Hope
Hope is an optimistic expectation of desirable outcomes.
Kang Ri Ya · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hope is an optimistic state of mind based on an expectation of desirable outcomes. It finds expression across many dimensions of human life, including psychology, religion, law, and literature.
- field
- Psychology
- key_theorists
- Barbara Fredrickson, Charles R. Snyder, Kaye A. Herth
- related_concepts
- Goal-setting, agency thinking, pathway thinking, optimism
- opposites
- Dejection, hopelessness, despair
Lore & Background
In psychology, Barbara Fredrickson argues that hope emerges when crisis looms, opening new creative possibilities and drawing on cognitive, psychological, social, and physical resources. Charles R. Snyder linked hope to goal existence combined with a determined plan, emphasizing mental willpower and realistic perception of goals. Snyder defined hope as the perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals and motivate oneself via agency thinking. He developed a Hope Scale with 12 questions measuring pathways thinking, agency thinking, and fillers. D. W. Winnicott saw antisocial behavior in children as expressing unconscious hope for positive outcomes from those in control. Richard Rorty understood hope as a metanarrative, a story promising a better future, but argued past meta-narratives have proved false hopes.
Reader's Guide
Hope has been extensively studied in psychology, particularly through Snyder's Hope Theory, which identifies three components: goals, pathways, and agency. This framework has been applied in psychotherapy to help clients overcome barriers and set realistic goals. In healthcare, hope is shown to be an important part of recovery from illness, motivating healthy behaviors and improving prognosis for life-threatening conditions. The placebo effect demonstrates hope's role in recovery. However, connections between hope and symptom severity in some mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia, remain less clear. Herth's theory focuses on hope as a motivational and cognitive attribute for coping with illness, emphasizing realistic goals about how to personally deal with disease. Overall, hope serves as a powerful protector against chronic or life-threatening illnesses, helping patients find joy or comfort even when facing death.
Did You Know?
- Snyder's Adult Hope Scale contains 12 questions: 4 measuring pathways thinking, 4 measuring agency thinking, and 4 fillers.
- Barbara Fredrickson argues hope opens new creative possibilities when crisis looms.
- The placebo effect demonstrates hope as the only variable aiding recovery in some patients.
- Richard Rorty believed past meta-narratives like Christianity, utilitarianism, and Marxism have proved false hopes.
Gallery
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Hope?
Hope is the optimistic mental state in which a person expects that a desirable outcome will eventually occur. It functions as a forward-looking emotional orientation rather than a reaction to the present moment.
Who are the key theorists behind Hope?
Barbara Fredrickson, Charles R. Snyder, and Kaye A. Herth are the primary researchers who shaped modern understanding of Hope as a distinct psychological construct. Their work frames it as a measurable state tied to goal-directed thinking.
What concepts does Hope connect to?
Hope is most closely linked to goal-setting, agency thinking, pathway thinking, and general optimism. These related ideas form the cognitive scaffolding that makes Hope feel actionable rather than purely wishful.
What are Hope's opposites?
The direct counter-emotions are dejection, hopelessness, and despair. Where Hope points toward a possible good future, these states collapse that forward-looking expectation entirely.
Why is Hope important beyond psychology?
Hope appears as a foundational concept in religion, legal frameworks, and literature, making it one of the few emotions that spans nearly every major domain of human culture. That cross-disciplinary reach is what gives it such a prominent entry in the encyclopedia.
More in Emotions 1-21
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