapists who are vulnerable to
feeling hopeless are unlikely to be effective with clients. Below are five
main characteristics of the concept of reasonable hope:
 it is relational, flourishing in relationships;
 it is a practice, a “journey”; it is oriented to the here and now;
 it maintains the future open, uncertain and influenceable;
 it seeks realistic goals and pathways leading to them, accepting
the possiblity that the goals once set will have to be abandoned
or changed in favour of the more modest ones, and that
alternative pathways will need to be chosen;
 it accommodates doubts, despair, and contradictions – these are
not antithetical to reasonable hope.
Weingarten’s new conceptualisation of hope aims to reflect how
hope is practised and perceived by family therapists (Weingarten,
2010a, 2010b). She believes that by subscribing to the concept of
reasonable hope, therapists will enhance their ability to offer hopedirected
counselling. In her work, she also suggests various supports for
the therapists who practise hope.
Worthington et al. (1997) developed a hope-focused marriage
counselling programme to enhance couple’s relationships. The
programme focuses on defining a mutual goal and enhancing the
relationship via communication, growth, and a mutual level of
Chapter 5 Hope Interventions
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57
commitment to the given goal. The programme has been reported to
increase partner satisfaction and quality of couple skills. The results of
a follow-up study indicated that the hope-focused interventions were
especially effective in increasing the ratio of positive to negative
communications between couples (Ripley & Worthington, 2002).
A shared and maintained hope is an important factor contributing to
healthy and flourishing families (Slezackova & Sobotkova, 2017).
Conoley and Conoley (2009) presented a summary of what they
perceived as the essential components of Positive Family Therapy
(PFT). The therapy is designed to clarify the family’s goals and values
and build upon their strengths. The focus is on what each member of the
family wants to happen rather than what they dislike. Approach goals
increase positive emotions as well as relationship satisfaction and
closeness (Gable & Impettt, 2012). Among the PFT techniques listed is,
for instance, communicating good news to other family members,
focusing on a past goal’s attainment and expressing gratitude.
Specific strategies for enhancing hope in different contexts have
been described by Snyder, McDermott, Cook, and Rapoff (1997),
McDermott and Snyder (1999), McDermott and Snyder (2000), and
Lopez (2013).
The effectiveness of hope-enhancement strategies was studied by
Weis and Speridakos (2011), who conducted a meta-analysis of 27
studies involving a total of 2,154 participants. The results showed
significant, albeit small, effect sizes for hopefulness and life satisfaction,
with no overall relationship being established between hope
enhancement strategies and decreased psychological distress. Stronger
effects were found for brief interventions that were administered in the
context of university research studies, as opposed to the interventions
administered by mental health professionals in medical environments.
Moreoever, the studies that relied on participants from schools, colleges,
or the community yielded a marginally larger effect than studies that
recruited medical or psychiatric patients and at-risk individuals.
Surprisingly, the hope interventions lasting only one session were more
effective than those interventions involving multiple sessions. The
authors explain the seemingly counterintuitive result as a side effect of
Chapter 5 Hope Interventions
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58
setting differences, stating that the interventions that lasted only one
session were conducted in research settings while those administered
over multiple sessions tended to take place in clinics, hospitals, and
other human-services settings.
The findings by Weis and Speridakos (2011) challenge the
meaningfulness of utilising hope therapy rather than traditional
psychotherapeutic interventions as a first-line treatment for individuals
suffering from mental or physical health issues. The authors suggest
using hope theory instead, treating it as a model based on which
evidence-based treatments can be selected.
5.3 The Therapist’s Hope
A hopeful therapeutic relationship plays an important role in helping
the client to conceptualise clear goals, generate goal attainment
pathways, maintain their goal pursuit and reframe obstacles as
challenges (Lopez et al., 2000b). As has already been mentioned,
a therapist’s hope is crucial in positively affecting hope in the client.
O’Hara and O’Hara (2012) focused on how psychotherapists
conceptualise hope and how they work with it in therapy. They divided
their findings into five core categories: (1) nature and sources of hope;
(2) hope stance and orientation in therapy; (3) blockages to and
difficulties in maintaining hope; (4) dialectic nature of hope and despair;
and (5) hope-focused strategies. Each of the core categories contains
several sub-categories (O’Hara, 2013, pp. 95-103).
In this study, particularly regarding the nature of hope, O’Hara
(2013) arrived at an overarching definition of hope which incorporated
most of the ideas expressed, namely that hope is an expectation, feeling
or promise of a positive future change. Hope was seen as comprising
both cognitive and affective dimensions and being drawn from either
an internal or external source. Internalising the source of hope refers to
the practice of finding hope in oneself. In addition, three broad
categories of external hope sources were identified: interpersonal
relationships and support; wider societal relationships and cultural
wisdom; and spirituality.
Chapter 5 Hope Interventions
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The core category of hope stance and orientation in therapy
comprised both the general stance that the therapists had towards hope
(i.e. what they did or what they did not have hope in), and the
orientation towards hope in the context of therapy. Several different
stances of hope were identified, including hope in human potential,
impermanence (i.e. the possibility of change), intentionality (i.e. that
one’s goal or desire is attainable), and transcendence (i.e. the possibility
of human existence beyond the temporal world). Within the context of
therapy, the therapists had a hope in the client’s capacity to change as
well as a hope for the client to do well. Therapists also had hope in the
counselling process which reflects their expectancy on power and
benefits of the whole therapeutic enterprise which values both the
therapist’s skills and the client’s resources. They also hold hope in life
based on a belief in the generativity of life which is full of new
possibilities and potentials.
The blockages to hope seemed to be of two types: internal and
external. Internal restrictions included mental illneses, tramatic
experiences (particularly long-term abuse in childhood), grief (in
particular complicated or pathological grief), and unconfronted aspects
of the self (i.e. those that the client does not know about or refuses to
acknowledge, for instance irrational beliefs). An overarching external
blockage was a lack of control over external forces and factors (for
example, poverty, racism and lack of access to education). The
therapists’ diffuculties in maintaining hope were related to (1) the client
not being engaged in the proces of therapy and not being ready or
committed to change; (2) a poorly developed therapeutic alliance; (3)
hopelessness as a result of transference (projecting negative
expectations onto another); and (4) poor client agency (i.e. limited
ability to take action to improve one’s situation, low self-efficacy).
The dialectic nature of hope and despair category refers to the belief
of several of the participants that despair provides an opportunity for
growth and that hope and despair are often concurrent experiences.
In addition to the above, the therapists identified a range of hopefocused
strategies that they reported to be using in their practice of
therapy. O’Hara (2013) categorised these into three: (1) relationship-
Chapter 5 Hope Interventions
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60
focused strategies, which highlight the centrality of the therapeutic
alliance in establishing hope; (2) task-focused strategies encouraging the
creation of a hopeful outlook; and (3) transpersonal- and transcendencefocused
strategies, which are based in spiritual and reflexive practices
(e.g. mindfulness techniques) which aim to establish an awareness of
transcendence beyond everyday circumstances.
O’Hara (2013) emphasises that the influence of the therapist’s hope
in therapy should not be marginalised because it is one of the key
factors responsible for encouraging client’s hope and therapeutical
change, thus significantly shaping the outcome of the therapy.
Chapter 6 Hope and Trauma
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Chapter 6. Hope and Trauma
Frankl (2014) viewed hope as a positive-oriented “internal stance”;
as an ability to “say ‘yes’ to life” under any circumstances. The question
of why some people are able to find and sustain hope in difficult
circumstances, while others are not, was also addressed by Groopman
(2005). In his book Anatomy of Hope Groopman explains how to
distinguish “true hope” from “false hope” and what we can learn from
those who are able to maintain hope when facing difficult life
circumstances, such as a life-threatening illness. Other authors, e.g.
Sciolli and Biller (2009), focused on how hope can help recovery from
trauma or illness.
The importance of hope in working with survivors of trauma was
studied by Sympson (2000). The author used Snyder’s hope theory as
a framework to explain how an individual’s response to a traumatic
event can lead to the development of a posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and, more importantly, how meaningful personal goals along
with a belief in one’s ability to achieve those goals can aid effective
coping with trauma.
Numerous authors studied hope in the context of war trauma. Irving,
Telfer and Blake (1997, as cited in Snyder, 2000a) investigated
dispositional hope in Vietnam veterans, who exhibited markedly lower
hope than the control sample. Higher hope levels were found in
individuals with greater perceived social support from family and
friends; these individuals also tended to use adaptive coping strategies.
The above findings led Snyder (2000a) to conclude that although his
model utilises the concept of dispositional hope, hope levels can, to
a certain extent, be influenced by life situations. It can further be
assumed that if hope can be affected by adverse life situations, it should
also be amenable to coping strategies that would allow to restore it to its
former state.
The hypothesis that hope is restorable was confirmed by Gilman,
Schumm, and Chard (2012). They performed a study on war veterans
with PTSD who participated in a six-week cognitive therapy
programme. After the therapy, the effects of the intervention were
Chapter 6 Hope and Trauma
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62
measured. Higher hope levels in mid-treatment were shown to result in
fewer posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms.
The buffering effect of hope, kindness, social intelligence, selfregulation,
and perspective against the negative effects of stress and
trauma was also revealed by Park and Peterson (2006c, 2009a).
A more recent approach connects successful trauma coping with
posttraumatic growth (Joseph, 2011). The posttraumatic growth
phenomenon is an excellent example of a deep interconnection between
positive experiences and highly challenging and painful life
circumstances. Posttraumatic growth is also significantly affected by
positive emotions (hope, love and gratitude), character strengths
(optimism, resilience) and social support.
6.1 Trauma and Posttraumatic Growth
A traumatic event is a severely distressing incident that causes
physical, emotional and/or psychological harm and impairs important
areas of an individual’s life. Traumatic events tend to occur
unexpectedly and unpredictably and they are usually viewed as
completely beyond one’s power and control (Calhoun & Tedeschi,
1999).
Trauma can result either from an event involving an immediate threat
to one’s own life or the life of close persons. These events can be
a serious illness, a car accident, natural disaster, terrorist attack, or
a prolonged stressful event that generates a feeling of helplessness
(kidnapping, captivity, torture). This threat to life, both for oneself or for
loved ones, can cause psychic trauma and eventually lead to the
development of a PTSD. The primary symptoms include hyperarousal,
characterized by increased irritability, exaggeration of startle responses,
sleep problems and intrusions, which take the form of flashbacks and
nightmares as memories of the past event invade the individual’s present
life. Flashbacks are vivid memories of the past that can be triggered by
sights, smells or sounds. They cause the person suffering from PTSD to
relive the traumatic event over and over again. These flashbacks are
generally accompanied by anxiety. There may also be signs of social
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withdrawal resulting from an event generating feelings of helplessness
when either “fight” or “flight” were not possible (Sympson, 2000).
Responses to traumatic events are highly individual. The extent and
intensity of the impact of a traumatic event depends not only on a range
of psychological factors, such as an individual’s personal characteristics,
frustration tolerance and value system, but also on biological factors
(age, current developmental stage). An important role is played by the
person’s current physical and mental health, their previous experience
with managing stressful events and crises, and by subjective evaluation
of their abilities to cope with the situation. It also matters whether the
situation at hand is perceived as moderately or extremely dangerous
(Slezackova, 2009).
While reams of literature have documented the detrimental effects of
stress and trauma, the notion that traumatic experience can actually be
reframed and that it is possible for people to turn the experience into
something positive is relatively novel to the sphere of academic
research. It is based on the adversity hypothesis, according to which
people need negative experiences and setbacks in order to develop.
Posttraumatic development (or posttraumatic growth, PTG) is
understood as resulting from an individual’s ability to utilise a traumatic
or challenging life situation to achieve a positive psychological change,
be it related to thinking, experiencing, doing, social relationships or
spirituality (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 2006). The concept of posttraumatic
growth does not deny the negative effects of traumatic events, nor does
it aim to diminish empathy for the suffering of trauma survivors; rather,
it offers a broader perspective on an individual’s psychology (Joseph,
2011; Linley & Joseph, 2004).
The fact that adversity and life-shattering experiences can induce
positive psychological change was pointed out by Frankl (1992), the
founder of logotherapy. In Frankl’s view, every trauma or crisis has
a “transformational potential” that can lead to deeper understanding of
one’s true life values. Frankl (1992) stresses the importance of
a person’s attitude towards their suffering. According to him, the
primary motivational force in humans is “striving to find a meaning in
one’s life”. In the absence of meaning, people strive to either restore the
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original one or fill the void with a new meaning that would protect them
from a meaningless existence. If a person’s will to meaning is not
satisfied, existential frustration develops that may result in a noogenic
neurosis (a term coined by Frankl).
The first research works on the topic of personal growth following
adversity were published in 1990s (Joseph, Williams, & Yule, 1993;
O’Leary & Ickovics, 1995; Park, Cohen, & Munch, 1996; Schaefer &
Moose, 1992). The notion that people can experience positive change
following traumatic events was discussed under a number of different
terms. In their overview of terminology, Tedeschi and Calhoun (2004),
who coined the currently used term “posttraumatic growth”, include
their earlier term perceived benefits (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 1991),
observing that Taylor and Brown (1988) used the term positive illusion;
Yalom and Lieberman (1991) discussed positive psychological changes,
Ryff and Singer (1998) considered the term flourishing, and O´Leary
and Ickovics (1995) used the term thriving. Linley and Joseph (2004)
addressed the psychological development incited by experienced
adversity using the term adversial growth, and Park, Cohen, and Murch
(1996) employed the term stress-related growth. The works stressing
the importance of coping strategies often use terms such as positive
reinterpretation (Scheier, Weintraub, & Carver, 1986), drawing
strength from adversity (McCrae, 1984) and transformational coping
(Pargament, 1997).
According to Tedeschi and Calhoun (1995), posttraumatic growth is
associated with significant positive changes in an individual’s cognitive
and emotional setup that can also be reflected in one’s behaviour. Thus,
the ability to successfully handle a traumatic event may contribute to
personality development and allow the person to surpass the limits of
their previous psychological functioning and level of adaptation
(Tedeschi, Park, & Calhoun, 1998).
Based on qualitative data analyses, Tedeschi and Calhoun (1995)
distinguish three broad categories of posttraumatic growth, namely
changes in self-perception, relationships and spirituality. The three
components are closely interconnected and permeate each other in
certain respects.
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In a later study, based on a factor analysis, they developed the
Posttraumatic Growth Inventory to allow for quantification of the
experience of posttraumatic development. The Inventory measures five
domains of posttraumatic growth (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 1996):
 changes in self-perception, a greater sense of personal strength;
 discovery of new possibilities or paths in one’s life;
 changes in relating to others; i.e. finding out who your “true
friends” are and forming warmer, more intimate relationships;
 greater appreciation of life and changes in one’s value system;
 spiritual development, i.e. finding a new meaning in life,
increased religiousness.
Park et al. (1996) list five significant predictors of stress-related
growth: intrinsic religiousness; social support satisfaction; perceived
stressfulness of the negative event; positive reinterpretation and
acceptance coping strategies; and the number of recently experienced
positive life events.
Sears at al. (2003) suggested adding a sixth predictor to the above,
namely an increase in the number of health-protective behaviours,
which is typical of those who have experienced a traumatic event which
has posed a direct threat to their health or lives. Trauma-related changes
in one’s attitude towards health were also revealed by Lee, Gau, Hsu,
and Chang (2009) and Slezackova et al. (2009).
Research indicates that the level of posttraumatic growth achieved is
related to the amount of stress imposed by the traumatic event (Tedeschi
& Calhoun, 2006). The more the original life structures are affected, the
more reconstructive work is required but the greater the potential for
PTG.
Posttraumatic growth generally tends to be related to later stages of
coping with a suffered trauma although, as with all the other aspects of
PTG, this is highly individual. In the period immediately following the
traumatic event, negative effects will naturally take predominance over
positive ones. However, at a later stage, with the benefit of hindsight,
possible benefits may be identified (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2006; Tennen
& Affleck, 2002). In fact, most studies measured PTG months or even
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years after the traumatic event occurred, when enough time had passed
for the trauma survivors to gradually accept what had happened to them
(Park & Lechner, 2006).
Some works take an integrative, humanistic view of personality
growth following adversity. Joseph and Linley (2008b) point out that
PTG cannot be fully understood without taking into consideration the
distress that preceded it. The authors state that any study of the process
of recovery from posttraumatic stress should be accompanied by
investigating the possibility of personality development. They view
posttraumatic changes as comprising two independent dimensions,
rather than “two sides of a single coin”. Thus, the impact of a traumatic
event should be seen as a combination of both negative and positive
posttraumatic changes. Tedeschi and Calhoun (2006) accept the
coexistence of posttraumatic growth with trauma-induced residual
distress.
6.2 Hope and Posttraumatic Growth
The significant connection between dispositional hope and
successful coping with problems was noted by Snyder (2000a).
Moreover, dispositional optimism - a concept related to dispositional
hope - is considered one of the most prominent predictors of benefitfinding
following a traumatic event (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995; Tennen
& Affleck, 1999). Dispositional optimists were found to more
frequently engage in cognitive reappraisal of past events (i.e. thinking
along the lines of “every cloud has a silver lining”), which helped them
to cope with the consequences of negative experiences (NolenHoeksema
& Davis, 2002). The more cognitive reevaluation strategies
are used, the more likely the individual is able to see the positive side of
bad situations. This was also indicated in one of our studies on stressrelated
growth after a relationship breakup (Ondraskova & Slezackova,
2012) which found that those employing an optimistic explanatory style
showed higher stress-related growth after the break-up than those who
did not engage in the mentioned cognitive style. The findings listed
above support Frankl’s assertion that it is one’s attitude to given
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circumstances that has a decisive impact on one’s ability to cope with
adversity (Frankl, 1994). We must also mention the importance of social
support as a moderating factor with respect to traumatic events
(McDonough, Sabiston & Wrosch, 2014; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).
Below is a summary of the findings of a few studies that have dealt
with the role of hope in posttraumatic growth (PTG).
Ho et al. (2011) studied the relation of hope, optimism and coping
strategies to posttraumatic growth in patients who had been treated for
oral cavity cancer. Hope and optimism were established as significant
correlates of posttraumatic growth, with a stronger relation between
PTG and hope than between optimism and PTG. The two variables
combined accounted for 25 % of variance in posttraumatic growth.
Hullmann, Fedele, Molzon, Mayes, and Mullins (2014) focused on
posttraumatic growth and hope in parents of children with cancer.
A correlation analysis showed that higher levels of hope were associated
with greater overall posttraumatic growth as well as with higher scores
in the following PTG domains: relating to others; new possibilities;
personal strength; and appreciation of life. Based on their findings, the
authors suggest that maintaining hope during the pediatric cancer
experience may facilitate posttraumatic growth in parents.
Lloyd and Hastings (2009) explored hope and its connection to
parental well-being in parents of school-aged children with intellectual
disabilities. Lower levels of hope (agency and pathways) and a greater
number of child behaviour problems predicted maternal depression,
while higher levels of agency and less problematic child behaviour
predicted positive affect in mothers. For fathers, low agency predicted
depression and anxiety while positive affect was predicted by high
agency.
The findings of a study by Truitt, Biesecker, Capone, Bailey, and
Erby (2012), who explored the role of hope in adapting to uncertainty
on a sample of 546 caregivers of children with a Down syndrome,
suggested that maintaining hope in the face of uncertainty is important
in the adaptation to stressors. However, the results also showed that the
caregivers’ motivation to reach goals for their children exceeded their
pathways thinking capacity with respect to these goals.
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Barnum, Snyder, Rapoff, Mani, and Thompson (1998) investigated
the role of hope and social support in psychological adjustment of
adolescents who survived burn injuries. The results suggested that
higher hope contributed unique variance to the prediction of less
externalizing behaviours (disruptive behaviour disorders) and increased
overall self-worth.
Gum and Snyder (2002) explored the role of hopeful thinking in
coping with a terminal illness, describing the strategies that can be used
to maintain and even increase hope during the dying process.
The above findings illustrate the important role of hope in the lives
of people who have either experienced a traumatic event themselves or
are close relatives of trauma survivors. Hope helps them to cope with
the obstacles and difficulties of life and to focus on the positive side of
life.
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Chapter 7.
A Study on Hope and Posttraumatic Changes
7.1 Background
The present chapter describes a study carried out in the Czech
Republic as part of an international research survey entitled Hope
Barometer. The survey was launched in Switzerland at the University of
St. Gallen in collaboration with the Swiss Society for Future Studies in
2009 (Krafft & Walker, in press; Walker & Krafft, 2014). The idea of
the project started in 2008, with the aim of providing an alternative to
two Swiss annual surveys, the “Worry” and “Fear” Barometers, which
asked the Swiss population about their main worries (e.g. personal
security, unemployment, healthcare) and about how much confidence
they had in political, business, and society decision-makers. Krafft and
Walker decided to focus on the positive phenomena of hope and the
individual’s functioning in society. In collaboration with the large Swiss
newspapers, Swissfuture started an annual national survey on hope and
other positive attributes. The collected data does not only serve research
purposes, but is also used by researchers and the media to spread hope
and positivity throughout today’s society (Krafft & Walker, in press).
In 2012, the survey included Germany, and the Czech Republic and
France joined in 2013. Currently there are several other countries
involved in the survey, including Malta, Spain, Poland, and India (Krafft
et al., 2016).
The Czech version of the Hope Barometer survey gave rise to
numerous studies the results of which were presented at international
conferences and scientific symposia. Some of the data were also
included in master’s theses supervised by the author of this text. The
following sections present the results of one of the studies conducted
under the Czech Hope Barometer Survey.
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7.2 Objectives
The aim of our study was threefold. First, it was to explore the
content of the participants’ hopes and personal wishes, and to find out
what they do to achieve fulfillment of their wishes and who they expect
to provide them with hope.
Secondly, we addressed the question of whether there were
significant relationships between perceived hope, dispositional hope,
meaningfulness, positive relationships, life satisfaction, and positive and
negative changes in the participants’ outlook on life following
a traumatic experience. Based on previous research we expected higher
levels of hope to be significantly associated with lower levels of
negative posttraumatic changes and higher levels of meaningfulness and
life satisfaction. We also expected hope to be positively correlated with
positive relationships and positive posttraumatic changes. We further
aimed to distinguish between two concepts of hope - perceived hope and
dispositional hope - and to explore the different roles they might play
with respect to posttraumatic changes.
Thirdly, we sought to investigate the impact of demographic
variables (age, gender, marital status, level of education, engagement in
voluntary activities) on perceived and dispositional hope scores.
7.3 Method
7.3.1 Sample
The research sample comprised a total of 1,409 Czech respondents,
1,122 (79.6 %) female and 287 (20.4 %) male, aged between 15 and 79
years. The respondents were divided into several age groups: below 17
(0.8 %); 18 to 29 years (35.1 %); 30 to 39 years (22.6 %); 40 to 49 years
(16 %); 50 to 59 years (12.8 %); 60 to 69 years (11 %); and over 70
(1.7 %).
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Most participants were married (40.6 %) or living with a partner
(24.2 %); the rest were either divorced (7 %), single (11.2 %), still
living with their parents (13.1 %), or widowed (2.9 %).
With respect to the education level, most respondents had
a university degree (41.4 %) or had completed standard secondary
education (38.5 %). The rest had received specialised secondary
education (11.7 %), some form of post-secondary education (6.3 %), or
only elementary education (2.1 %).
In terms of engagement in voluntary activities, 63.9 % of the
respondents answered in the negative, 33.7 % indicated they were
actively involved in voluntary work (for 2.3 % of these, voluntary work
was a main activity).
7.3.2 Measures
The study employed a set of questions related to hope and personal
wishes developed by Krafft (2013, 2014) and a set of validated
measures. Demographic data were also obtained.
With respect to hope, the respondents were asked to indicate:
1) What their personal wishes were and how they rated their
subjective importance (0 = not important, 1 = moderately important, 2 =
very important);
2) What steps they were taking towards fulfilling their hopes and
how often (0 = not at all, 1 = sometimes, 2 = very often); and
3) Who they expected to boost their hope and to what extent (0 = not
at all, 1 = partly, 2 = definitely).
We also used the following questionnaires:
The Perceived Hope Scale (Krafft et al., 2017) consists of 6 items. It
covers aspects such as hope level, fulfillment of hope, effect of hope,
hope/anxiety duality, and the special situations in which hope arises.
The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the scale in the present study was
.88. Examples: “Even in difficult times I am able to remain hopeful” and
“In my life hope outweighs anxiety”.
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The Adult Dispositional Hope Scale (ADHS; Snyder et al., 1991)
consists of 8 items measuring two components of hope: agency and
pathways. The scale generates three scores: one for pathways, one for
agency, and an overal hope score that is created by summing up the
agency and pathway items. The higher the total score, the higher the
overall degree of the respondent’s hope. Higher scores for agency and
pathways indicate higher levels of goal-directed energy and higher
propensity to plan ways to accomplish one’s goals, respectively. In the
present study, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient exhibits high reliability
for the whole scale (.91) as well as for the pathways sub-scale (.87) and
agency sub-scale (.84). Example (pathways): “I can think of many ways
to get out of a jam”; (agency): “I energetically pursue my goals”.
Changes in Outlook Questionnaire – Short Form (Joseph, Linley,
Shevlin, Goodfellow, & Butler, 2006) is a 10-item self-report instrument
used to measure positive and negative changes following the experience
of severely stressful events. The original 26-item Changes in Outlook
Questionnaire contained 15 items measuring negative posttraumatic
changes and 11 items measuring positive posttraumatic changes
(Joseph, Williams, & Yule, 1993). The abbreviated 10-item form retains
the two-factor structure of the original. The 10 items were selected on
the basis of their high factor loadings in earlier studies. The first section,
Changes in Outlook Negative contains five items measuring the
negative changes following a traumatic experience, e.g. “My life has no
meaning anymore” and “I don’t look forward to the future anymore”.
The second section, Changes in Outlook Positive, contains five items
focusing on positive posttramatic changes, e.g. “I don’t take life for
granted anymore” and “I am now more determined to do something out
of my life”. The questionnaire has been proven to have good reliability;
Cronbach’s alpha was .80 for negative posttraumatic changes and .72
for positive changes, which is comparable with the data presented by the
authors of the method (Joseph et al., 2006).
The Sources of Meaning and Meaningfulness Scale – SoMe (Schnell,
2009) is a multidimensional questionnaire focusing on individual
differences in the sources of meaning. The questionnaire contains a total
of 151 items, thus enabling a highly differentiated evaluation of 26
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different sources of meaning in life. In our research we only used the
Meaningfulness subscale that measures the degree of subjectively
experienced meaningfulness in life. It contains items such as “I think
that there is meaning in what I do” and “I feel part of a bigger whole”.
The author of the questionnaire reports high internal consistencies
ranging from .83 to 0.93 for dimensions, and from .65 to .95 for scales,
which is in line with our own findings.
Positive Relations with Others Scale (Ryff, 1989) is a part of a 54item
Psychological Well-Being Scale by Ryff (1989). The items
measuring positive relations with others are formulated both positively
(“Most people see me as a loving and affectionate person”) and
negatively (“I often feel lonely because I have few close friends with
whom to share my concerns”). The total score is a sum of all the items
(the values of negatively formulated items are recoded). Low scores
indicate few close relationships, problems with expressing warmth in
relationships, and social frustration and isolation. By contrast, high
scores suggest that the individual engages in warm and emotionally
satisfying relationships with others, is concerned about the welfare of
others and is capable of strong empathy (Ryff & Keyes, 1995). In our
study the method displayed satisfactory reliability (Cronbach alfa = .82).
The Trait Well-Being Inventory (Dalbert, 1992) is a 13-item scale
measuring subjective well-being. It contains six items focusing on mood
(Mood Level) and seven items measuring general life satisfaction. For
the purposes of the present study only the General Life Satisfaction
Scale (GLSS) was used (Dalbert, Montada, Schmitt, & Schneider (1984,
as cited by Dalbert, 2010). The General Life Satisfaction Scale reflects
a person’s cognitive evaluation of life satisfaction using statements such
as “When I look back on my life so far, I am satisfied”. The authors
report GLSS to be comparable to the Life Satisfaction Scale by Diener et
al. (1985). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the General Life
Satisfaction Scale in the present study was high (.90).
All of the questionnaires listed above used an identical response
scale (0 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree).
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7.3.3 Procedure
Research data were obtained through a self-administered
questionnaire in November 2013. A convenience sampling technique
was employed to approach the potential respondents. The online
anonymous questionnaires were distributed through e-mails, social
networks, and websites. Moreover, varying types of media (radio,
newspapers etc.) were used to invite people to participate in the
research. The collected data was processed using IBM SPSS version 24.
We used descriptive statistics methods to describe the variables as well
as the research sample, and a histogram to estimate the probability
distribution of the variables. The relationships between the variables
were determined using Pearson’s correlation and regression analysis.
An independent samples t-test and a variance analysis were employed to
determine whether the variables of interest are statistically related to
demographic data. In addition, we used a classification tree to establish
the impact of demographic variables on perceived and dispositional
hope. Throughout both data collection and processing we strictly
observed the principles of research ethics.
7.4 Results
7.4.1 Hope Objects, Hope Activities and Hope Providers
The respondents were asked to indicate their most important hopes
and personal wishes, along with the steps they take towards fulfilling
their hopes. They were also asked about who they expect to boost their
hope. The response scale ranged from 0 (not important / never / not at
all) to 2 (very important / very often / definitely).
Most respondents’ personal wishes involved relationships with other
people. The most important ones were related to happy family
relationships (M = 1.88), good personal health (M = 1.83), harmonious
life (M = 1.77), high-quality relationships with other people (M = 1.59),
and personal autonomy and self-determination (M = 1.50). Other wishes
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were less popular, including success at the workplace (M = 1.17), more
money (M = 1.09), and more sex (M = 0.87).
We also examined what actions the respondents were taking with
respect to their hopes. In most cases, they analysed circumstances (M =
1.61), did plenty of reading and gathered information (M = 1.48), and
took responsibility for their actions (M = 1.41). The other frequently
listed activities were motivating the family (M = 1.23) and saving
money (M = 1.19). The least frequent activities were related to the
following statements: “I engage myself entrepreneurially” (M = 0.39), “I
go to church” (M = 0.39), and “I pray or meditate” (M = 0.69).
In answer to the research question related to “hope providers”, most
respondents viewed hope as something for which everyone was
personally responsible; thus, they saw themselves as their own primary
hope providers (M = 1.68). The runner-up source of hope was a partner,
husband or wife (M = 1.44); the third most important source of hope
were friends (M = 1.43). Another valuable source of hope were people
who inspired the respondents in terms of finding solutions in difficult
life situations (M = 1.42). Some of the participants listed children and
grandchildren (M = 1.27) as their source of hope. The least popular
“hope providers” were politicians and the government (M = 0.22),
bankers and financial advisors (M= 0.22), and businessmen and
managers (M = 0.34).
7.4.2 Correlates and Predictors of Posttraumatic Growth
Table 2 shows the relationships between all the measured variables.
In addition to the hypothesised strong correlations between subscale
scores and overall scores for hope, we also found a significant positive
relationship between meaningfulness and life satisfaction. Perceived
hope exhibited slightly stronger correlations with meaningfulness and
life satisfaction than dispositional hope and its components, and was
also more closely connected to positive relations and to both positive
and negative changes following a traumatic experience.
Two separate regression analyses were performed to determine
which of the examined variables were independent predictors of positive
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and negative posttraumatic changes. The results are presented in Table 3
and Table 4, respectively.
The results of the first regression analysis (Table 3) indicated that
positive posttraumatic changes were strongly predicted by
meaningfulness (beta = .233; p < 0.001) and moderately by perceived
hope (beta = .105; p < 0.005). By contrast, little to no predictive effect
was exhibited by positive social relationships (beta = .087; p <0 .005)
and the agency component of hope (beta = -.085; p < 0.05). Equally, the
pathways component was not found to be a significant predictor of
positive posttraumatic changes. Quite surprisingly, agency showed
a negative correlation with positive posttraumatic changes, but this
relation was only marginally significant. The linear regression model
was statistically significant (F = 36.675; p < 0.001), but explained only
11.8 % of variance in positive posttraumatic changes. The remaining 88
% of variance in positive posttraumatic changes are not predicted by the
explanatory variables and have to be ascribed to other factors.
The objective of the second regression analysis was to reveal the
independent predictors of negative posttraumatic changes (Table 4). The
strongest predictors of negative posttraumatic changes were perceived
hope (beta = -.287; p < 0.001) and positive relationships (beta = -.237;
p < 0.001). Also, significant predictive effects were exhibited by the
agency hope component (beta = -.165; p < 0.001) and by
meaningfulness (beta = -.092; p < 0.005). Similar to positive
posttraumatic changes, the pathways component was not found to be a
significant predictor. A negative correlation was established between
perceived hope, positive relationships, and agency on the one hand and
negative posttraumatic changes on the other; in other words, the lower
the perceived hope (positive relationships/agency) scores, the higher the
level of negative posttraumatic changes. The linear regression analysis
model was statistically significant (F = 210.896, p < 0.001), explaining
43 % of variance in negative posttraumatic changes.
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Table 2 Pearson’s correlation coefficients for all the variables of
interest (N=1,409)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 Perceived Hope 1
2 Dispositional Hope .59 1
3 Hope Agency .57 .94 1
4 Hope Pathways .54 .94 .77 1
5 PTG Positive Changes .28 .20 .19 .19 1
6 PTG Negative Changes -.58 -.52 -.51 -.46 -.08 1
7 Meaningfulness .64 .58 .59 .50 .32 -.51 1
8 Positive Relations .48 .42 .41 .38 .24 -.50 .50 1
9 Life Satisfaction .70 .65 .67 .50 .19 -.66 .70 .51 1
Note: All the correlations are significant at the p < 0.01 level.
Table 3 Linear regression analysis model predicting positive
posttraumatic changes
Model B SE β t p
Constant 2.272 .106 21.411 < .001
Perceived Hope .094 .033 .105 2.868 .004
Hope Agency -.076 .038 -.085 -1.979 .048
Hope Pathways .048 .037 .052 1.297 .195
Meaning .213 .033 .233 6.355 < .001
Positive Relations .086 .030 .087 2.856 .004
R = .344, R2
= .118
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Table 4 Linear regression analysis model predicting negative
posttraumatic changes
Model B SE β t p
Constant 4.766 0.107 44.460 < .001
Perceived Hope -.326 .033 -.287 -9.835 < .001
Hope Agency -.186 .039 -.165 -4.807 < .001
Hope Pathways -.045 .037 -.039 -1.200 .230
Meaning -.106 .034 -.092 -3.124 .002
Positive Relations -.298 .030 -.237 -9.770 < .001
R = .660, R2
= .431
7.4.3 Demographic Variables and Hope
In order to answer the research question of whether perceived hope
and dispositional hope are affected by demographics, we analysed the
impact of the four demographic factors (age, gender, family status, level
of education) and engagement in voluntary activities on each of the
hope constructs2
. The analysis revealed statistically significant genderrelated
differences in perceived hope (t = -3.041; df = 1373; p < 0.05)
and dispositional hope (t = 2.981; df = 1361; p < 0.05) levels. While
men exhibited greater levels of dispositional hope, women showed more
of perceived hope.
Further significant differences in the levels of perceived hope (F =
6,671; df = 4; p < 0.001) and dispositional hope (F = 2,399; df = 4;
p < 0.05) were found between the varying age groups. Using the
Tukey’s HSD test (p < 0.05), a significantly lower level of perceived
hope was established for the 18-29 age group (except for the 40-49 age
2
The relationships between demographic variables, hope and posttraumatic
growth were studied by Bednarikova (2014), Lesak (2014), and Hladikova
(2015), supervised by the author of this text.
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group, where the differences were not significant). The dispositional
hope data failed tests for homogenity of variance; thus, we used
a Welch’s test (FWelch = 6.333; df = 4; p < 0.001). A significantly low
mean dispositional hope value was found with respect to the 30-39 age
group. The highest levels of both perceived and dispositional hope were
shown by the 50-59 age group, but the difference was not found to be
statistically significant.
The respondents’ marital status was also found to exert a significant
impact on both perceived hope (F = 6,361; df = 7; p < 0.001) and
dispositional hope (F = 2,196; df = 7; p < 0.05). The lowest perceived
hope scores (FWelch = 5,400; df = 7; p < 0.001) were observed in those
who were unmarried and still living with their parents. The difference
between the above group and those who were married, living with
a partner or divorced was found to be statistically significant (p < 05).
The highest perceived hope scores were received by the respondents
who were married. A Tukey’s HSD test showed that those who were
married or living with a partner also exhibited the highest levels of
dispositional hope, which significantly differed from the scores received
by those living with their parents (p < 0.05).
Further statistically significant differences were found in relation to
the level of education (perceived hope: F = 7,600; df = 5; p < 0.001;
dispositional hope: F = 7,026; df = 5; p < 0.001). The respondents who
only had elementary education showed significantly lower levels of
perceived hope than those with secondary or university education
(p < 0.05). The highest perceived hope scores were related to university
education, with the difference being statistically significant (p < 0.05).
A Tukey’s HSD test (p < 0.05) showed that university education was
also connected with higher dispositional hope scores than elementary
education and standard secondary education.
The last of the five examined variables, engagement in voluntary
activities, was also found to exhibit a significant impact on both
perceived hope (F = 8,078; df = 2; p < 0.001) and dispositional hope (F
= 19,332; df = 2; p < 0.001). The perceived hope scores were tested by a
Welch’s test (FWelch = 21,604; df = 2; p < 0.001). The respondents who
were not involved in any voluntary activity showed significantly lower
Chapter 7 A Study on Hope and Posttraumatic Changes
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levels of both dispositional and perceived hope. With respect to
perceived hope, a Tukey’s HSD test revealed a statistically significant
difference between the respondents doing volunteering as a secondary
activity and those who were not involved at all in volunteering (p <
0.05); as regards dispositional hope scores, the respondents uninvolved
in volunteering significantly differed from those doing volunteering
either as a primary or as a secondary activity (Tukey’s HSD test; p <
0.05).
Finally, we employed a classification analysis (Exhaustive Tree
CHAID, p < 0.05) to examine the predictive role of demographic
variables with respect to both perceived and dispositional hope.
Perceived hope (M = 3.49) as a dependent variable was mostly
predicted by marital status. The highest perceived hope scores (M =
3.76) were found among the groups of respondents who were either
married or living with a partner, and engaged in a voluntary activity.
The lowest perceived hope (M = 2.87) was identified in those who were
still living with their parents and uninvolved in volunteering.
On the other hand, dispositional hope (M = 3.32) as a dependent
variable was mostly predicted by engagement in a voluntary activity,
which can possibly be explained in terms of greater agency. The highest
dispositional hope scores (M = 3.65) were found among male
respondents actively involved in voluntary activities. The lowest
dispositional hope scores (M = 2.94) were received by those who were
single or still living with their parents and not involved in volunteering.
7.5 Discussion
The first aim of the study was to investigate the content of people’s
personal wishes and hopes, and to find out what they do towards
fulfilling those wishes and who they expect to provide them with hope.
The personal wishes of most of the respondents revolved around
social relationship, in particular their relationship with significant
others. This finding is in line with the results obtained by O’Hara
(2013), who focused on how therapists worked with hope during
a therapy. In our study, satisfactory relationships were among the most
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desirable hopes. Reciprocally, the significant others were found to
constitute an important source of hope which correspond, according to
Bernardo (2010), to the external-family (external-peers) locus of hope.
However, most respondents saw themselves as their own primary hope
providers, which points to the importance of internal loci of hope.
With regards to the activities undertaken to fulfill one’s hopes, our
respondents showed a rational, active and individualistic approach to
pursuing their goals, their view of hope being congruent with Snyder’s
cognitive theory of hope (Snyder, 2000a).
The second aim of our study was to examine the relationships
between perceived hope, dispositional hope, meaningfulness, positive
relationships, life satisfaction, and positive and negative changes in the
participants’ outlook on life following a traumatic experience. Our
results confirmed the hypothesised significant interrelationships
between life satisfaction, meaningfulness, and hope (see Delle Fave et
al., 2011, 2013; Demirli et al., 2015; Faso et al., 2013; Feldman &
Snyder, 2005; Gallagher & Lopez, 2009; Kato & Snyder, 2005; Snyder,
2000a; Werner, 2012). We found also significant correlations between
each of dispositional and perceived hope and positive relations with
others (Westburg, 2001; Windsor, 2009), and between hope and
posttraumatic changes, which was in line with previous studies on the
topic (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 2006; Gilman et al., 2012; Helgeson et al.,
2006; Ho et al., 2011; Joseph & Linley, 2005).
Of the two concepts of hope which were being investigated,
perceived hope showed a slightly stronger correlation with each of the
other variables than dispositional hope. In addition, life satisfaction was
found to bear a stronger, albeit negative, relation to negative
posttraumatic changes than to positive posttraumatic changes (in the
latter case the relationship was positive). The connection between
posttraumatic growth (or, inversely, posttramatic disorder) and
subjective well-being was also proven in the studies by Teodorescu et
al. (2012) and Karatzias et al. (2013).
In other words, hopeful people, as opposed to the less hopeful ones,
appeared to be more satisfied with their lives, maintained higher-quality
interpersonal relationships, perceived their lives as more meaningful,
Chapter 7 A Study on Hope and Posttraumatic Changes
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82
and suffered less from negative posttraumatic changes. Hope not only
helped to promote the positive aspects of life, but also served as an
important factor in coping with difficult life situations. Of the people
who went through a traumatic experience, those who had more hope
reported significantly fewer negative psychological outcomes following
the adversity.
In fulfillment of the second aim of our study we also distinguished
between two concepts of hope - perceived hope and dispositional hope and
explored the different roles they might play with respect to
posttraumatic changes.
We conducted two regression analyses to determine the predictive
force of perceived and dispositional hope in relation to positive and
negative posttraumatic changes. In the first regression model, perceived
hope (along with meaningfulness) functioned as a significant predictor
of positive posttraumatic changes. A weak predictive force with respect
to positive posttraumatic changes was exhibited by the agency
component of hope and positive relationships, and the predictive effects
of the pathways hope component were entirely insignificant. Despite
explaining only 11.8 % of variance in positive posttraumatic changes,
the regression model pointed to the importance of life meaningfulness
and the emotional and transcendental dimensions of hope (rather than
the cognitive one).
In the second regression model, perceived hope and positive
relationships were the strongest predictors of negative posttraumatic
changes. Our results are in line with a number of earlier studies (Gum &
Snyder, 2002; Ho et al., 2011; Hullmann et al., 2014), indicating that
hope and quality social relationships might act as protective factors
against the negative psychological consequences of traumatic events.
The important role of interpersonal relationships in coping with
challenging life situations had already been confirmed by previous
studies (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Schwarzer & Leppin, 1991; Shepherd &
Hodgkinson, 1990), many of which established social support as
a significant predictor of posttraumatic growth (Cermak & Kohoutek,
2004; McDonough, Sabiston & Wrosch, 2014; Prati & Pietrantoni,
2009; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004b). Lazarus and Folkman (1984) note
Chapter 7 A Study on Hope and Posttraumatic Changes
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83
the buffering effect of social relations in coping with stressful cognitive
appraisals, i.e. the encounters that are appraised as involving harm/loss,
threat or challenge to oneself.
If we consider hopeful thinking in the sense of Snyder’s cognitive
hope theory, the pathways hope component was not found to bear any
significant connection to negative posttraumatic changes. The effect of
the agency component was slightly stronger, possibly evidencing the
protective effects of goal-oriented energy against hopelessness,
helplessness and depression that would otherwise lead to greater
persistence of the negative effects of a traumatic event (Peleg et al.,
2009).
Our findings exhibit a certain congruence with the assertion that the
agency component of hope is more closely related to life satisfaction
than the pathways component and that is can even predict different
behaviours (Bailey & Snyder, 2007; Geraghty, Wood, & Hyland, 2010).
As regards meaningfulness, its predictive force in the regression model
predicting negative posttraumatic changes was negligible.
Summing up the findings related to the first two objectives of our
study, our results suggest that for positive posttraumatic changes to
occur the trauma survivor needs to perceive their life as meaningful.
A protective role against negative posttraumatic changes is played
predominantly by positive relations to others; these serve as an
important source of social support. Posttraumatic growth is also
facilitated by perceived hope, which, however, is more prominent as
a protective factor against the negative psychological consequences of
traumatic events. A rather unexpected impact was exerted by the agency
hope component, whose correlation with positive posttraumatic changes
was found to be negative rather than positive (albeit weak). The
seemingly paradoxical finding indicates that excessive efforts may do
more harm than good. As Tedeschi and Calhoun (1995) point out, in
order to grow psychologically after a trauma, one needs to be able to
balance action (i.e. the steps that need to be taken to cope with the
traumatic situation) on the one hand and inactivity, patience and
conciliation on the other.
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The last objective of our study was to investigate the relationship
between demographic variables and perceived and dispositional hope
scores. With respect to gender, we found men significantly more
dispositionally hopeful than women, who nevertheless exhibited higher
levels of perceived hope. The latter finding is not a novel one; Visser,
Loess, Jeglic, and Hirsch (2013) also revealed higher levels of
dispositional hope in men, while women were proven to show more
depressive symptoms. Since we used a new method for measuring
perceived hope, no comparable findings on the gender-dependence of
perceived hope levels are available. We could possibly make an implicit
comparison with the expected higher rationality in men as opposed to
emotionality in women; pursuing this vein of thought, hope could be
viewed as a gender-related contruct that is perceived differently by each
of the sexes. However, some authors (e.g. Fischer, 1993) questioned the
gender differences in emotionality, stating that the idea that women are
more emotional than men reflects western gender stereotypes rather than
women’s actual mindset.
As regards age, highest levels of both perceived and dispositional
hope were exhibited by the respondents aged 50 to 59 years, but the
differences from the other groups were not significant. A significantly
lower level of perceived hope was established for the 18-29 age group;
for dispositional hope, it was the 30-39 age group. Age differences in
dispositional hope were investigated by Bailey and Snyder (2007), who
found a decrease in hope with age. However, our own results are not
congruent with Bailey and Snyder’s finding, but more in line with those
of Visser et al. (2013). The low levels of perceived hope among the
group of young adults may be explained by the close link between
perceived hope and meaningfulness. Because the perception that one’s
life is meaningful has been repeatedly proven to be lower in adolescence
and early adulthood than in late adulthood (Halama, 2015), low
perceived hope in young adulthood can be reflective of low feelings of
meaningfulness.
Marital status had already been proven to be closely related to hope;
in a study by Bailey and Snyder (2007), the people who were divorced
or widowed exhibited much lower hope levels than those who were in
Chapter 7 A Study on Hope and Posttraumatic Changes
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85
a long-term partnership, married or even single, which, according to
Snyder (2002), can be explained in terms of a decline in hope following
a loss of the life partner. The close connection between hope and marital
status was also demonstrated by our own results. The highest levels of
perceived as well as dispositional hope were observed in the
respondents living with a partner or spouse. The importance of close
relationships for hope was also reflected in that most respondents
identified their significant others as their primary objects of hope and
main hope providers.
We also found the highest levels of hope to be connected with the
highest level of education attained. The respondents with a university
degree showed the highest levels of perceived as well as dispositional
hope; by contrast, those with only elementary or secondary education
were significantly less hopeful. There is evidence of hope being related
to better academic performance (Park & Peterson, 2009; Snyder et al.,
2002), job satisfaction (Reichard et al., 2013) and effective coping
strategies (Vatan et al., 2014). In addition, the level of education
achieved was established as a significant predictor of subjective wellbeing
(Diener et al., 1999; Ross & Van Willigen, 1997), which in turn
can also have a positive effect on hope.
Hope is not only perceived by the individual, but it can also be
transmitted to others. For this reason, we investigated the relationship
between hope scores and the respondents’ involvement in voluntary or
charity activities. The effect of volunteering was remarkable: the
respondents who were engaged in volunteering (altruistic and selfless
activity of any kind) showed significantly higher dispositional as well as
perceived hope levels than those who were only set on pursuing their
own happiness and looking after their own personal needs. They also
saw their life as being more meaningful and were generally happier.
This is in line with earlier studies on positive effect of volunteering on
subjective well-being (Lyubomirsky, 2007; Piliavin, 2007; Schnell &
Hoof, 2012).
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7.5.1 Limitations and Future Research
The principal limitation of our study is related to the use of
convenience sampling which resulted in a predominance of women and
younger respondents in the research sample. It might have been caused
by the fact that women and younger individuals generally tend to
express a greater propensity to cooperate. However, the rest of the other
demographic factors are fairly evenly distributed across the research
sample. Further bias might have been caused by factors such as selfpresentation
and decreased introspection. Another limitation is due to
the fact that a six-point response scale was used for each measurement
scale, regardless of the original version.
The benefits of our research concern verification of a new method –
the Czech version of the Perceived Hope Scale - for measuring
perceived hope with particular focus on the different roles of perceived
and dispositional hope in relation to positive and negative posttraumatic
changes. More information on the dynamics and the direction of
causality of the relations between the investigated variables could be
obtained by conducting a longitudinal study that would include
personality traits and other psychosocial variables capable of providing
a deeper insight into the investigated phenomena.
At the level of application, our findings on the protective role of
hope, meaningfulness and positive social relationships in coping with
traumatic life events can be beneficial not only in clinical contexts, but
also in the area of prevention (primary, secondary, tertiary). Fostering
hopeful thinking in psychologically vulnerable clients, assisting them in
the development of feelings of meaningfulness and encouraging the
creation of close and mutually enriching relationships with other people
will help the clients to cope with difficult life situations.
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87
Chapter 8. Conclusion
The previous chapters were devoted to exploring the multifaceted
phenomenon of hope which is essential to human life. Where there is
hope, there is life, we might as well say, reversing the quote by Cicero.
Hope has been shown to be closely connected to mental health and
psychological well-being across all age groups. A highly valuable
finding, in our view, is that a hopeful approach to life and hopeful
thinking can be fostered from early childhood. In adulthood, hope can
act as an important protective element when facing life challenges and
difficulties. Hope does not cease to be important in the old age: on the
contrary, the ability to fight one’s fears, doubt and feelings of
resignation is one of the aspects of successful ageing.
There are numerous other factors that have been proven to affect
hope - physical health, spirituality, socioeconomic factors among others
- but whose thorough exploration would have been beyond the scope of
the present work. A scientifically interesting question that remains to be
answered (and could possibly be clarified by the International Hope
Barometer project) is whether and to what extent hope is culturally
determined.
Though the level of one’s ability to maintain an optimistic and
hopeful approach is, to a certain extent, innate it can also be
significantly affected by upbringing as well as by conscious selfimprovement
efforts.
By way of conclusion we provide a brief summary of what can be
done to develop or maintain a more hopeful attitude.
Hope is known to be closely connected with happiness and
satisfaction with life; thus, if we can value the positive things in life and
be thankful for all the good that comes to us, instead of worrying about
what we do not have or cannot change, our hope will grow.
Importantly, hope also needs to be viewed in the context of one’s
value system, for it is always relational, whether it is related to an
object, an abstract personal goal, a person or a transcendental
phenomenon. If the object of hope is in harmony with our value system,
it upholds our motivation and belief in our ability to attain the goal. For
Chapter 8 Conclusion
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88
this reson, it may be beneficial to ask ourselves from time to time what
it is we truly want to achieve in life; to identify our true values and
priorities so that we can pursue our lives in congruence with them.
While hope is predominantly considered to be an attribute of an
individual, it is never completely detached from the wider context of the
individual’s relations with other people, nature or the Universe. By
developing a deeper connection with our social environment and the
natural and spiritual world we can thus help to nourish our hope.
Last but not least, hope can be transmitted to others by varying
means, be these material, social, emotional or spiritual. Those who
provide hope to others report more happiness and perceive their lives as
being more meaningful. From time to time, let us take our eyes away
from our own wishes and desires and find out how we can bring a little
hope to the lives of the people around us.
To sum up, hope is what builds a meaningful bridge to a better future
in times of adversity, uncertainty, and personal, social, economic, or
political crises. By showing a direction, suggesting a way and
strengthening one’s belief in attaining meaningful goals, hope can
protect people against negativity and despair.
Hope proved to be a driving force of optimal human development
and a precious key to the flourishing of both the individual and the
whole of society.
Hope and Well-being
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89
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Summary
This monograph discusses the psychology of hope, which constitutes
a part of the scientific field of positive psychology. It takes
a comprehensive approach, introducing the reader to the varying
theoretical frameworks and approaches to the study of hope and the
measurement methods used. It also presents the main findings of various
studies investigating the role of hope in relation to mental health and
well-being among different populations. The chapters on the
relationship between hope and age, as well as between hope and mental
health, contain some of the author’s original research. A separate
chapter is devoted to discuss the results of an extensive empirical study
by the author on the connection between hope and posttraumatic
growth. Another chapter suggests possible hope-based interventions in
the areas of education, psychotherapy and counselling. The book also
contains an extensive list of related literature and Index.
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Index
A
academic achievement 23, 46
accomplishment 4
adaptation 38, 40, 45, 64, 67
adult 1, 16, 27, 30, 34, 36, 40, 45, 50, 72, 84
affective 18, 26 28, 58
agency 11-17, 27, 35, 42, 47, 50, 59, 67, 72, 76, 83
anger 18
altruism 36
anxiety 18, 24, 29, 41, 42, 47, 54, 62, 67, 71
asthma 24
attachment 15, 22, 28, 40
autonomy 74
authentic 4, 21
awareness 37, 55, 60
B
barriers 11, 12
brain 42
broaden-and-build theory 19
buffer 24, 62, 83
C
cancer 25, 26, 46, 54, 67
character 3, 8, 20-24, 53, 62
childhood 12, 15, 16, 21, 34, 59, 87
children 1, 27, 31-34, 36, 46, 48, 52, 53, 67, 75,
Christian 7, 49
college 23, 44, 46, 47, 53, 57
coping 1, 16-18, 21, 31, 36-38, 40-46, 64-68, 82, 86
cognitive 9, 10-18, 23-28, 52, 58, 66, 67, 73, 82, 83
counselling 2, 4, 6, 52, 54, 56, 59
courage 7, 10, 22
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couple 56, 57
curiosity 2
D
death 17, 37
diabetes 20
depression 19, 24, 33, 41-43, 46, 50, 54, 62, 67, 83
desire 6, 7, 9, 59, 88
despair 18, 25, 41, 56, 58, 59, 88
development
- in adolescence 34
- depression 41
- hope 15, 16
- posttraumatic 63, 64, 65
- psychological 31, 64
- psychosocial 20, 21, 50
- PTSD 61, 62
E
education 4, 23, 25, 26, 34, 38, 79, 85
elderly 37-39
emotions 5, 8, 12, 18, 36
- negative 13, 24, 45
- positive 4, 10, 17-20, 24, 49, 57, 62
empathy 63, 73
energy 11, 21, 27, 34, 42, 54, 72, 83
engagement 4, 36, 37, 55, 70, 78-80
ethics 5, 74
eudaimonia 2, 4, 51
experience 3, 5, 8-10, 12-16, 24, 28, 45, 54, 63, 66, 72, 81
extraversion 48
F
factor 2, 8, 34, 38, 45, 57, 60, 72
- biological 63
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- demographic 78, 86
- external 10
- hope-promoting 9
- hope-inhibiting 9
- protective 1, 3, 31, 42, 82, 83
- psychological 63
- socioeconomic 87
failure 13, 17
faith 7, 24, 36
family 14-16, 25-27, 32, 34, 38, 40, 45, 44-57, 61, 74-75, 81
fear 7, 18, 69, 87
feeling 4, 8, 12-13, 20-21, 24, 41, 49, 55, 58, 63, 86
flourishing 2, 4, 19, 35, 36, 47, 57, 64, 88
future 7-10, 14, 22, 26-29, 32, 36, 40, 44, 55, 56, 69, 72, 88
G
gender 35, 38, 43, 70, 78, 84
goal 9, 11-19, 25-27, 34, 41, 42, 53-58, 72, 88
God 7
Greek 7, 38
grief 59
growth 56, 59
- personal 3, 64
- posttraumatic 5, 6, 62-67
- stress-related 64, 66, 75, 81-83
guilt 18
H
happiness 2-5, 23, 34, 44, 85, 87, 88
health 3, 18, 20, 25, 29, 30, 31, 33-36, 39, 40, 49, 58, 65, 74,
87
- mental 1, 2, 9, 19, 24, 35, 57, 87
heart 25, 45
hedonic 4
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helplessness 41, 42, 62, 63, 83
hope
- Barometer 2, 43, 46, 50, 69, 87
- definitions 7-10, 25, 58
- dispositional 13, 14, 18, 24, 27, 30, 33, 43, 47-49, 61,
66, 70, 72, 75, 78-85
- false 16, 17, 61
- theories 7-18, 25, 28, 41, 54, 58
- interventions 5, 6, 41, 42, 52-58, 61
- perceived 24, 29, 33, 43, 48, 70, 75, 78-86
- programmes 52, 53, 56, 57, 61
- scales 26-29
hopefulness 28, 47, 50, 57
hormone 20
humanistic 3, 66
humanity 5, 22
I
imagination 9, 55
immune system 20
implicit 25, 50, 54, 84
intelligence 21, 24, 62
interpersonal 9, 26, 44, 58, 82
isolation 55, 73
J
job 35, 47, 85
joy 12, 19
justice 7, 22, 49
L
life satisfaction 23, 24, 33-39, 43, 47-51, 57, 70, 73, 75, 81
life course 1, 12, 30
learning 12, 15, 19, 23
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locus of control 10
locus of hope 14, 81
love 7, 19, 23, 49, 62
M
marriage 38, 56
meaningfulness3, 4, 6, 32, 33, 38, 39, 43, 48-50, 58, 70, 73-76,
81-86
meditation 55
memories 9, 62
mindfulness 20, 60
mindset 12, 54, 84
moral 3
mother 25, 37, 46, 67
motivation 3, 10-12, 14, 17, 21, 54, 67
N
narrative 28, 52
needs 9, 21, 22, 48, 85
negative
- changes 70, 72, 76-78, 81-83
- effects 24, 41, 62-65
- emotions 13, 18, 24, 45
- goals 12
- live experience 5, 35, 63, 66
- outcomes 25
- thinking 2
neuroticism 45, 47
nursing 38
O
optimism 3, 4, 8, 14, 15, 23, 24, 29, 31, 36, 40, 45-47, 50,
52, 62, 66, 67
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P
pain 54, 56
parents 15, 31, 48, 67, 71, 79, 80
pathways 11-13, 17, 24-27, 37, 41, 42, 48, 50, 53-56, 67,
72, 76, 82, 83
passivity 13
patients 10, 17, 24-26, 40-42, 57, 67
PERMA 4
personality trait3, 6, 13, 21, 22, 28, 37, 47, 86
philosophy 6
positive
- aspects 2, 5
- changes 63, 64, 66, 70, 72, 75-77, 81-83
- emotions 4, 10, 13, 17-20, 24, 49, 57, 62
- expectations 8, 40
- future 7, 28, 58
- goals 11
- illusions 16
- impact 11, 41, 44, 47, 52
- mood 50, 51
- relationships 31, 33, 70, 73, 81
- outcomes 24, 25
- psychology 1-5, 21, 32, 45
posttraumatic growth 5, 6, 62-67
predictors 33, 35, 37, 39, 42, 43, 47-49, 65, 66, 75, 76, 82
PTSD 5, 61, 62
Q
qualitative 5, 64
quality of life 29, 34, 37-39, 46
quantitative 5
R
religion 25, 26, 29, 49
resilience 4, 6, 8, 10, 40, 45, 46, 52, 53, 62
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S
school 24, 27, 31-34, 52, 53, 57
self-efficacy 8, 14, 15, 24, 47, 59
self-esteem 14
sense of coherence 50
social relationships 34, 37, 63, 76, 82, 86
spirituality 22, 49, 63
strengths 3, 4, 20-24, 34, 53, 57, 62
stress 20, 24, 35, 40, 43-48, 62-66
students 31-33, 44, 46, 52, 53
suicidal 42
successful ageing 36, 39, 87
suffering 2, 25, 26, 54, 58, 62, 63
survivor 25, 61, 63, 66, 68, 83
T
temperance 7, 22
theology 6
therapist 54-60, 80
therapy 18, 54-60
thinking
- goal-directed 15, 27, 30
- hopeful 6, 8, 11, 15, 16, 31, 38, 45, 53, 68, 83, 86, 87
- negative 2
time 9-13, 26, 66, 88
transcendence 21-23, 59, 60
trauma 24, 61-63, 65, 68
U
uncertainty 8, 26, 67, 88
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V
vagus nerve 20
values 57, 63, 88
virtues 7, 21-23
vitality 4, 34
volunteering 80, 85
vulnerability 46
W
war 61
well-being 1, 2, 8, 19, 35, 46, 50
- emotional 4, 31,
- psychological 4, 17, 33, 35, 73, 87
- social 4
- subjective 1, 3, 6, 14, 15, 18, 32, 45-48, 52, 81, 85
willpower 53
will to meaning3, 64
wisdom 22, 23, 58
Y
youth 3, 31, 33, 52
ISBN: 978-99957-890-2-2 (electronic)
ISBN: 978-99957-890-1-5 (paperback)
Centre for Resilience and
Socio-Emotional Health
University of Malta
This monograph discusses the psychology of hope, which
constitutes a part of the scientific field of positive psychology.
It takes a comprehensive approach, introducing the reader to the
varying theoretical frameworks and approaches to the study of
hope and the measurement methods used. It also presents the
main findings of various studies investigating the role of hope
in relation to mental health and well-being among different
populations. The chapters on the relationship between hope and
age, as well as between hope and mental health, contain some of
the author’s original research. A separate chapter is devoted to
discuss the results of an extensive empirical study by the author on
the connection between hope and posttraumatic growth. Another
chapter suggests possible hope-based interventions in the areas
of education, psychotherapy and counselling.