Hope: The power of wish and possibility

This work proposes an analysis of the cognitive and motivational
components of hope, its basic properties, and the affective dispositions and
behaviors it is likely to induce. In our view current treatments of hope do not
fully account for its specificity, by making hope overlap with positive expectation
or some specification of positive expectation. In contrast, we attempt to
highlight the distinctive features of hope, pointing to its differences from positive
expectation, as well as from a sense of successful agency, optimism,
trust, and faith. Fear and anxiety are also addressed, and the latter is analyzed
as a state of mind implying both fear and hope. Finally, the relationship
between hope and motivation is explored, and "active" hope is compared with
"passive" hope. Some concluding remarks summarize the results of our analysis,
and stress the role of hope in fostering the individual's well-being