Hope as a Way of Thinking

In psychological, particularly psychotherapeutic, literature, researchers have defined and measured hope as a way of thinking, or disposition, that assists in recovery from trauma or psychological disorders, such as depression. Snyder (2002) conceives of hope “primarily as a way of thinking, with feelings playing an important, albeit contributory role” (p. 249). Hopeful thinking is seen as a way to identify strategies for achieving goals. Specifically, Snyder, Irving et al. (1991) defined hope as “a positive motivational state that is based on an interactively derived sense of successful (a) agency (goal-directed energy), and (b) pathways (planning to meet goals)” (p. 287). Pathways thinking involves identifying possible ways (i.e., pathways) to get from the current situation to a desired future situation along with a sense of confidence in the pathways (Snyder, 2002). Agency thinking is “the perceived capacity to use one’s pathways to reach desired goals” (Snyder, 2002, p. 251). A person’s pathways and agency thinking are developed dominantly during childhood, although pathways and agency thinking can be learned later as well (Snyder, 2000). Snyder (2002) categorizes people based on their pathway and agency thinking as having “high-hope” or “low-hope” dispositions, which affect how they pursue goals. Emotion plays a side role in this definition of hope in that positive and negative emotions are a product of perceived success or failure to achieve goals (Snyder, 2002). In addition, agency and pathways thinking may lead to a variety of positive and negative emotions.

To measure individual differences in dispositional hope, Snyder and colleagues developed the 12-item adult Trait Hope Scale (Snyder, Harris et al., 1991). Items on this scale include, “I can think of many ways to get out of a jam,” “I energetically pursue my goals,” and “There are lots of ways around any problem.” The eight-point response scale ranges from “definitely false” to “definitely true.” The Children’s Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1997) is similar in content to the adult trait scale. Snyder and colleagues (1996) also developed a State Hope Scale to measure more short-term, goal-directed thinking about a particular situation. This six-item scale asks respondents to think about themselves right now and what is going on in their lives at that moment. Items on this scale include, “If I should find myself in a jam, I could think of many ways to get out of it,” “At the present time, I am energetically pursuing my goals,” and “There are lots of ways around any problem that I am facing now.” The eight-point response scale ranges from “definitely false” to “definitely true.”

Hope as a way of thinking, or dispositional hope, has been associated with benefits for physical and mental health. A hopeful disposition plays a role in prevention behaviors. For example, high-hope women have greater intentions to engage in cancer prevention behaviors than do low-hope women (Irving, Snyder, & Crowson, 1998). Numerous studies have associated higher hope with better pain management (e.g., Affleck & Tennen, 1996) and people who are higher in hope have a greater pain tolerance than people lower in hope (Snyder et al., 2005). Hope is also related to better psychological adjustment (Kwon, 2002). For example, dispositional hope helps maintain life satisfaction for gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals who face a hostile work environment (Kwon & Hugelshofer, 2010). In a recent application of dispositional hope to interpersonal relationships, Merolla (2014) found that hope is associated with positive conflict management styles, pro-relationship goals, and greater integrative problem solving. Thus, a hopeful disposition can improve well-being in interpersonal relationships.

Much of the research on dispositional hope correlates hope with a variety of positive health and non-health outcomes; however, psychotherapeutic interventions have also been designed to increase dispositional hope (e.g., Lopez, Floyd, Ulven, & Snyder, 2000; Snyder, 2000). For example, a multisession, hope-based, group intervention for older adults suffering from depression decreased hopelessness, anxiety, and functional disability and increased social behaviors (Klausner, Snyder, & Cheavens, 2000). A brief hope-based intervention using guided imagery and skills instruction led to increased hope among women and increased pain tolerance in all participants (Berg, Snyder, & Hamilton, 2008). Dispositional hope interventions typically include guided imagery in which participants are asked to think of a goal and strategies to achieve the goal. Interventions also include dialogue about why the goal is important and how to sustain motivation for that goal. In addition, participants receive instruction on strategies to enhance pathways thinking, agency, and goal-directed thinking (e.g., Berg et al., 2008). Although their potential is not yet realized, interventions for developing dispositional hope could potentially improve compliance with medical recommendations, lead to adoption of health behaviors, and decrease risk behaviors.

Hope as a Discrete Emotion

The second major thread of theorizing and researching hope defines hope as a discrete emotion. Discrete emotions are brief, intense, psychological, and evaluative reactions directed at external stimuli (e.g., people, events, or objects; Nabi, 2002; Ortony, Clore, & Collins, 1988). In response to these external stimuli, emotions help individuals adapt to their environment by activating a unique pattern of thoughts (cognitions), physiological changes, subjective feelings, motor expressions, and action (or behavioral) tendencies (see Arnold, 1960; Lazarus, 1991; Nabi, 2002; Ortony et al., 1988; Scherer, 2001). Through a global and rapid response, the action tendencies of emotions organize and motivate behavior that enhances the survival of individuals and species.

Hope has the same characteristics as all discrete emotions. Hope serves the adaptive function of creating and sustaining action toward rewarding outcomes that fulfill goals, needs, and wants. Like all discrete emotions, hope consists of (a) appraisals (i.e., assessments about the stimulus and possible future outcomes), (b) action tendencies (i.e., what the emotion makes the person want to do), (c) physiology (i.e., neural, chemical, and other physical responses in the brain and body), (d) motor expressions (i.e., facial, vocal, and postural signals of the emotion), and (e) a subjective feeling state (i.e., how the emotion feels; Roseman, 2001; Scherer, 1984). Hope’s unique pattern of appraisals, action tendencies, physiology, motor expressions, and subjective feelings are what distinguish it from other emotions (Chadwick, 2015c; Scherer, Schorr, & Johnstone, 2001).

Lazarus’s cognitive-mediational theory (Lazarus, 2001) has been one of the most influential emotion theories that includes a definition of hope. A key principle of this theory is that emotion comes from the way people appraise what is happening around them (i.e., cognitive mediation). Lazarus (1991) identifies the core relational theme of hope as “fearing the worst but yearning for better” (p. 282). Lazarus (1991) deems hope to be a “problematic emotion” because he believes that hope contains both positive and negative elements. Because of hope’s core relational theme, according to Lazarus, one needs to be in a negative situation to feel hope; therefore, there is an element of anxiety inherent in hope, making it a somewhat negative emotion. However, hope is more positive than hopelessness and the outcomes of hope are typically positive; therefore, hope also has positive elements (Lazarus, 1991). Thus, in his definition, Lazarus focuses both on the present and future situation. Lazarus (1991) also deems hope to be a problematic emotion because he is uncertain about its action tendency and the physiological changes inherent in the emotion.

Despite uncertainty of the exact nature of hope, Lazarus (1999) believes that hope is vital to coping with stress. In particular, hope can motivate efforts to improve an unsatisfactory situation. Hope enables people to believe in the possibility of better circumstances and therefore is critical as a coping mechanism against despair (Lazarus, 1999). Although hope is vital to coping, how to design health and risk messages to assist with coping is unclear from Lazarus’s work.

Drawing on Lazarus and appraisal theories in general, MacInnis and de Mello (2005) suggest tactics that consumer marketing advertisements could use to induce hope. Specifically, the authors focus on turning “impossibility into possibility” and enhancing “yearning” (p. 3). In addition, MacInnis and de Mello (2005) theorize that by creating hope in advertisements, marketers can avoid the potentially negative effects of warning consumers about risks associated with product use, such that “stronger levels of hope [will be] associated with stronger perceptions that product usage does not result in negative consequences” (p. 10). This theory fits with research suggesting that negative emotions often lead to an overestimation of risk whereas positive emotions lead to an underestimation of risk (Bowen et al., 2003). De Mello and MacInnis (2005) also theorize that hope can lead to motivated processing of information such that hope may result in both positive (e.g., coping, well-being, and goal achievement) and negative (e.g., risky behavior, self-deception) outcomes. Unfortunately, the theorizing of de Mello and MacInnis was never empirically tested.

To understand the role of hope in entertainment media, Prestin (2013) explored the ability of an “underdog” narrative to evoke hope. Underdog narratives show characters who are attempting to meet a goal despite unfavorable circumstances and odds. Prestin’s experiment demonstrated that people in the underdog condition felt more hope than others and were more motivated to pursue their own goals. The hope evoked by the underdog condition remained above baseline for up to three days following exposure to the underdog narrative (Prestin, 2013). Therefore, one way to create hope and encourage achievement of personal goals is through presenting individuals with underdog narratives. Although their potential has not been fully explored, underdog narratives may assist individuals in overcoming challenging circumstances, such as battling addiction or developing new health habits. There are numerous mechanisms still to be explored that may explain the effects of underdog narratives beyond their ability to evoke hope.

Recently, Chadwick (2015c) defined hope as a future-oriented, discrete emotion that focuses on an opportunity to achieve a desired future outcome. Her definition builds on the work of Lazarus (1991, 1999) and Roseman (1991, 2001) and has implications for the design of messages that evoke hope. Chadwick (2010, 2015c) defines hope as a discrete emotion that involves appraisals of a stimulus as novel and relevant to a future or unknown outcome, consistent with goals, possible but not certain, important, and consistent with a better future. The four appraisals of goal congruence, importance, future expectation, and possibility combine to create a sense of opportunity to achieve a desired future outcome. Opportunity is a core construct for hope in the same way that threat is a core construct for fear. Because Chadwick provides the most complete definition of hope and identifies how to create messages that evoke hope, her theory of persuasive hope is discussed in detail.

Appraisals

Action Tendency

All discrete emotions have an action tendency, which is what the emotion causes an individual to want to do. The action tendency of hope is an approach tendency (Carver & White, 1994; Cosmides & Tooby, 2000; Davidson, 1992), stimulating actual or preparatory movement toward the desired outcome. The action tendency of hope functions to keep people focused on their goals, to sustain motivation, and to help control negative feelings (Chadwick, 2010; Lazarus, 1991). Thus, for individuals who want to help mitigate climate change or want to avoid the negative consequences of climate change, hope will cause them to take action to achieve these desired outcomes. In addition, hope may maintain current movement toward the desired outcome, causing the individuals to “remain vigilant, mobilized, and committed” to the outcome (Lazarus, 1991, p. 285). For individuals who are already taking action to help mitigate climate change, hope maintains their motivation to continue to take mitigation action and prevents them from becoming dispirited about the current situation related to climate change.

Physiology

Because the action tendency of hope involves preparing to act, hope, like other emotions that prepare individuals to act, physiologically manifests as an increase in heart rate, heightened attention and focus, and an increase in neurological activity in the skin (i.e., skin conductance; Chadwick, 2010; Roseman, 2001). The increase in heart rate speeds the provision of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles in preparation for physical action. Heightened attention and focus allow the individual to rapidly process environmental stimuli, which enables him or her to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the stimulus (Chadwick, 2010). The increase in neurological activity of the skin is an indication of an individual’s increased preparation for faster neurological reactions that enable quick movement.

Motor Expression

Like the physiological reactions, the motor expressions of hope allow individuals to rapidly take in and process environmental stimuli that prepare them for action. This action allows the individual to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the stimulus. The facial expression of hope is one of raised eyebrows, widened eyes, and focused attention (Roseman, 2001). In hope, the body posture is erect, often with a slight forward lean and muscular tension (Chadwick, 2010). It is the combination of these motor expressions, rather than any one expression, that distinguishes hope from other emotions.

Subjective Feeling

The subjective feeling of hope (i.e., how hope feels) is a feeling of eagerness, anticipation, and readiness (Roseman, 2001). Individuals feel this eagerness for achieving the desired outcome or avoiding the negative outcome.

Inducement of Hope

To induce hope, a message must present an opportunity to the receiver. There are several tactics that can create this opportunity and evoke hope, including (a) increasing the possibility of an important outcome, (b) raising the goal congruence of a possible, important outcome, (c) heightening the importance of a possible, goal congruent outcome, and/or (d) creating a vision for a better future if the outcome occurs (Chadwick, 2010). A hope appeal does not have to employ all these tactics in one message.

The appraisals of importance, goal congruence, positive future expectation, and possibility all must be present for a person to feel hope. However, the hope appeal does not need to address all four appraisals if the audience already holds beliefs and attitudes that are consistent with the appraisals. For example, a climate protection message for environmentalists may not need to include components that address importance, goal congruence, or positive future expectation because the audience likely already believes climate protection to be important, goal congruent, and positive for the future. The mere mention of climate protection may be enough to evoke these appraisals. Therefore, a message might only address the possibility of mitigating climate change but will still elicit all four of the appraisals necessary to evoke hope and hence meet the definition of a hope appeal (Chadwick, 2010).

Recommended Actions

Once a message has evoked hope via one or more of the previously mentioned tactics, the message must present recommended actions that the audience can perform to achieve the hoped-for future outcome (Chadwick, 2010, 2015c). It is important that messages explicitly link the recommended action to the desired future outcome. A message might include only one recommended action or multiple actions. These actions may range from seeking information to complete lifestyle changes. In general, explicitly identifying the recommended action and the steps, if any, involved in the action is more effective than implicitly hinting at recommended actions (Witte, Meyer, & Martell, 2001). As with other emotional appeals, the recommended actions component should include information designed to (a) increase the receivers’ perception of their ability to perform the recommended action (self-efficacy) and (b) demonstrate the ability of the recommended action to achieve the desired outcome (response efficacy; Floyd, Prentice-Dunn, & Rogers, 2000; Witte, 1992). Although self-efficacy and response efficacy are both beliefs about ability, they focus on different types of ability. Self-efficacy focuses on individual ability to perform behavior, whereas response efficacy focuses on the ability of a behavior to affect circumstances.

Self-efficacy is the degree to which receivers believe that they are able to perform the recommended response successfully and to exert control over their lives (Bandura, 1986). Self-efficacy is an important predictor of individual behavior (e.g., Godin & Kok, 1996; Schwarzer & Fuchs, 1995). Communicators can enhance self-efficacy by describing actions as simple or easy and by clearly articulating the steps that are part of the action to reduce the receiver’s uncertainty. In addition, messages can include statements of encouragement (e.g., “You can do it.”) to raise self-efficacy.

Response efficacy is the receiver’s perception of the ability of the recommended action to achieve the desired outcome (Floyd et al., 2000). Like self-efficacy, response efficacy is related to behavioral intentions and behavior (Floyd et al., 2000). Messages can raise perceived response efficacy by demonstrating the connection between the recommended action and the future outcome. In addition, communicators can provide credible sources that support this connection. For example, to raise response efficacy, a message about climate protection can identify how the recommended actions can help protect the climate by indicating in what way, and by how much, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by the action.

Message Attention

The focused, eager feeling and physiology of hope should increase generalized attention. As the source of the feeling of hope, the persuasive message is likely to attract attention. According to the cognitive-functional model (Nabi, 1999) a person’s attention to a message is a function of his or her expectation that the message contains goal-relevant information. If a receiver expects the message to provide that information, he or she is motivated to process the information (Nabi, 1999, 2002). Thus, attention to a persuasive hope appeal is amplified by the extent to which the receiver expects the message to help him or her achieve desired outcomes. Indeed, research demonstrates that hope appeals increase attention to messages (Chadwick, 2015c).

Interest

Subjective feelings of hope evoked in response to a hope appeal should increase generalized interest in the topic of the message. By making a positive outcome more important, goal congruent, and possible, a persuasive hope appeal stimulates increased interest in that outcome. Inherently, an important, goal-congruent outcome is interesting and involving. Heightening the importance, goal congruence, or possibility, and/or decreasing the temporal distance of that outcome should lead to increased interest. In political communication, enthusiasm, which was measured using hope as one of the items in the scale, led to increased interest and involvement (Marcus & MacKuen, 1993). Additionally, increased interest and involvement should lead to more systematic processing (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) and greater behavioral intentions. Research has shown that feelings of hope lead to increased interest in the message topic (Chadwick, 2015c).

Self-Efficacy and Response Efficacy

The recommended action component of the hope appeal, which includes self-efficacy and response efficacy statements, should directly increase self-efficacy and response efficacy. As mentioned previously, self-efficacy is the degree to which a receiver believes that he or she is able to perform the recommended response successfully, and response efficacy is the receiver’s perception of the ability of the recommended behavior to achieve the desired outcome. Stronger self-efficacy beliefs are associated with greater behavioral intentions and actual behavior (Bandura, 1986). Higher response efficacy is associated with greater behavioral intentions (Witte, Meyer, & Martell, 2001). Persuasive hope appeals directly attempt to increase both self-efficacy and response efficacy, thus they should be associated with higher self-efficacy and higher response efficacy. Preliminary data indicates that both hope and hope appeals increase self-efficacy (Chadwick, 2015a, 2015b). Response efficacy was not measured in these studies.

Behavioral Intention and Behavior

Emotions that are evoked by persuasive messages directly affect behavioral intention by arousing the action tendency associated with the emotion. Persuasive hope appeals evoke an approach tendency that stimulates actual or preparatory action toward the desired outcome. Hope encourages the formation of sub-goals for achieving the behavior, reinforces goal commitment, and strengthens motivation (de Mello & MacInnis, 2005; Marcus & MacKuen, 1993). Behavioral intention, in turn, influences actual behavior (Fishbein & Capella, 2006). Therefore, the action tendency evoked by a hope appeal should drive a receiver to perform the recommended behaviors that will enable him or her to achieve the desired outcome. Extant research has demonstrated that hope appeals increase both behavioral intention and behavior (Chadwick, 2010, 2015a, 2015b).

Persuasion

Research on the persuasive effects of hope and hope appeals is relatively nascent; however, hope and hope appeals show promise for encouraging engagement with climate protective behaviors and behavioral antecedents. Hope appeals increase attention to messages about climate change (Chadwick, 2015c). Hope appeals also increase mitigation behavioral intention and behavior (Chadwick, 2010). In addition, feelings of hope increase interest in climate change protection (Chadwick, 2015c) and are positively correlated with pro-environmental behaviors and support for climate change policies (Lorenzoni, Nicholson-Cole, & Whitmarsh, 2007). Feelings of hope significantly predict interest in climate protection, self-efficacy, interpersonal communication attention, information seeking intention, and behavioral intention (Chadwick, 2015b). Preliminary evidence indicates that hope appeals are equally as, or more effective than, both fear and guilt appeals at increasing interpersonal communication intention, self-efficacy, information seeking intention, and behavioral intention in the context of climate protection. In addition, hope appeals create less reactance (i.e., anger) than fear appeals (Chadwick, 2015a, 2015b). Hope and hopeful narratives have also been associated with greater perceived message effectiveness and more agreement with message content (Volkman & Parrott, 2012). As mentioned previously, underdog narratives evoke hope and create greater intentions to pursue personal goals (Prestin, 2013).

Stress and Coping

Hope appeals may aid in managing stress and coping. After a stressful experience that accelerates heart rate and creates anxiety, evoking hope decelerates heart rate and decreases state anxiety (Chadwick, Zoccola, Figueroa, & Rabideau, 2016). In a comparison of a hope evocation message with distraction and rumination messages, a hope evocation message resulted in the lowest post-stressor heart rate. Both the hope evocation message and the distraction message decreased state anxiety. The hope evocation and distraction messages also increased positive emotions and decreased negative emotions (Chadwick et al., 2016). The most likely mechanism by which messages that evoke hope affect stress is reappraisal (Chadwick et al., 2016; Lazarus, 1991). By focusing the receiver’s thoughts on how the stressor could signal a potential future opportunity, messages that evoke hope can cause people to reappraise a stressor as an opportunity. This research provides evidence that messages that evoke hope can counter the psychological and physiological effects of stressful events. In addition, the research provides evidence that messages that evoke hope may be a form of supportive communication that can decrease stress.