hope
Hope is commonly thought of “wanting something to happen or for something to be true, and to think that it could happen” (Merriam-Webster, n. d.). Hope is spoken of in the ancient Greek myth of Pandora. In some versions, hope was all that was left inside the jar after she inadvertently released all the evils into the world (Snyder, Lopez & Pedrotti, 2011). Other versions have hope leaving the jar and healing the pain created by the evils (E2BN, 2006). Many see hope as an emotion, but Snyder (2002) saw it as a thinking process.
The construct of hope has been studied extensively by C. R. Snyder who defined hope as “the perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals, and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways” (2002, p.249). This became the basis of his hope theory. The main components are goals, pathways thinking, and agency thinking. In order to have hope, a person must have a goal. Two types of goals were identified: approach, when something is desired and to be moved toward; and avoidance, when something is to be avoided and moved away from. Pathways thinking involves the ability to create a plausible route from now into the imagined future where the goal has been attained, with confidence that this route will achieve the desired result. People who are high in hope usually create several pathways in order to allow for blockades in route to the goal. Agency thinking is the belief in the ability to take the necessary action to achieve the goal. This is the motivational element. High-hope people use positive self-talk such as “I know I can do this” and “I can’t quit now” to work through difficulties. Hopeful thinking requires both pathways and agency thought. The pathways and agency work together particularly when complications occur. New pathways with new beliefs in one’s abilities must be established, and this interaction continues until the goal is met (Snyder, 2002; Snyder, Lopez & Pedrotti, 2011).
The construct of hope has been studied extensively by C. R. Snyder who defined hope as “the perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals, and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways” (2002, p.249). This became the basis of his hope theory. The main components are goals, pathways thinking, and agency thinking. In order to have hope, a person must have a goal. Two types of goals were identified: approach, when something is desired and to be moved toward; and avoidance, when something is to be avoided and moved away from. Pathways thinking involves the ability to create a plausible route from now into the imagined future where the goal has been attained, with confidence that this route will achieve the desired result. People who are high in hope usually create several pathways in order to allow for blockades in route to the goal. Agency thinking is the belief in the ability to take the necessary action to achieve the goal. This is the motivational element. High-hope people use positive self-talk such as “I know I can do this” and “I can’t quit now” to work through difficulties. Hopeful thinking requires both pathways and agency thought. The pathways and agency work together particularly when complications occur. New pathways with new beliefs in one’s abilities must be established, and this interaction continues until the goal is met (Snyder, 2002; Snyder, Lopez & Pedrotti, 2011).