Hope- and Academic-Related Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The strength of the association between hope and academic outcomes has not been systematically evaluated. To provide a summarization of the extant research, findings from 45 primary studies (N = 9250) investigating the relationship between hope and academic achievement, as well as between hope and student assets and liabilities were synthesized using meta-analysis. Academic performance outcomes, including grade point average, had a moderate, positive relationship with hope. Corrected correlations were consistent with a moderate, positive relationship between hope and student assets and a moderate, negative relationship between hope and liabilities. Moderator analyses revealed that the link between hope and academic outcomes was stronger for elementary, middle, and high school students than for undergraduate and graduate students. Given the strong evidence that hope predicts academic outcomes, our findings suggest that future research should examine whether interventions that increase hope may have secondary positive effects on academic indicators of student success”.