PROBLEMIn his recent book, The Psychology of Hope, Stotland(3) presented 'ihopefl as a shorthand term for an expectation about goal attainment: hopefulness referred to high expectancies and hopelessness to low expectancies of success. While he focused on the level of perceived probability of goal attainment as the core variable, his discussion also attended to the perceived importance of the goal. He viewed hopefulness as a factor in adaptive action and positive affect and hopelessness as involved in maladaptive behavior and negative affect. I n brief, mental illness was associated with hopelessness, and therapy was understood as the restoration of hopefulness.I n his book Stotland presents a theoretical account of hope and offers a broad spectrum of clinical and experimental studies in support of his theory. He views hopefulness as a construct or mediating process that ties together antecedent and consequent events. While the theoretical constructs are promising, Stotland's strategy is vulnerable in that it is based on after-the-fact interpretations of previous studies rather than on original research.The present study is designed to test empirically aspects of the theory concerned with psychiatric status and hopefulness. An additional purpose is to introduce the Hope Scale, a self-report instrument based on Stotland's theoretical constructs, and to present preliminary reliability and validational data for the scale. The Hope Scale is designed to measure both perceived importance and perceived probability of attaining desirable goals. Stotland did not include selfreport data in his book and repeatedly expressed skepticism about such data. However, an extensive literature in decision theory deals with such issues as perceived importance and perceived probability, and there is evidence to suggest that the individual's subjective estimates are an efficient way to assess underlying subjective probabilities @).The present study examines several hypotheses generated from Stotland's theory: (1) that psychopathology is associated with lower estimates of perceived probability of goal attainment; (2) that the lower the perceived probability of god attainment and the higher the importance of the goal, the more the individual will experience anxiety ; and (3) that effective treatment serves to increase the perceived probability of goal attainment. METHOD?'he Hope Scale. A list of 20 future goals was compiled. Each goal was focused, but not situation-specific, and the list covered a spectrum of goals common in our society:1. 3. 4.Have good emotional health. .6. Have good bodily health. 7.Have enough money for basic needs. Be seen as attractive in my looks, dress and grooming. Have a good relationship with my father.See my children turn out well.Have a satisfactory leisure life.
The question of differences in personality, intelligence level, and organic brain dysfunction relative to vocational readjustment was addressed with two renal dialysis groups and a group of orthopedic patients. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory profile differences were found between good, fair, and poor vocational rehabilitation adjustment groups when a profile classification system was used. Patients with normal profiles were more likely to return to full employment, whereas patients with abnormal maladaptive profiles were more likely to be unemployed. There were no differences on age-correlated Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) scale scores between the three hemodialysis vocational rehabilitation groups, although educational levels were significantly different, with the full-time employment group being higher. Further, analysis indicated no differences on age-correlated WAIS scale scores among groups.
Sixty male alcoholic inpatients were administered the Locus of Control scale (IE), the Activity Preference Questionnaire (APQ), the Manifest Anxiety scale (MAS), and the Tennessee Self Concept scale (TSCS). Ss defined as having an external locus of control appeared significantly more anxious than internal Ss on the MAS; however, no differences were found between groups on the APQ or TSCS scales. The self-report (MAS) and nonobtrusive (APQ) measures of anxiety were not correlated significantly. A differential pattern of correlations was found between the MAS and APQ and TCSC subscale scores. The obtained correlations support the contention that the MAS may measure more accurately a dimension of neuroticism and/or negative self-concept rather than anxiety. Further research appears necessary to investigate the internal consistency and dimensionality of the MAS.
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