Hope (psychology)
Hope in psychology is defined as a dynamic cognitive motivational system that enables individuals to set and pursue goals across various life domains, such as personal relationships, work, and academics. It encompasses the belief in the possibility of achieving one's desires and is closely linked to emotions like optimism. Historically, hope has been referenced in myths, notably in the story of Pandora, emphasizing its enduring presence in human culture. Although the study of hope gained traction in the 1960s, it is considered a fundamental emotion that influences how people navigate challenges and experience life. Psychologists have developed various methods to measure hope, with prominent models including C.R. Snyder's Hope Theory, which posits that hope is a learned behavior that involves belief in one’s capabilities to achieve goals. Individuals with higher levels of hope are better equipped to devise strategies to overcome obstacles and are more likely to adopt learning goals that foster personal growth. In contrast, those with lower hope levels may struggle to envision solutions and lack motivation. Overall, hope plays a critical role in shaping human behavior and emotional resilience.
Hope (psychology)
Hope is a concept that many people have struggled to understand and apply to everyday life since the evolution of humanity. Psychologists define hope as a dynamic cognitive motivational system, meaning that emotions are felt after knowledge is acquired. Through hope, an individual can set goals and move toward achieving those goals—goals that can be applied to any aspect of life, including sports, work, academics, relationships, or personal ambitions. To have hope means that an individual has a desire for something and believes in at least the probability of that desire becoming fulfilled.
The Greek myth of Pandora, the first woman created by Zeus and sent to Earth with a box that she was warned never to open, is one of the earliest references to hope. Pandora, fulfilling the destiny that Zeus had preordained for her, opened the box and immediately released all of the world's evils, unleashing illness, hatred, envy, and spite onto the world. Pandora rushed to shut the lid, but only managed to contain one thing: hope.
The essential and fundamental definition of hope has changed very little over time. Hope is featured in a multitude of myths and religions. Psychologists have even studied the idea of hope, attempting to understand its role in human behavior. There have been several methods of quantifying hope developed since Ezra Stotland provided an initial means of measurement in 1969. Stotland argued that an individual's perception of goal attainment influenced the presence of hope.
The field of positive psychology is relatively new, focusing on all the positive aspects of humankind (like hope), while also acknowledging the struggles of all individuals.
Hope and Psychology
Psychologists organize emotions as falling into several categories, but the foundations of human emotion are thought to be centered upon fear, sadness, anger, joy, and love. Secondary and tertiary categories exist, but these five are the core building blocks in the study and comprehension of how humans feel things. Other less elemental emotions include zest, contentment, pride, relief, optimism, and hope. For example, the primary emotion of joy has secondary components of optimism, cheerfulness, and enthrallment. The tertiary emotions of joy include hope, which is an offshoot of optimism.
Early theories on hope described it as an individual's positive expectancies with regard to achieving attainable goals. Although hope is a recognized aspect of the human psyche, it was not widely studied by psychologists until the 1960s. In 1960, Orval Hobart Mowrer conducted several animal-based experiments concerning goal attainment. He deduced that fear is the antithesis of hope. Four years later, Erik Erikson defined hope as "the enduring belief in the attainability of fervent wishes." By 1986, Shlomo Breznitz theorized that hope held a power over life's obstacles and that there was an important relationship between hope and life stressors. He argued that hope gave individuals the ability to overlook such stressors, and that despair and hope are intricately linked. He viewed both as "self-fulfilling prophecies," and stated that because the brain will not allow a body to expend energy without a belief in success, hope is what enables a person in a seemingly hopeless situation to endure while despair will most assuredly lead to failure.
Measuring Hope
Ezra Stotland created the earliest developed method of measuring hope in individuals in 1969. This model studied the role of expectations and theorized that hope was only present when goals are viewed as attainable. Erikson's Hope Scale, a questionnaire with twenty questions about general and common goals, relied upon Stotland's research for its basis. This Hope Scale is rarely used in the twenty-first century, however, because it lacks supporting research. In the late 1970s and 1980s, L.A. Gottschalk developed a Hope Scale that measured hope based on five-minute spoken word segments. The content of these segments demonstrated that people who have hope enjoy more positive expectations about possible outcomes in the face of adversity and are able to handle psychological problems more effectively.
Other scales have been published, but many lack validity and reliability, resulting in their limited usage. These include the Miller Hope Scale (1988), the Expected Balance Scale, and the Hope Index (both 1989). In the twenty-first century, C.R. Snyder's Hope Theory is the most recognized method in use. Snyder (1991) argued that hope is a "cognitive set involving the belief in one's capabilities to produce workable routes to goals, as well as the self-related beliefs about initiating and sustaining movement toward those goals."
C.R. Snyder also published his belief that hope is a learned behavior rather than a hereditary trait, with hopeful thoughts becoming established by the age of two or three. Children learn behavior and the skills to navigate obstacles from adults, including how to be hopeful. Those with high levels of hope have the capacity to develop multiple ideas on how to overcome obstacles and reach their goals, while those with lower levels will have neither the ability to think of a solution nor the willpower to stay motivated until the goal is attained.
In the twenty-first century the Hope Scale, the State Hope Scale, the Revised Snyder Hope Scale, and the Children's Hope Scale are all used by psychologists to measure hope within an individual. These scales work to determine respective levels of agency thinking and pathways thinking in an individual. Many psychologists believe that having hope leads an individual to form learning goals, which are those that inspire growth and improvement. Those without hope chose to form mastery goals, which are easier tasks that offer little to no challenge or opportunity for self-growth. Other studies include the evaluation of situational hope versus dispositional hope.
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