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Hope-A Brief Overview
Maryam Ahsan and Reshma Bibi
Department of Applied Psychology, Govt. Graduate College for Women Gulberg
Maj/Psy-309: Positive Psychology
Ms. Sarah Usman
February 13, 2025.
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Table of Contents
Sr. No. Name Page No.
1 Hope-A Brief Overview 3
2 Origins 3
3 Definitions 3
4 Types of Hope 4
5 Hope Theory 7
7 Hope Therapy 9
8 Benefits of Hope 10
9 Hope Vs Optimism 12
10 Hope and Toxic Positivity 13
11 References 15
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Hope-A Brief Overview
Origins
Hope (n.) has been derived from Old English word “Hopa”, translating to “confidence in
the future.”. Hope the belief that one's future will be better than the present, having confidence in
one's ability to achieve desired positive outcomes, even in the face of difficulty. In psychological
context, hope has been a widely used concept. The earlier schools of thoughts viewed this
concept in a different way. In structuralism for example, the method of introspection dealt with
the subjective dimension of hope. In behaviorism however, there was a decreased focus on the
abstract concepts like hope as this particular school of thought considered behavior to be
observed empirically. During recent years, there has been significant work on hope done,
especially in the context of mental well-being of an individual. In the beginning of 1980s,
Charles Snyder set a basis upon which most of the current research is based. He also gave the
famous “Hope theory”, which gives a new definition to hope. In 1991, Herth developed Herth
Hope Scale, a 30-item test to measure different dimensions of hope.
Definitions
Hope can be defined in many ways. According to Charles Snyder (1991),
“Hope is a positive cognitive state based on a sense of successful goal-directed determination
and planning to reach these goals.”
According to Herth, K. A.,
“Hope is a motivational and cognitive attribute that is theoretically necessary to initiate and
sustain action towards goal attainment.”
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Houston, E. (2019) defines hope as,
“Hope is a positive cognitive state based on a sense of successful goal-directed dimensions and
planning to meet these goals.”
In short, hope is a positive cognitive attribute that motivates an individual to fulfil his goals. It is
a belief that one’s future would be better than one’s present, and that one has the ability to do so.
(Pedersen, T. 2022).
Types of Hope
Various types of hope have been identified by the scholars over decades. Some significant
ones include the following;
1. Realistic Hope
It is the hope for an outcome that is reasonable and probable (Wiles, Cott & Gibson, 2008). It
allows an individual to understand his situation while being open to any positive change.
Example. For example, if a student does well in exams, presentations and quizzes, she can
hope for a good GPA, it would be based on realistic expectations.
2. Transcendent Hope
Transcendent hope goes beyond physical and material world (Dr. Roy, S., 2023). It is often
associated with spiritual believes, meaning of life, purpose of life and connecting something
greater than yourself.
Example. A person who has spent a pious life can hope to go to heaven.
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Transcendent hope can be classified into further three types;
Generalized Hope. It is a belief that most things will turn out well. It is a life attitude
that expects the positive without goal focus while being realistic (O’Hara, Denis, J., 2021).
Example. For example, a person facing hard time might say that today I might be facing
a hard time but tomorrow I can be successful.
Patient Hope. In positive psychology, patient hope is defined as the positive emotional
and cognitive state that is characterized by a person’s ability to generate pathways to describe the
goals and motivate oneself to think about these goals. It is a belief that everything will turn out
better in the end, even if it takes a long time.
Example. For example, a patient with a terminal disease may hope for a cure, even if it is
in long-term.
Chosen Hope. It is the management of one’s feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. It
is a life stance. Something that one chooses to adapt. In palliative care context, chosen hope is
critical to management of despair (Houston, E., 2019).
Example. For example, a cancer patient can choose to hope and look up to the treatment
rather than being in despair.
Universal Hope. It is collective aspiration for a better future. A belief, that a greater good
still exists in the world.
Example. For example, people hoping for equality, humanitarian rights and empathy in the
world despite the current circumstances.
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3. Utopian Hope
It is a collectively oriented hope that combined action of people can lead to a better future
for everyone. A utopian hoper critically negates the present and is driven by hope to affirm a
better alternative. (Webb, 2013.)
Example. For example, if all of the humans try and solve the issue of global warming, we
can live in a peaceful way.
4. False Hope
Believing in unrealistic expectations is called false hope. For a brief period of time false
hope may seem empowering, but since it is based on unrealistic expectations, soon one can reach
distress and even failure. (Dr. Tomasulo, D.J., 2022)
Example. For example, a job can only be attained by a good degree and experience. If a
person expects to get a good job without either of those, he would be in the delusion of false
hope.
5. Situational Hope
It is the type of hope that depends on specific situations and specific circumstances.
Example. For example, resolved conflicts among siblings give hope for a good
relationship among them.
6. Dispositional Hope
It is an inherent personality trait of a person. It influences how an individual responses to
challenges and develops problem-solving skills.
Example. For example, a student having a goal set in mind would try to generate
multiple paths to success as she hopes that she has the ability to achieve them.
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Hope Theory
Chales R. Snyder, in 1970s-1980s, developed a cognitive theory explaining how people
can achieve their goals which is commonly known as “Hope Theory”. According to this theory,
“Hope is a positive motivational state that is based on an interactively derived sense of
successful agency (goal-directed energy) and pathways (planning to meet goals). (Snyder, Irving
& Anderson, 1991). In other words, hope depends upon a person’s ability to set goals and
achieve them. There are three chief components of hope theory.
1. Goals Thinking
Goals thinking is the clear conceptualization of valuable goals. Goals can be, according to
Snyder, both long-termed and short-termed. Since human actions are goal-directed (Snyder,
2002), having a goal is a foundation of hope.
2. Pathways Thinking
Pathways thinking is the strategies one develops to reach the goals. If one ‘pathway’ fails to
work, high-hope people produce an alternative way to reach that goal (Tierney, 1995).
3. Agency Thinking
Agency thought is the motivational component in hope theory (Snyder, 2002). It is the
ability to stay motivated to reach one’s goals. It is based on a person’s willpower and
determination to achieve.
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Take an example to understand these components further. Consider that a patient is suddenly
informed that she has diabetes. Regardless, she’s hopeful, and wants to move further. According
to hope theory, she’d find a goal, make a pathway and have agency thinking, like one given
below;
i. Goal: She’d make it her goal to eat healthy.
ii. Pathway: For that, she’d make a healthy diet plan.
iii. Agency: She’d follow through her diet plan by being motivated every day to follow
it.
Snyder (2002) also differentiates between high-hope people and low-hope people while
describing this theory. Some significant differences between the two are given as,
High-Hope People Low-Hope People
Enduring positive emotions Enduring negative emotions
Sense of enthusiasm about pursuit of goals Sense of lethargy about pursuit of goals
Positive self affirmations (e.g., I am ready for Negative self-talk (e.g., I’m not doing too
this challenge) well)
Attentive, focused and curious Inattentive, unfocused and apprehensive
Barriers are challenges to overcome Barriers are obstacles, stress-causing
Produce alternative pathways Do not produce alternative pathways
Challenge their albitites further Do not put themselves through such strain
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Snyder also developed a 12-item scale, Adult Hope Scale (AHS), to measure the amount of hope
with reference to pathways and agencies. Its interpretation tells one the score of one’s
pathways/waypower and agencies/willpower, along with what category of hope he/she falls into
i.e., low hope, slight hope, moderate hope and high hope.
Hope Therapy
Hope therapy is a therapeutic technique that is based upon the principles of hope theory to
help clients have a positive outlook on life. Three main components of hope therapy are:
1. Conceptualizing Clear Goals
Much like hope theory, the first step in hope therapy is to conceptualize clear goals. This step
involves in helping the client find out what exactly does he/she wants. It gives the client a sense
of clear direction.
2. Producing Multiple Pathways to Reach those Goals
Once the clear goals are set, therapist encourages the client to move forward by making
various pathways to accomplish those goals. In this step, client not only recognizes multiple
ways to reach his/her goals, but also identifies an alternative route in case one strategy seems
impractical or unattainable.
3. Reframing Barriers as Challenges to Overcome
The client will most definitely encounter challenges, or “stressors” according to Snyder
(2002), while achieving their goals. The job of a therapist is to help the client identify those
obstacles as mere challenges, that the client will have to overcome. In this way, instead of
stressing over a possible hurdle, the client will try their best to stay resilient and remain hopeful,
as a result, empowering the client.
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Benefits of Hope
Having a hopeful attitude can have several benefits in long-term. Some of them are
briefly mentioned here.
Physical Health
Hope influences physical heath in various ways. Some of its physical health benefits include;
1. Less risk of cardiovascular diseases: A hopeful outlook towards life lessens the risk of
developing cardiovascular diseases. One reason for this could be that hopeful people are
more likely to engage in healthy behaviors, such as exercising, eating healthy and are less
likely to smoke.
2. Higher functioning immune system: Hope influences the immune system of individuals
as well. According to research (of N=124 students), a positive and hopeful attitude is
directly linked to a high immune system. (Association for psychological science) The
reason behind hopeful and a positive attitude causing high functioning immune system
could be that a hopeless and stressful mindset can cause elevated stress levels, leading to
a greater than average amount of cortisol hormone. This, as a result can cause muscle
weakness, high blood sugar and weight imbalances.
3. Better prognosis in chronic illness: Hope allows individuals to be mthore resilient in case
of chronic illness. The hopeful attitude helps patients bounce back from side effects of
treatments and fuels their desire to adhere to treatment plans.
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4. Boosting of respiration and circulation: Respiratory pattern has been thought to be not
only influence hope, but also is influenced by it. Due to a better circulatory rate
throughout the body, blood circulation also increases.
5. Reduced pain perception: According to an experiment conducted by Berg, C., Snyder, R.,
& Hamilton, N., in 2008, two groups were selected to determine the relationship between
hope and pain perception. Hope was induced in one group only. After that, both groups
were asked to immerse their hands inside an ice-bucket for as long as they could. (A
standard measure of pain tolerance, and not harmful). The group receiving hope induction
immersed their hands in for 150 seconds while the average measurement for the other
group was 90 seconds. This experiment indicated that hope is negatively correlated with
pain perception, or a higher hope level can cause decreased pain perception in an
individual.
Psychological Health
Some of the benefits of hope to psychological health include following.
1. Healing of mental illness: Hope is a significant factor in mental health recovery by
providing a sense of better future and hence motivating individuals to seek treatment for
their mental illness, making them stand steadfast in face of challenges.
2. Lessened suicidal ideation: Hope is an extremely crucial element for reducing suicidal
ideation. As the cause of suicide (mostly) is extreme hopelessness. A sense that future
holds nothing but despair. However, hope provides a view of a better future. A future
worth-living. This is why hope is extremely necessary for reducing the idea of suicide.
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3. Depression, Anxiety, and Trauma related disorders: Hope provides a sense of agency and
control over a person’s life. This helps individuals stay steadfast in face of overwhelming
feelings of anxiety and depression
4. Increased optimism and self-efficacy: Hope increases an individual’s levels of optimism
and self-efficacy. By providing an individual a belief that he can achieve the goals he has
set, despite the incoming challenges. Snyder’s concept of Pathways thinking plays a
significant role in this regard.
5. Increased sense of purpose: Hope increases an individual’s sense of purpose by giving
him a goal to pursue, a way to achieve that goal and motivation to act upon that goal,
along with providing him a strong resilience.
6. Greater life satisfaction: hope increases life satisfaction by providing a general greater
overview of life and a positive outlook towards the future. Similarly, hope enables people
to achieve their goals, making them experience a general sense of achievement and a
purpose in life. This contributes to the greater general well-being of an individual.
Hope Vs Optimism
Another concept in positive psychology which is quite similar to hope is optimism, which
can be defined as, hopefulness and confidence about future. Initially, one might use it as a
synonym for hope, but these two are, in fact, very different topics.
Hope is more action-oriented than optimism, which is merely a set of expectations for a
better future (Abramson, A., 2024). Hope is an active-process, where we try to follow our wishes
and our goals through a goal-directed action. In a sense, hope is more realistic than optimism
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(Dr. Roy, S., 2023). As in optimism, we wish for a better outcome, but in case of hope, recognize
that things might not turn out as we initially planned them to.
Another difference between the two concepts is that hope is when one has little perceived
control of situation. Optimism however, is when one has more perceived control.
This could be explained by an example. Consider, for instance, a student is optimistic regarding
the weather before going on a trip. During the trip however, the weather suddenly changes and it
starts to rain. Now, the student would hope that the bad weather would go away, while preparing
for the bad weather i.e., taking out an umbrella or wearing a rain coat.
Both optimism and hope are very significant for an individual. High optimism can
increase resilience and help one cope with hardships while high hope can place one in a better
position to reach one’s goals.
Hope and Toxic Positivity
With the current awareness about topics like mental health and well-being, there also is
another idea that is spreading very quickly. The idea that one has to remain upbeat and happy in
the face of despair. The idea that feeling good is simply a choice one has to make. The idea of
toxic positivity.
Hope is a belief that tells us that our goals are attainable. However, by no means it should
connotate that one must disregard their own negative feelings and emotions. In fact, disregarding
one’s own negative feelings can lead to eliciting secondary negative emotions, like shame and
guilt, for not disregarding those feelings of helplessness properly, or even thinking about them in
the first place.
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Ignoring negative feelings can also cause harm in the sense that those negative feelings arise
simply for us to look into their cause and fix that cause. Ignoring that negative feeling itself
wouldn’t do one any good. Blocking the negative feelings might thus be viewed as similar to
blocking pain or fever (Nesse, R. M., 1999). Take frustration for example. Often viewed as a
negative feeling, it arises only when one is unable to find a way out of a situation. It prompts one
to change, re-evaluate one’s approach and develop new strategies. Which, in long-term, helps our
brain to grow. (Dr. Shoquist, D). Similarly, disregarding any negative feeling in the name of
being hopeful only disregards the negative feeling, while cause of it remains still, which can lead
to harm for an individual in long-term.
Hope understands that there is a negative situation. Hope doesn’t disregard any negative feeling
at all. Instead, hope recognizes it, and still gives one a reason to stand up again. It is a realistic
approach to goal-achievement which helps an individual in long-term. In the words of Snyder
himself,
“A rainbow is a prism that sends shards of multicolored light in various directions. It lifts our
spirits and makes us think of what is possible. Hope is the same-a personal rainbow of the mind.”
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