Hope

🌟 Objectives

• Understanding how hope 🌈 can be measured 📏
• Understanding what does hope 💫 predict 🔮
• Understanding the relationship 🔗 between hope and positive states ✨ and outcomes in one's life 🌺
• Understanding the importance of different temporal orientations ⏰: past 📜, present 🎯 & future 🚀

📊 Scales: Can Hope be Measured?

Using hope theory 📚, Snyder and his colleagues have developed several self-report scales 📋. First, Snyder, Harris, et al, (1991) developed a 12-item trait measure 📝 for adults ages 16 and older 👥, in which 4 items reflect pathways 🛤️, 4 items reflect agency 💪, and 4 items are distracters 🚫. An example pathways item is "I can think of many ways 🧠 to get out of a jam 🎯," and an example agency item is "I energetically pursue ⚡ my goals 🎯."

Respondents respond to each item on an 8-point Likert continuum 📊 (1=Definitely false ❌ to 8=Definitely true ✅). The internal consistency 🔄 (alpha level) typically has been in the .80 range 📈, and test-retest reliabilities have been .80 or above 🔝 over time periods of 8 to 10 weeks ⏱️. Furthermore, there are extensive data 📊 on the concurrent validity of the Hope Scale 📏 in regard to its predicted positive correlations ➕ with scales tapping such similar concepts 💭 as optimism 😊, expectancy for attaining goals 🎯, expected control 🎮, and self-esteem 💎, and there have been negative correlations ➖ with scales reflecting opposite constructs such as hopelessness 😔, depression 😢, and pathologies 🏥. Finally, several factor-analytic studies 🔬 provide support for the pathways 🛤️ and agency 💪 components of the Hope Scale 📊 (Babyak, Snyder, & Yoshinobu, 1993).

👶 Children's Hope Scale

Snyder, Hoza, et al. (1997)

The Children's Hope Scale 📋 (CHS; Snyder, Hoza, et al., 1997) is a six-item self-report trait measure 📝 appropriate for children 👧👦 age 8 to 15. Three of the six items reflect agency thinking 💪 (e.g., "I think I am doing pretty well 😊"), and three reflect pathways thinking 🛤️ (e.g., "When I have a problem 🤔, I can come up with lots of ways to solve it 💡"). Children respond to the items on a 6-point Likert continuum 📊 (1=None of the time ⏰ to 6= All of the time ⏰). The alphas have been close to .80 🔝 across several samples, and the test-retest reliabilities for 1-month intervals 📅 have been .70 to .80 📈. The CHS has shown convergent validity ✅ in terms of its positive relationships ➕ with indices of strengths 💪 (e.g., self-worth 💎), and negative relationships ➖ with indices of problem 🚧 (e.g., depression 😢). Lastly, factor analyses 🔬 have corroborated the two-factor structure of the CHS 📊.

📍 State Hope Scale

(Snyder et al., 1996)

Snyder and colleagues (Snyder, Sympson, et al., 1996) also have developed the State Hope Scale 📋 (SHS), a six-item self-report scale 📝 that taps here-and-now 🎯 goal-directed thinking 💭. Three items reflect pathways thinking 🛤️, e.g., "There are lots of ways 🧠 around any problem 🤔 that I am facing now 📍"—and three items reflect agency thinking 💪—"At the present time 🕐, I am energetically ⚡ pursuing my goals 🎯." The response range is 1 = Definitely false ❌ to 8 = Definitely true ✅. Internal reliabilities are quite high 🔝 (alphas often in the .90 range 📈).

Strong concurrent validity results 📊 also show that SHS scores correlate positively ➕ with state indices of self-esteem 💎 and positive affect 😊 and negatively ➖ with state indices of negative affect 😔. Likewise, manipulation-based studies 🔬 reveal that SHS scores increase 📈 or decrease 📉 according to situational successes ✅ or failures ❌ in goal-directed activities 🎯. Finally, factor analysis 📊 has supported the two-factor structure of the SHS ✅.

🔮 What Does Hope Predict?

💊 Hope and Health

Hope helps 🤝 in positive changes ➕ that happen in psychological treatment 🏥 also.

📊 Correlational Evidence

Hope correlates positively ➕ with coping 💪 with severe burns 🔥, arthritis 🦴, spinal cord injury 🏥, and blindness 👓. It has high correlations 📈 with happiness 😊, satisfaction 😄, positive emotions ✨, getting along with others 👥, etc.

📸 Cross-sectional Evidence

Individuals with high 🔝 (vs. low 📉) hope remain energized ⚡ during the recuperative process 🏥. High hopers 🌟 also experience less pain 😌 and tolerate pain 💪 twice as long 2️⃣✖️ as low hopers 😔.

🎓 Hope and Academic Success

📊 Correlational Evidence

In the area of academics 📚, higher Hope Scale scores 📈 taken at the beginning of college 🎓 have predicted better cumulative grade point average 📊 and whether students remain in school 🏫 (Snyder, Shorey, et al., 2002).

📸 Cross-sectional Evidence

Individuals with high 🔝 (vs. low 📉) hope make adaptive attributions 🧠 for success ✅ and failure ❌. High hopers 🌟 are more likely to graduate 🎓 from college (40% of students with low hope 📉 completed college within 6 years ⏰ whereas 50% of students with moderate hope 📊 and 57% of students with high hope 🔝 achieved their goal 🎯 of graduating within time ⏱️).

📅 Longitudinal Evidence

In a six-year study 🔬, hope scores 📊 of entering freshmen 🎓 predicted better overall GPA 📈 even after controlling for entrance exam scores 📝.

⚽ Hope and Sports Success

In the area of sports 🏆, higher Hope Scale scores 📈 taken at the beginning of college track season 🏃 have predicted the superior performances 🥇 of male athletes 💪 and have done so beyond the coach's rating 📊 of natural athletic abilities 🌟 (Curry et al., 1997).

🧠 Hope and Psychotherapy

Hope has been advanced as the common factor 🔗 underlying the positive changes ➕ that happen in psychological treatments 🏥.

⏰ Temporal Orientations: Past

Past orientation 📜 often is characterized by an emphasis on pleasurable views 😊 of previous interpersonal relationships 🤝 with friends 👫 and family 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦. This somewhat sentimental perspective 💭 focuses on the happiness 😊 to be derived in warm personal interactions 🤗. Less positively, however, the past orientation 📜 can produce a very conservative 🛡️ overly cautious approach 🚶 to one's life, along with a desire to preserve the status quo 📊 that makes the person unwilling ❌ to experience new things 🆕. Likewise there is no guarantee ⚠️ that the view of the past is positive ✅; those who hold negative views ➖ about their pasts 📜 are filled with ruminations 🌀, anxieties 😰, and depressive thoughts 😔 and feelings (often about traumatic childhood events 👶). Of course, this latter content fills many library shelves 📚 with books on the pathologies 🏥 stemming from childhood traumas 😢.

🎯 Temporal Orientations: Present

The person who lives for the present 📍 can be described in hedonistic terms 🎉 that have both good ✅ and bad ❌ consequences. The individual living in the moment 🕐, derives great pleasure 😄 in highly intense activities ⚡, relishes the thrills 🎢 and excitements 🎊 found in the here and now 🎯, and remains open 🔓 to the ongoing adventures 🌟 of the moment.

Although most of us probably do not remember 🤔 our toddler years 👶, it is likely that we then lived a here-and-now existence 🎯 as we pursued our momentary whims 💭 and desires to the fullest 💯. When adults 👨👩 are committed solely to this present orientation 📍, however, some may suffer the negative consequences ❌ of the hedonistic adventures 🎢. For example, addictions 🚬, injuries 🤕 from accidents 💥, and various temptations 😈 can destroy the career aspirations 💼 of the person who lives only with such a hedonistic present orientation 🎉. Such people risk ⚠️ in a variety of arenas, including the driving of automobiles 🚗, sexual encounters 💋, and drug use 💊 (Keough et al., 1999). Regarding these problems ⚠️ associated with present orientations 📍, we can understand why moderation ⚖️ is considered the best policy 👍 in Islam ☪️.

🚀 Temporal Orientations: Future

The person with a future orientation 🔮 thinks ahead 🧠 to the possible consequences of his or her actions 🎯. As we have learned, future-oriented people 🚀:

• Form clear goals 🎯 and conjure the requisite paths 🛤️ to reach those goals 🌟
• They are likely to engage in preventive behaviours 🛡️ to lessen the likelihood of bad things ❌ happening in the future 🔮.
• Such people are successful ✅ in life's endeavors 🏆—in academics 📚, jobs 💼, sports ⚽, and health 💪.

❓ Which Orientation Characterizes Your Life?

Philip Zimbardo introduced his Time Perspective Inventory 📋 (1999). This is a 56-item scale 📝 and consists on five point Likert scale 📊. With this scale you can ascertain 🔍 the degree to which each of the following five temporal orientations ⏰ best characterizes you across situations:

1. Past-negative 📜➖
2. Past-positive 📜✅
3. Present-fatalistic 🎯😔
4. Present-hedonistic 🎯🎉
5. Future 🚀

📊 Personal Mini-Experiments: Estimate of the Time Spent

🧪 Testing Different Orientations

• Identify 🔍 the most meaningful event 🎯 in the upcoming week 📅/month (i.e., the event you are most looking forward to 😊 or the one you are most dreading 😰).
• Think 💭 how you will approach that event 🎯 and how that might affect the outcome 📊.
• Think 🧠 about alternative orientations ⏰ and outcomes 🎯.

⚖️ Toward a Balanced Time Perspective

"Working hard 💪 when it's time ⏰ to work 💼, playing intensively 🎉 when it's time to play 🎮, enjoying listening 👂 grandma's old stories 📜 when she is still alive 👵, viewing children 👶 through the eyes of wonder 👁️ with which they see the world 🌍, laughing 😂 at jokes and life's absurdities 🎭, indulging in desires 💭 and passions ❤️"

📚 References

Snyder, C.R., & Lopez, S.J. (2007). Positive Psychology. London: Sage Publications (pp. 192-199).