Abstract
Introduction. Hope (hoping) is most commonly assessed as a dispositional trait and associated with quality of life, self-care agency and non-attempts of suicide. However, little research has been conducted on hoping for specific events.Materials and Methods. We distributed a survey consisting of Integrative Hope Scale (IHS) and visual analogue scales on which respondents could declare their levels (intensity) of hope for specific events, to all first year health students enrolled at the University Department of Health Studies, Split, Croatia in 2011/2012, as well as to working health professionals attending a nursing conference in April 2012.Results. A total of 161 (89.4%) students and 88 (89.8%) working health professionals returned the completed questionnaires. We found high trait hope scores of students and working health professionals (Md = 111, 95% CI [109–113] vs. Md = 115, 95% CI [112–119]; U = 5,353, P = 0.065), and weak to moderate correlations of trait and specific hopes (r = 0.18–0.48, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient). Students and workers reported 31 different things they hoped for most in life, of which the most prevalent were being healthy and happy. There was very little agreement between participants’ reported influence of the four factors compromising the trait hope (self-confidence, ambition, optimism, and social support) on their specific hopes.Conclusions. Our findings, while strengthening the validity of hope as a trait, indicate that specific hopes of individuals are moderated by factors not captured by the IHS trait scale. Further research should explore specific hoping in detail, as well as the effectiveness of interventions aimed at increasing specific or generalized hoping.
Highlights
Hope is most commonly assessed as a dispositional trait and associated with quality of life, self-care agency and non-attempts of suicide
Our study showed that there were no differences between total scores of universal hope, measured by an Integrative Hope Scale, between training and working health professionals; and that the trait hope was weakly to moderately correlated with the intensity of hope for specific events, declared on visual analogue scales
These findings strengthen the validity of hope as a human trait, and imply its stability through time, as indicated by Schrank et al (2011) on the general population of Austria
Summary
Hope (hoping) is most commonly assessed as a dispositional trait and associated with quality of life, self-care agency and non-attempts of suicide. More than 32 instruments for the measurement of hope have been developed, and recently researchers have combined the properties of the most commonly used instruments (Miller Hope Scale, Herth Hope Index, Snyder Hope Scale) into an Integrative Hope Scale (IHS) (Schrank et al, 2011). It was the goal of our research to determine the association of the universal (trait) hope, measured by the IHS, with hoping for specific events, measured by declaring the intensity (level) of hope on visual analogue scales. To further determine the relationship between the universal and specific hoping, we explored the congruency between the strongest scoring factor of the IHS trait scale (confidence, positive future orientation, lack of perspective, social relations) and the participants’ perception regarding which factor influenced their specific hoping the most
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