Hope is a positive cognitive state based on determination and planning to meet a goal successfully. It consists of three things:
<ul>
<li>Goals thinking : the ability to create goals.</li>
<li>Pathways thinking : the capacity to plan specific strategies to reach those goals.</li>
<li>Agency thinking : the ability to stay motivated for using those strategies.</li>
</ul>
According to psychologist Charles Snyder, hope is in the context of doing (the capacity to achieve goals), not in the realm of being.

Describing Hope

Self Improvement

<ul>
<li>Realistic hope: It is hope for an outcome that is reasonable and possible. For example, hope for ease from chronic pain, knowing that complete eradication is unrealistic.</li>
<li>Utopian hope: It is a collectively oriented hope that combined action can lead to a better future for everyone.</li>
<li>Chosen hope: Hope helps us live with a problematic present in an uncertain future. Choosing hope for the smallest range of goals is essential to control negative emotions.</li>
<li>Transcendent hope, or existential hope, is the hope that is not tied to a specific outcome, but a general hope that something good can happen.</li>
</ul>

4 Types of Hope

<ul>
<li>Hope correlates with high academic and athletic performance, greater physical and psychological well-being, better self-esteem, and increased relationships.</li>
<li>Hope can enhance well-being over time.</li>
<li>Hope results in the person viewing stressful situations as a challenge rather than a threat.</li>
<li>Hope can be seen as creating a buffer against chronic anxiety.</li>
<li>Hope is a motivational factor that sustains actions toward long-term goals. </li>
<li>Hope is positively related to overall life satisfaction.</li>
<li>Hope motivates individuals to maintain their positive involvement in life despite any limitations they may have.</li>
</ul>

Being Hopeful: Benefits

With hope therapy, instead of dwelling on the unpleasant factors, it incorporates positive self-talking, thinking of the future in a more positive way, and connections with supportive networks.
Historically, psychology tried to treat mental illness by reducing negative symptoms. Positive psychology focuses on increasing well-being.

Hope Therapy

<ul>
<li>Hope and optimism. Optimism is a positive attitude about a future event that is probable while being hopeful is more realistic. A hopeful individual recognizes that life may work out differently, but continues to remain positive.</li>
<li>A potential pitfall of hope is that people can repeatedly fail to change aspects of their behavior, leading to a cycle of failure characterized by unrealistic expectations.</li>
<li>Hope is not the same as wishful thinking. Wishful thinking does not involve any plan on how to accomplish change, while hope involves a commitment to seeking future outcomes.</li>
<li>Desire and hope. Desire is more open-ended and less directed than hope. Hope can evoke a future-oriented willingness to achieve a goal.</li>
<li>The biggest enemy of hope is an inability to affect the kind of change people desire in their lives.</li>
</ul>

Common Ideas About Hope

AHS is a 12-item measure of hope for people over 15 years of age. Two sub-scales of the 12-item measure of hope are: 
<ul>
<li>Agency thinking (goal-directed energy). Scores can range from 4 to 32 points. The higher numbers reflect a higher amount of goal-directed energy.</li>
<li>Pathways thinking (planning to accomplish goals.) Scores also range from 4 to 32 points. The higher numbers indicate a greater ability for planning to achieve goals.</li>
</ul>
4 of the 12 items measure pathways thinking, 4 items measure agency thinking, and 4 items are fillers.

The Adult Hope Scale (AHS)

The State Hope Scale was designed to assess an individual&#39;s momentary goal-directed thinking.
It has a 6 item self-report, and respondents have to rate items based on how they think about themselves. (from 1 - definitely false to 8 - definitely true.)

The State Hope Scale (SHS)

HHI is developed to measure a total, non-time oriented sense of hope. The Herth Hope Index consists of three dimensions:
<ul>
<li>Temporality and future - creating goals and a positive outlook on life and not a fear of the future.</li>
<li>Positive readiness and expectancy - a sense of direction.</li>
<li>Interconnectedness - a sense of giving and receiving love instead of a feeling of isolation.</li>
</ul>

The Herth Hope Index (HHI)

<ul>
<li>The Children’s Hope Scale (CHS) is designed to measure the overall hopeful thinking in children between the ages of 8 - 16.</li>
<li>The Herth Hope Scale (HHS) is designed to capture the multidimensional aspects of hope. It measures three dimensions of hope: cognitive-temporal, affective behavioral, and affiliative-contextual.</li>
<li>The Miller Hope Scale (MHS) was developed to measure hope in individuals who survived a critical illness. The items are divided into three components: Satisfaction with self, others, and life; Avoidance of threats to hope such as withdrawal from life; Anticipation of a future.</li>
</ul>

Hope Tests and Assessments

Hope interventions focus on improving happiness, well-being, and positive cognition. It is very valuable for the following types:
<ul>
<li>People who are experiencing a loss of control - the skidding effect.</li>
<li>People who are experiencing a sense of hopelessness from failure or loss - the bruising effect.</li>
<li>People who seem to have tried everything but find themselves back where they started - the boomerang effect.</li>
<li>Individuals who feel like no one understands them and find it difficult to connect with others - the alien effect.</li>
</ul>

Hope interventions

<ul>
<li>Create a hope map to develop clear and exciting goals and actions that will help in the pursuit of the goal, identifying and overcoming possible barriers, and maintaining motivation.</li>
<li>Keep a hope journal. Writing about challenges, what gives hope, and what could potentially give hope can highlight the factors that can interfere with developing a more hopeful outlook.</li>
<li>Explore beliefs about hope. What does it mean to have hope? What are the benefits of having hope? </li>
<li>Think about internal movie. Write a short internal movie in which a chosen goal is the main character. Visualise the obstacles that may occur during the process of achieving that goal to encourage finding alternative pathways around and through challenges.</li>
</ul>

Ideas for Increasing Hope

Hope Therapy is borne from pure positive psychology as the strategies of this give primacy to increasing well-being, rather than ‘treating’ illness.