The Difference Between Hope and Optimism
Four takeaways:
- People tend to use hope and optimism as synonyms, but that isn’t accurate. A 2004 paper from The Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology determined that “hope focuses more directly on the personal attainment of specific goals, whereas optimism focuses more broadly on the expected quality of future outcomes in general.”
- In other words, Optimism is “the belief that things will turn out all right,” an assumption that Hope does not make. Hope is more powerful, “a conviction that one can act to make things better in some way.”
- Hope involves personal agency, and thus is more practical and linked to individual success. In 2013, researchers defining hope as “having the will and finding the way” found that high-hope employees are 28 percent more likely to be successful at work and 44 percent more likely to enjoy good health and well-being.
- Brooks lays out three steps to maximizing the practical value of your sense of hope:
- Imagine a Better Future, and Detail What Makes It So
- Envision Yourself Taking Action
- Act!
From Arthur C. Brooks at The Atlantic:
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