[2022-01-16] Hope and happiness
We need more news that hope and happiness are on the way.
That was the view a friend expressed to me in a text exchange this afternoon.
Later in the day, while researching the importance of hope, I came across this quote: "You have to knock down the hope domino to get to the happiness domino." That's the view of psychologist Shane Lopez, a scientist at Gallup and author of Making Hope Happen. Referenced in an article by Kirsten Weir on the American Psychological Association website, Lopez describes hope as a necessary step on the path to contentment.
But what is hope? In her article, Weir states that most psychologists who study hope favour the definition provided by the late Charles R. Snyder, a psychologist at the University of Kansas and a pioneer of hope research. Snyder proposed a three-part model of hope:
- Goals - results we are trying to achieve.
- Agency - our ability to shape our lives, our belief that we can make things happen, and our motivation to reach a desired outcome.
- Pathways - the routes and plans that allow us to achieve the goal.
I love that the model spells GAP. Without goals, without the confidence we can achieve them and without a plan to get there, we experience a gap between our desires and our reality.
Lopez makes an important distinction between optimism—"a general feeling that good things will happen"—and hope, which he says tends to be focused on specific goals. "When challenged by a crisis, less hopeful people tend to shut down," writes Weir, referencing Lopez's finding. "Hopeful people are more likely to take action to help them cope."
Weir quotes other experts who emphasize the active part of hope. Jon G. Allen, PhD, a psychologist at The Menninger Clinic, notes that hope is not about escaping reality (that's wishing) but about facing reality and having the motivation to stay in the game. Another researcher—Kaye Herth, dean emerita of Minnesota State University—expands on Snyder's model to include a social support factor, which is having people you can depend on and who bring meaning to your life.
Coincidentally, my wise friend also mentioned in her text exchange: "People need human connection."
Weir references numerous studies pointing to the benefits of hope. For instance:
- Hope is associated with positive emotions, contributing to happiness and well-being.
- People with higher hope have lower depression and anxiety.
- Students who express more hope do better academically than those who express less hope. Researchers in one study found that "hope was even better at predicting academic achievement than intelligence, personality or previous academic achievement."
- Hopeful employees are more productive.
- Hope doesn't replace fear and doubt, but it can exist alongside those emotions.
- Hopeful people come up with multiple solutions to problems rather than planning only for the best-case scenario.
- Remembering past successes, even relatively minor achievements, can help people feel more capable.
A former colleague used to say, "Hope is not a strategy." Perhaps it would have been better to say "Wishing is not a strategy" or "Optimism is not a strategy." If we follow Snyder's definition, hope is not simply wanting to achieve a desirable change but also seeing our role in effecting that change and taking steps to make it happen.
When I reflect on my cancer journey, I believe that I have been engaging in hope: believing in the possibility of a positive outcome, taking charge of my health, following the plan laid out by my healthcare team, and benefiting from the tremendous support of so many people.
Some say that love is a verb and that love—the feeling—is the fruit of love, the verb. Perhaps the same could be said of hope. If we think of hope as a verb—have a goal, believe in our power to achieve that goal, take action—then maybe my friend's aspiration can be achieved. Maybe happiness can follow hope, like one domino toppling another.
