Hope
Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's own life, or the world at large. As a verb, Merriam-Webster defines hope as "to expect with confidence" or "to cherish a desire with anticipation".
Among its opposites are dejection, hopelessness, and despair.
Hope finds expression through many dimensions of human life, including practical reasoning, the religious virtue of hope, legal doctrine, and literature, alongside cultural and mythological aspects.
In psychology
American professor of psychology Barbara Fredrickson argues that hope comes into its own when crisis looms, opening us to new creative possibilities. Frederickson argues that with great need comes an unusually wide range of ideas, as well as such positive emotions as happiness and joy, courage, and empowerment, drawn from four different areas of one's self: from a cognitive, psychological, social, or physical perspective. Such positive thinking bears fruit when based on a realistic sense of optimism, not on a naive "false hope".The psychologist Charles R. Snyder linked hope to the existence of a goal, combined with a determined plan for reaching that goal. Alfred Adler had similarly argued for the centrality of goal-seeking in human psychology, as too had philosophical anthropologists like Ernst Bloch. Snyder also stressed the link between hope and mental willpower, as well as the need for realistic perception of goals, arguing that the difference between hope and optimism was that the former can look like wishful thinking but the latter provides the energy to find practical pathways for an improved future. D. W. Winnicott saw a child's antisocial behavior as expressing as a cry for help, an unconscious hope, meaning an unspoken desire for a positive outcome for those who are in control in the wider society, when containment within the immediate family had failed. Object relations theory similarly sees the analytic transference as motivated in part by an unconscious hope that past conflicts and traumas can be dealt with anew.
Hope Theory
As a specialist in positive psychology, Snyder studied how hope and forgiveness can impact several aspects of life such as health, work, education, and personal meaning. He postulated that three main things make up hopeful thinking:- Goals – Approaching life in a goal-oriented way.
- Pathways – Finding different ways to achieve your goals.
- Agency – Believing that you can instigate change and achieve these goals.
Snyder argues that individuals who are able to realize these three components and develop a belief in their ability are hopeful people who can establish clear goals, imagine multiple workable pathways toward those goals, and persevere, even when obstacles get in their way.
Snyder proposed a "Hope Scale" which considered that a person's determination to achieve their goal is their measured hope. Snyder differentiates between adult-measured hope and child-measured hope. The Adult Hope Scale by Snyder contains 12 questions: 4 measuring 'pathways thinking', 4 measuring 'agency thinking', and 4 that are simply fillers. Each subject responds to each question using an 8-point scale. Fibel and Hale measure hope by combining Snyder's Hope Scale with their own Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale to empirically measure hope. Snyder regarded that psychotherapy can help focus attention on one's goals, drawing on tacit knowledge of how to reach them. Similarly, there is an outlook and a grasp of reality to hope, distinguishing No Hope, Lost Hope, False Hope and Real Hope, which differ in terms of viewpoint and realism.
Contemporary philosopher Richard Rorty understands hope as more than goal setting, rather as a metanarrative, a story that serves as a promise or reason for expecting a better future. Rorty as postmodernist believes past meta-narratives, including the Christian story, utilitarianism, and Marxism have proved false hopes; that theory cannot offer social hope; and that liberal man must learn to live without a consensual theory of social hope. Rorty says a new document of promise is needed for social hope to exist again.
In healthcare
Major theories
Of the countless models that examine the importance of hope in an individual's life, two major theories have gained a significant amount of recognition in the field of psychology. One of these theories, developed by Charles R. Snyder, argues that hope should be viewed as a cognitive skill that demonstrates an individual's ability to maintain drive in the pursuit of a particular goal. This model reasons that an individual's ability to be hopeful depends on two types of thinking: agency thinking and pathway thinking. Agency thinking refers to an individual's determination to achieve their goals despite possible obstacles, while pathway thinking refers to the ways in which an individual believes they can achieve these personal goals.Snyder's theory uses hope as a mechanism that is most often seen in psychotherapy. In these instances, the therapist helps their client overcome barriers that have prevented them from achieving goals. The therapist would then help the client set realistic and relevant personal goals, and would help them remain hopeful of their ability to achieve these goals, and suggest the correct pathways to do so.
Whereas Snyder's theory focuses on hope as a mechanism to overcome an individual's lack of motivation to achieve goals, the other major theory developed by Kaye A. Herth deals more specifically with an individual's future goals as they relate to coping with illnesses. Herth views hope as "a motivational and cognitive attribute that is theoretically necessary to initiate and sustain action toward goal attainment". Establishing realistic and attainable goals in this situation is more difficult, as the individual most likely does not have direct control over the future of their health. Instead, Herth suggests that the goals should be concerned with how the individual is going to personally deal with the illness—"Instead of drinking to ease the pain of my illness, I am going to surround myself with friends and family".
While the nature of the goals in Snyder's model differ with those in Herth's model, they both view hope as a way to maintain personal motivation, which ultimately will result in a greater sense of optimism.
Major empirical findings
Hope, and more specifically, particularized hope, has been shown to be an important part of the recovery process from illness; it has strong psychological benefits for patients, helping them to cope more effectively with their disease. For example, hope motivates people to pursue healthy behaviors for recovery, such as eating fruits and vegetables, quitting smoking, and engaging in regular physical activity. This not only helps to enhance people's recovery from illnesses but also helps prevent illness from developing in the first place. Patients who maintain high levels of hope have an improved prognosis for life-threatening illness and an enhanced quality of life. Belief and expectation, which are key elements of hope, block pain in patients suffering from chronic illness by releasing endorphins and mimicking the effects of morphine. Consequently, through this process, belief and expectation can set off a chain reaction in the body that can make recovery from chronic illness more likely. This chain reaction is especially evident with studies demonstrating the placebo effect, a situation when hope is the only variable aiding in these patients' recovery.Overall, studies have demonstrated that maintaining a sense of hope during a period of recovery from illness is beneficial. A sense of hopelessness during the recovery period has, in many instances, resulted in adverse health conditions for the patient. Additionally, having a greater amount of hope before and during cognitive therapy has led to decreased PTSD-related depression symptoms in war veterans. Hope has also been found to be associated with more positive perceptions of subjective health. However, reviews of research literature have noted that the connections between hope and symptom severity in other mental health disorders are less clear, such as in cases of individuals with schizophrenia.
Hope is a powerful protector against chronic or life-threatening illnesses. A person's hope can be helpful by finding joy or comfort. It can be created and focused on achieving life goals, such as meeting grandchildren or attending a child's wedding. Hope can be an opportunity for us to process and go through events, that can be traumatic. A setback in life, an accident, or our own final months of living can be times when hope is comfort and serves as a pathway from one stage to the next.
Hope is a powerful emotion that drives us to keep working and moving forward. It gives us the power to survive. In a study conducted by Harvard, Curt Richter experimented with 12 wild rats and 12 domesticated rats. The wild rats, known for their great swimming abilities, survived for only about two minutes when placed in a glass container of water with no way of escape. In contrast, the domesticated rats survived for days. Curt attributed this difference to hope. The domesticated rats hoped to be saved from drowning, but the wild rats had no such hope, as they had never experienced rescue.
Curt decided to run another experiment with 12 wild rats. He placed them in water, and when they were about to drown, he took them out and held them briefly, creating an experience of hope. He then returned the rats to the water to observe how long they would tread water. Remarkably, they survived just as long as the domesticated rats—about 60 hours. With hope, the rats went from surviving for 2 minutes to treading water for 60 hours.
Hope is a powerful emotion. It drives us to move faster, further, and longer than we thought possible. But for hope to thrive, it must be anchored in something more powerful than ourselves. The rats had hope that a saving hand would come and lift them out of the water.