Giving hope a sporting chance: Hope as distinct from optimism when events are possible but not probable

Development and Initial Validation of the Persevering Hope Scale: Measuring Wait-Power in Four Independent Samples

Hope has been conceptualized as agency and pathways to achieve goals. However, this goal-directed conceptualization does not encapsulate all situations in which hope may be beneficial. To address the dispositional motivation to endure when a desired goal seems unattainable, unlikely, or even impossible (i.e., goal-transcendent hope), we provide initial psychometric evidence for the new Persevering Hope Scale (PHS). We developed and refined the PHS with undergraduates at a public college (Study 1) and replicated our findings in a community adult sample (Study 2). We replicated and extended these findings using longitudinal data with undergraduates at a faith-based college (Study 3) and a community sample of chronically ill adults (Study 4), and examined measurement invariance (Study 5). Scores on the PHS demonstrated robust evidence of estimated internal consistency and of criterion-related, convergent/discriminant, and incremental validity. Estimated temporal stability was modest. Partial scalar invariance was evidenced across samples, and full scalar invariance was evidenced across gender, race/ethnicity, and time. These preliminary findings suggest that the PHS is a psychometrically sound measure of persevering hope. Its use can broaden the current body of literature on trait hope to include goal-transcendent hope and advance research on the nature and benefits of this important construct.

Dimensions of uncertainty communication: What is conveyed by verbal terms and numeric ranges

The paper reviews two strands of research on communication of uncertainty that usually have been investigated separately: (1) Probabilities attached to specific outcomes, and (2) Range judgments. Probabilities are sometimes expressed by verbal phrases ("rain is likely") and at other times in a numeric format ("70% chance of rain"), whereas range judgments describe the potential amounts expected ("1-4 mm of rain"). Examination of previous research shows that both descriptions convey, in addition to the strength of expectations, pragmatic information about the communicative situation. For instance, so-called verbal probability expressions (VPE), as likely, unlikely, a chance, or not certain give some, albeit vague, probabilistic information, but carry in addition an implicit message about the sources of uncertainty, the outcome's valence and severity, along with information about the speakers' attitudes and their communicative intentions. VPEs are directional by drawing attention either to an outcome's occurrence ("it is possible") or to its non-occurrence ("it is doubtful"). In this sense they may be more informative than numbers. Uncertainties about outcomes in a distribution (continuous quantities) are alternatively expressed as interval estimates. The width of such intervals can function as a cue to credibility and expertise. Incomplete, one-sided intervals, where only one boundary is stated, imply directionality. "More than 100 people" suggests a crowd, while "less than 200" implies a shortfall. As with VPEs, directionally positive intervals are more frequent, and perhaps more neutral than negative ones. To convey expectancies and uncertainty in a balanced way, communicators may have to alternate between complementary frames.

The possibility of impossibility: The hope for a cure among terminally ill cancer patients in China

OBJECTIVE

Although the medical potential of the hope for a cure has been fiercely debated within academia, few researchers have approached this topic from the perspective of terminally ill cancer patients themselves. As such, this article aims to help bridge the gap by exploring how terminally ill cancer patients in China construct the hope for a cure.

METHODS

Seventeen terminally ill cancer patients were recruited from the department of oncology at a tertiary hospital, where data were collected through individual interviews and participatory observation from April to December 2020 and analysed via thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The respondents experienced a dynamic swing between construction and denial of the hope for a cure. Furthermore, the patients negotiated between three forms of hope, including the hope for a cure, the hope for prolonged life expectancy and the hope of living in the moment. Meanwhile, family-oriented hope was centred on intergenerational relationships, which further shaped the construction of the hope for a cure.

CONCLUSION

Medical staff needs to be sensitive to terminally ill cancer patients' dynamic swing, negotiation and motivation during the process of constructing the hope for a cure.

The Psychological Benefits of an Uncertain World: Hope and Optimism in the Face of Existential Threat

We examine how prior mental health predicts hopes and how hopes predict subsequent mental health, testing hypotheses in a longitudinal study with an Australian nation-wide adult sample regarding mental health consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak during its initial stage. Quota sampling was used to select a sample representative of the adult Australian population in terms of age groups, gender, and geographical location. Mental health measures were selected to include those with the best psychometric properties. Hypotheses were tested using generalized linear models with random intercepts, with the type of GLM determined by the nature of the dependent variable. Greater anxiety, depression, distress, and loneliness predict less hope, but impaired quality of life and stress positively predict hopes of gaining new skills. Distress and loneliness predict hopes for social connectedness and an improved society, suggesting that predictors of hope depend on what is hoped for. These findings suggest the need for more nuanced theories of hope. Greater hopes for societal improvement predict lower anxiety, depression, distress, and impaired quality of life, but greater hopes for skills and better mental health predict higher levels of these covariates. Moreover, when relevant prior psychological states are more intense, the impact of hope state declines. These findings indicate that the consequences of hope are heterogeneous, and suggest a possible explanation for the seemingly inconsistent therapeutic effectiveness of raising hope.

It's About Time! Identifying and Explaining Unique Trajectories of Solidarity-Based Collective Action to Support People in Developing Countries

Social change occurs over years and decades, yet we know little about how people sustain, increase or diminish their actions over time, and why they do so. This article examines diverging trajectories of solidarity-based collective action to support people in developing nations more than 5 years. We suggest that sustained, diminished, and/or increased action over time will be predicted by identification as a supporter, group efficacy beliefs, and discrete emotions about disadvantage. Latent Growth Mixture Models (N = 483) revealed two trajectories with unique signatures: an activist supporter trajectory with a higher intercept and weakly declining action; and a benevolent supporter trajectory with a lower intercept but weakly increasing action. The activist trajectory was predicted by social identification, outrage, and hope, whereas the benevolent supporter trajectory was predicted by sympathy. The results highlight the role of combinations of emotions and the need for person-centered longitudinal methods in collective action research.

Tragic Optimism as a Buffer Against COVID-19 Suffering and the Psychometric Properties of a Brief Version of the Life Attitudes Scale

The Life Attitudes Scale (LAS) was designed to measure tragic optimism (TO)-a distinct type of optimism that could generate hopeless hope even in dire situations according to existential positive psychology (PP 2.0). This study explains why only a faith-based TO could serve as a buffer against suffering at the Nazi death camps as well as the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In study 1, the results showed that the factorial structure of a 15-item LAS-Brief (LAS-B), which is a short measure of TO, replicated the original structure of the 32-item long version. The five factors (i.e., affirmation, acceptance, courage, faith, and self-transcendence) provided a good data model fit statistics for LAS-B; the measure had adequate-to-strong internal and latent construct reliability estimates. In study 2, the buffering effect of TO on the association between suffering experiences during COVID-19 and life satisfaction in adults was examined. The results of the studies were consistent with our hypothesis that TO as measured by LAS-B serves as a buffer against the impact of COVID-19 suffering on life satisfaction.

Hope, bias and survival expectations of advanced cancer patients: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

Many patients with advanced illness are unrealistically optimistic about their prognosis. We test for the presence of several cognitive biases, including optimism bias, illusion of superiority, self-deception, misattribution, and optimistic update bias, that could explain unrealistically optimistic prognostic beliefs among advanced cancer patients and quantifies the extent to which hope exacerbates these biases.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was administered to 200 advanced cancer patients with physician-estimated prognoses of one year or less. Hope was measured using the Herth Hope Index (HHI). Hypotheses were tested using linear and logistic regressions and a structural-equation model.

RESULTS

Results are consistent with the presence of optimism bias, illusion of superiority, self-deception, and misattribution. All of these biases are amplified by higher levels of hope. Each 1-point higher HHI is associated with a 6% (OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.01-1.11) greater odds of believing their illness is curable, a 0.33-year (95% CI: 0.17-0.49) longer expected survival, a 6% (OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.02-1.11) higher probability of believing that survival outcomes are better than the average patient, a 5% higher odds of believing primary intent of treatment is curative (OR: 1.05; 95% CI: 1.00-1.10), and a 12% (OR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.05-1.17) higher odds of believing they are well-informed. Mediation analyses revealed that hope significantly mediates the effect of mental-well-being and loneliness on expected survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest advanced cancer patients succumb to several cognitive biases which are exacerbated by greater levels of hope. As a result, they are susceptible to possible over-treatment and regret.

The Quest for Hope: Disadvantaged Group Members Can Fulfill Their Desire to Feel Hope, but Only When They Believe in Their Power

Within contexts of oppression and struggle for social change, in which hope is constantly challenged, do disadvantaged group members still want to feel hope? If so, does this desire translate into actual hope? And does motivation for hope relate to disadvantaged individuals’ collective action tendencies? We suggest that, especially when faced with setbacks in the struggle for social change, disadvantaged group members want to feel hope, but actualizing this motivation depends on their group efficacy beliefs. We address these questions in a two-wave sample of 429 Palestinians living under militarized occupation in the West Bank. Our results indicate that when faced with setbacks, Palestinians want to feel hope for social change, but only those who perceive high group efficacy are able to fulfill their desire. We discuss these findings’ implications for understanding motivated emotional processes and hope in contexts of oppression.

Forgiveness in Committed Couples: Its Synergy with Humility, Justice, and Reconciliation

Theologians, pastors, and psychological help-providers have not always worked harmoniously. This can be especially true with couples. Theological and pastoral help-providers value marriage as sacred and are reluctant to entertain ending it. Most psychotherapists have more training and experience in individual psychotherapy than in couple therapy. Drawing on the parable of the Good Samaritan, we appeal to theologians, pastors, and psychological help-givers to work together. We examine ways that psychological findings might inform theology and pastoral practice. As an example, we use forgiveness in committed romantic relationships. What causes strong couple relationships are the formation, strengthening, maintenance, and (when damaged) repair of ruptures in the emotional bond. Thus, forgiveness is one major cause of good marriage. Forgiveness requires being oriented toward the other person’s welfare, and in humility responding to wrongdoing mercifully. Forgiving in committed relationships seeks a net positive emotional valence toward the partner built on empathy, humility, and responsibility. Good relationships also involve self-forgiveness when one feels self-condemnation over one’s own misdeeds. For help-givers, humility is a key to promoting relational experiences of virtue. We show that forgiveness is related to health. Religiously oriented help-providers can promote better relationships and better health by fostering forgiveness.

Parents' future visions for their autistic transition-age youth: Hopes and expectations

Researchers have documented that young adults with autism spectrum disorder have poor outcomes in employment, post-secondary education, social participation, independent living, and community participation. There is a need to further explore contributing factors to such outcomes to better support successful transitions to adulthood. Parents play a critical role in transition planning, and parental expectations appear to impact young adult outcomes for autistic individuals. The aim of this study was to explore how parents express their future visions (i.e. hopes and expectations) for their autistic transition-age youth. Data were collected through focus groups and individual interviews with 18 parents. Parents' hopes and expectations focused on eight primary domains. In addition, parents often qualified or tempered their stated hope with expressions of fears, uncertainty, realistic expectations, and the perceived lack of guidance. We discuss our conceptualization of the relations among these themes and implications for service providers and research.