Hope-Barometer

The first volume addressing hope as an existential need and resource for living a good life Presents data collected by the Hope-Barometer Survey in different countries Provides interventions to improve hope and increase overall well-being This volume addresses the convincing belief that hope is an existential need and resource for living a good life, not only when all is going well, but especially in difficult times. The findings reported in this volume result from the annual survey of the Hope-Barometer Research Program collected during 7 years and conducted in several countries. Structured in three parts, the first one provides the reader with a general introduction into the topic of hope, the theoretical and methodological foundations and major general results of the Hope-Barometer. Part two presents specific topics related to the levels and variations of hope across different population groups, and the relationship of hope with several measures of well-being. Further part three focuses on comparisons of elements and levels of hope across cultures discussing methods and techniques to improve hope and thus increase overall well-being.

In psychology, hope can be understood as hopeful thinking, emotional experience, character strength, or a transcendental phenomenon. In our research we distinguish between two main perspectives of hope: dispositional hope (an individualistic, cognitive perspective) and perceived hope (a transcendental, spiritual perspective). The common aim of a number of our research studies on hope was to explore the role of dispositional and perceived hope in life satisfaction, depression, quality of interpersonal relationships, and physical health. We investigated how hopeful thinking gets reflected in different kinds of life experience in children, students,adults, old people, but also homeless shelter workers and clients. Recently, we studied the role of hope in subjective well-being on a large sample of 1,400 respondents from the Czech Republic, aged between 15 and 80 years. We found that more hopeful people were more satisfied with life, maintained high-Quality interpersonal relationships, and were also healthier. Perceived hope and meaningfulness turned out to be the two main Independent (negative) predictors of depression. The results also show that people who participate in volunteering and charity activities can be significantly happier than other people. They tend to have more optimistic expectations for the future and experience greater meaningfulness and spirituality in their lives. Our findings suggest that the paths to happier life include hopeful and others-oriented mindset, genuine concern for the welfare of others, and altruism. Hope seems to be a driving force of optimal human development and a valuable key to the flourishing of both the individual and the whole society.

The Virtuous Circle of Hope: Results and Conclusions from the Hope-Barometer Research Project Andreas M. Krafft Institute of Systemic Management and Public Governance University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland e-mail: andreas.krafft@unisg.ch Keywords: Perceived Hope, Human Virtuous, Positive Emotions, Eudaimonia Background: The most diffused theory of hope understands hope as a goal-oriented cognitive, motivational and self-centred disposition [1]. Other authors recognize hope as a human virtue necessary for man’s psychosocial development [2] and underline the emotional and transformative character of hope with the effect of fostering personal growth and well-being [3]. Even though hope is a universal human phenomenon, its concrete experience and expression are quite culture specific [4]. There is still an open issue as to how to assess hope in order to gain access to individuals’ own understanding and level of hope [5]. Aim: The main purpose of this study is to assess the character, the elements and levels of hope as reported by the German speaking population. Furthermore, we want to study the interrelations between the many different elements of hope and the general level of hope. Based on these results, conclusions can be drawn about the general nature of hope. Method: The Perceived Hope Scale (PHS) is a short measure for targeting hope in a direct manner [6]. Further instruments for the assessment of different dimensions of hope are: (1) targets of hope, (2) activities performed to attain the targets hoped-for, and (3) hope providers people count on. The Hope-Barometer is a cross-sectional internet survey. For this study we use original data from the 2017 data collection (N=3306). Data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression coefficients. Results: Regarding the 17 targets of hope, the significant predictors of Perceived Hope at p<.001 turned out to be: (1) helping other people (β=.13), (2) religious and spiritual experiences (β=.11), (3) a happy family (β=.12), (4) meaningful tasks (β=.09), (5) personal health (β=.16), and (6) good personal relationships (β=.07). Hedonic oriented hopes like more time to relax, more spare time, more sex, and more fun with friends were not significant. Using the 16 hope providers as predictors, the three significant predictive (p<.001) items of Perceived Hope are: (1) I give myself hope (β=.29); (2) God (β=.15); and (3) Wife, husband, partner (β=.10). With the 13 items of activities to fulfill one’s own hopes, six activities had a significant predictive power regarding hope (at p<.001): (1) I take responsibility (β=.19); (2) I motivate my family (β=.12); (3) I trust God (β=.12); (4) I talk with my spouse/partner (β=.10); (5) I motivate my friends (β=.07), and (6) I pray and meditate (β=.06). Conclusions: In analogy to Ryan, Huta and Deci’s [7] first- and second-order goals, we suggest to differentiate between first- and second-order targets and sources of hope. First-order targets of hope belong mainly to the edaimonic domain and nurture the general level of hope, while other life domains related to hedonic experiences seem to have no relation at all with the perception of hope. The fundamental conclusion is that the eudaimonic aspects in life are the main sources of hope and at the same time the most important targets of hope, giving rise to a mutually reinforcing virtuous circle of hope [8]. References 1. Snyder, C. R. (2002) Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological inquiry, 13(4), 249-275. 2. Erikson, E. (1963) Childhood and Society. 2d ed., rev. and enl. W.W. Norton & Co.: New York. 3. Fredrickson, B.(2013) Positive emotions broaden and build. Advances in experimental social psychology, 47(1), 1-53. 4. Averill, J. R., & Sundararajan, L. (2005) Hope as rhetoric: Cultural narratives of wishing and coping. In: Eliott, J. (ed.) Interdisciplinary perspectives on hope, Nova Science Publ.: New York, 133-165. 5. Tong, E. M., Fredrickson, B. L., Chang, W., & Lim, Z. X. (2010) Re-examining hope: The roles of agency thinking and pathways thinking. Cognition and Emotion, 24(7), 1207-1215. 6. Krafft, A. M., Martin-Krumm, C., & Fenouillet, F. (2017). Adaptation, Further Elaboration, and Validation of a Scale to Measure Hope as Perceived by People: Discriminant Value and Predictive Utility Vis-à-Vis Dispositional Hope. Assessment, DOI: 10.1177/1073191117700724. 7. Ryan, R. M., Huta, V., & Deci, E. L. (2013) Living well: A self-determination theory perspec-tive on eudaimonia. Delle Fave (Ed.) The Exploration of Happiness: Present and Future Perspectives. Springer Netherlands, 117-139. 8. Krafft, A.M. & Walker, A.M. (2018) (Eds.) Hope for a Good Life. Results of the Hope-Barometer International Research Program. Heidelberg: Springer Social Indicators Research Series vol. 72.

This chapter is dedicated to explore the concept of hope from an Indian perspective, reverting to the traditional philosophical scriptures of the Upanishads and the Srimadbhagwadgita and associating it to empirical findings derived from the Hope-Barometer survey. In order to investigate the ontological and epistemological roots, we firstly present the general claims of Indian Psychology, and secondly analyze the discourse on hope through the interpretive writings on the epic texts of two influential thinkers and philosophers' viz. Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo so as to formulate and unearth the core thoughts about hope. Next, we present an empirical cross-cultural comparison of various elements of hope with reference to results obtained on Indian and German samples. Hope is a universal phenomenon although with different cultural expressions and accents. Our findings reveal the similarities and differences between the two cultural and religious groups in terms of cognitive, spiritual and social sources and targets of hope.

In this chapter, the theoretical foundations and the practical context as well as the objectives and the methodology of the Hope-Barometer research program will be described. Against the background of various theories and definitions of hope and taking into account the negative cultural bias in many countries focusing mainly on the worries and fears of the population about the future, the Hope-Barometer has three main objectives: (1) to encourage and support a public discourse on hope in the participating countries, (2) to empirically explore hope as perceived by individuals and groups in different contexts and cultures, and (3) to contribute to the understanding of the theoretical concept of hope. For these reasons, a working definition of hope based on theoretical considerations and empirical findings will be proposed and the development of new methods to measure the general level as well as specific domains of hope (e.g. hope targets, hope experiences, hope activities, etc.) will be presented

This chapter is dedicated to give an overview over the main findings of six years of the Hope-Barometer in Switzerland and Germany. The first results suggest that hope is mainly focused on one’s own private life and that economic, political and social domains are less relevant in terms of personal hope. Furthermore, hope as perceived by the public seems to be something different to dispositional hope with regard to self-centered, cognitive, relational, emotional, altruistic and spiritual-religious dimensions. Eudaimonic domains of well-being, such as personal health, family bonds, harmony in life, good social relations, meaning in life, altruistic behavior and in a special way also spiritual-religious experiences result in a virtuous circle of hope, in which the principle sources of hope are at the same time the most valued targets of hope, mutually reinforcing each other. Studies supporting the positive role of hope with regard to positive relations, positive feelings, physical and psychological health, and in consequence, its value for a happy and fulfilling life will be presented.

Against the background of different psychological conceptualizations of hope, this paper elaborates and validates a measure to assess hope as perceived by the general public adapting it from the hope and optimism subscale of the WHOQOL-SRPB. The results presented here are part of a yearly internet-based cross-sectional survey in Germany and Switzerland called Hope-Barometer, from which 4 samples of 3 different years with about 17’500 participants have been used. Following the results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses as well as convergent validity, discriminant value and predictive utility, our findings suggest that the 6-items of the resulting Perceived Hope Scale exhibits robust psychometric properties, and that perceived hope is distinct and broader than dispositional hope, in that it relates not only to cognitive but also to spiritual, religious and altruistic dimensions.