As in the case of the use of nomothetic methods to measure Adaptive Hope, there are several limiting factors. While this distant (distal) measurement of investment is not distorted by self-deceptive reporting on personal levels of hope, there are many factors other than just Hope that influence financial, educational, or relational decisions. Furthermore, as already noted, a nomothetic report tells us nothing about Why we are hopeful about the stock market, the future value of education, or the desirability of our potential partner. An analysis of Hope without knowing Why is rather hollow. Numbers about Hope should lead to a study of Why rather than standing alone as a definitive statement about Hope.
Aspirational Hope: A Qualitative/Ideographic Approach
This fourth approach to the assessment of Hope concerns the creation and engagement of Hope. How do we go about envisioning something that does not yet exist. How, in other words, do we build a compelling image of a desired future. It would be through interviews that we gain this understanding and appreciation. The tales being told at a personal and collective level of dreams, fantasies, and realistic strategic plans for the future are widely available in contemporary mid-21st Century life and can be accessed by simply listening to and reading what has been advocated and even prophesized. There are also insightful documents about the building of utopian images–such as Samuel Butler’s (1872/1970) Erehwon or more recently Aldus Huxley’s (1962/2009) Island (contrasting with his dystopian Brave New Worlds).
An ideographic assessment of Aspirational Hope might be particularly important, if one is to accept Fred Polak’s (1972) premise that a society must hold a compelling image of its future if it is to remain viable. Various types of future images are reviewed by Polak, and I have joined with two colleagues in considering ways in which a compelling image of the future might be critical in our creating of settings in which there is true freedom (Bergquist, Weitz and Pomerantz, 2026). At the very least, an individual assessment of one’s desired future is central to any effective practice of personal or life coaching.
An Integrated Assessment of Hope
Ultimately, we will only gain a full appreciation of the complex and often elusive emotion we call Hope when we have engaged all four forms of assessment and have integrated the findings from these four approaches to create a comprehensive understanding of Hope. I offer a four-fold model of an integrative approach and “Hope” that someday such an investigation of Hope will be conducted.
