Teaching Hope
Definitions and Explanations:
Hope - The overall perception that one's goals can be met. According to Snyder (2000), hope has three necessary ingredients:
Goal-oriented thoughts - Non-random human behaviors are directed by some goal, either short-term or long-term. Goals need to be of sufficient value to the individual so as to occupy conscious thought. Goals should be attainable yet challenging in nature - goals that are 100% likely to be achieved do not give people hope.
Pathways to achievement - In order to achieve goals, people need to generate plausible routes to achieve goals. This type of thought process begins in infancy when cause and effect relationships are first being understood. Children see that certain actions influence events that occur. Singular or multiple pathways need to be generated. In fact, alternative pathways should be generated when obstacles are faced. Those with the highest levels of hope tend to generate multiple pathways to goal achievement.
Agency thoughts - In this motivational component to hope, people believe that they can initiate and sustain the pathways to goal achievement. This type of thought begins after 1 year of age when children realize they are actors who can influence their environment and initiate cause-and-effect relationships. The emphasis here is on thinking and not emotions, which are a by-product of hope. Positive emotions equal perceived success in achieving goals. Negative emotions equal perceived failure in achieving goals.
In studies, hope has been linked to higher academic and athletic performance, better adjustment, and better coping with health issues:
Performance - Hope is linked to higher standardized achievement test scores but not to scores on intelligence tests. Higher hope and higher GPA are positively correlated. According to Curry (as cited in Snyder, 2000), higher hope and increased athletic performance are positively correlated.
Adjustment - The level of hope people have is related to their perceptions about themselves and their goals. People with higher levels of hope remember more positive comments and events about themselves, whereas people with lower levels remember more negative comments and events. People with higher levels of hope feel challenged by goals, whereas people with lower levels feel demoralized by goals. People with higher levels of hope have higher feelings of self-worth.
Health - Higher levels of hope are correlated with better coping skills and higher levels of pain tolerance. For spinal cord injury patients and adolescent burn survivors, those with higher levels of hope showed better coping with the problem, less depression, fewer harmful-to-recovery behaviors, and interacted better with caregivers. Using a cold-pressor test, Snyder and Brown (in Snyder, 2000) found that higher hope correlated positively with less perceived pain and greater endurance for pain. For cancer patients, higher hope was related to greater knowledge and better coping with the disease.
Landmark Studies and Suggested Readings:
Sigmon, S., & Snyder, C. R. (1993) Looking at oneself in a rose-colored mirror: The role of excuses in the negotiation of personal reality. In M. Lewis & C. Saarni (Eds.), Deception and lying in everyday life (pp.271-286). New York: Guilford.
Snyder, C. R. (2000) The past and possible futures of hope. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19.,11-28.
Snyder, C. R. & Clair, M. (1976) The effects of expected and obtained grades on teacher evaluation and attribution of performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 68, 75-82.
Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J. R., Holleran, S. A., Irving, L. M., Sigmon, S. T., Yoshinobu, L., Gibb, J., Langelle, C., & Harney, P. (1991). The will and the ways: Development and validation of an individual differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 570-585. http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~crsnyder
Snyder, C. R. (1994) The psychology of hope. New York. Free Press.
Snyder, C. R. (2000) Handbook of hope: Theory, measures, and applications. New York: Academic Press.
Williamson, G. (1998) The central role of restricted normal activities in adjustment to illness and disability: A model of depressed affect. Rehabilitation Psychology, 43, 327-347.
Williamson, G. (2000) Extending the activity restriction model of depressed affect: Evidence from a sample of breast cancer patients. Health Psychology, 19, 339-347.