In a neurocognitive account, we introduce hope as the result of a process we describe as hoping. It consists of three components: the desire for a valuable good, the belief that it can be realized, and the trust in personal and social resources to make it a reality. We describe how hope shares neurocognitive processes with believing, such as unconscious emotional valuation, probabilistic prediction, attitudes and intentions to act, personal perspective-taking, and expressing oneself through verbal propositions. In addition, hope accommodates the experience of trust, the affective judgments of good, and the attitude of confidence. As people are embedded in a socio-cultural environment, individual hope can turn into collective hope and a sense of collective agency, which, in conjunction with moral, political, and cultural values, can support communities in flourishing. We discuss that our processual account is consistent with traditional theories of hope.
References
[1]
Snyder, C.R. (2002) Hope Theory: Rainbows in the Mind. PsychologicalInquiry, 13, 249-275. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1304_01
[2]
Scioli, A. and Biller, H. (2009) Hope in the Age of Anxiety. Oxford University Press.
[3]
Herth, K. (2005) State of the Science of Hope in Nursing Practice: Hope, the Nurse, and the Patient. In: Eliott, J.A., InterdisciplinaryPerspectivesonHope, Nova Science Publishers, 169-211.
[4]
Farran, C.J., Herth, K.A. and Popovich, J.M. (1995) Hope and Hopelessness: Critical Clinical Constructs. Sage Publications.
Peterson, C. and Seligman, M. E. (2004) Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford University Press.
[7]
Dufault, K. and Martocchio, B.C. (1985) Hope: Its Spheres and Dimensions. Nursing Clinics of North America, 20, 379-391. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0029-6465(22)00328-0
[8]
Scioli, A., Ricci, M., Nyugen, T. and Scioli, E.R. (2011) Hope: Its Nature and Measurement. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 3, 78-97. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020903
[9]
Braithwaite, V. (2004) Collective Hope. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 592, 6-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716203262049
[10]
Miceli, M. and Castelfranchi, C. (2010) Hope: The Power of Wish and Possibility. Theory&Psychology, 20, 251-276. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354309354393
[11]
Angel, H.F. and Seitz, R.J. (2024) Credition and the Neurobiology of Belief: The Brain Function in Believing. AcademiaBiology, 2, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.20935/acadbiol7359
Meirav, A. (2009) The Nature of Hope. Ratio, 22, 216-233. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9329.2009.00427.x
[14]
Krafft, A.M., Guse, T. and Slezackova, A. (2023) Theoretical Foundations and a Transdisciplinary Concept of Hope. In: Krafft, A.M., Guse, T. and Slezackova, A., HopeacrossCultures—LessonsfromtheInternationalHopeBarometer, Springer, 23-44.
[15]
Averill, J.R., Catlin, G. and Chon, K.K. (1990) Rules of Hope: Recent Research in Psychology. Springer.
[16]
Scioli, A. (2020) The Psychology of Hope: A Diagnostic and Prescriptive Account. In: van den Heuvel, S., HistoricalandMultidisciplinaryPerspectivesonHope, Springer, 137-163. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46489-9_8
[17]
Snyder, C.R. (1994) The Psychology of Hope: You Can Get There from Here. Simon & Schuster.
[18]
Scioli, A., Chamberlin, C.M., Samor, C.M., Lapointe, A.B., Campbell, T.L., Macleod, A.R., et al. (1997) A Prospective Study of Hope, Optimism, and Health. Psychological Reports, 81, 723-733. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1997.81.3.723
[19]
Tong, E.M.W., Fredrickson, B.L., Chang, W. and Lim, Z.X. (2010) Re-Examining Hope: The Roles of Agency Thinking and Pathways Thinking. Cognition & Emotion, 24, 1207-1215. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930903138865
[20]
Krafft, A.M. and Walker, A.M. (2018) Exploring the Concept and Experience of Hope—Empirical Findings and the Virtuous Circle of Hope. In: Krafft, A.M., Perrig-Chiello, P. and Walker, A.M., HopeforaGoodLife: ResultsoftheHopeBarometerInternationalResearchProgram, Springer, 21-60.
[21]
Alarcon, G.M., Bowling, N.A. and Khazon, S. (2013) Great Expectations: A Meta-Analytic Examination of Optimism and Hope. Personality and Individual Differences, 54, 821-827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.12.004
[22]
Bruininks, P. and Malle, B.F. (2005) Distinguishing Hope from Optimism and Related Affective States. Motivation and Emotion, 29, 324-352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-006-9010-4
[23]
Milona, M. (2020) Hope and Optimism. John Templet on Foundation. https://www.templeton.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/JTF-Hope-Optimism.pdf
[24]
Aspinwall, L.G. and Leaf, S.L. (2002) In Search of the Unique Aspects of Hope: Pinning Our Hopes on Positive Emotions, Future-Oriented Thinking, Hard Times, and Other People. PsychologicalInquiry, 13, 276-288.
[25]
Martin, A. (2013) How We Hope—A Moral Psychology. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.23943/princeton/9780691151526.001.0001
[26]
Pettit, P. (2004) Hope and Its Place in Mind. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 592, 152-165. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716203261798
[27]
Bovens, L. (1999) The Value of Hope. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 59, 667-681. https://doi.org/10.2307/2653787
[28]
McGeer, V. (2008) Trust, Hope and Empowerment. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 86, 237-254. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048400801886413
[29]
Tennen, H., Affleck, G. and Tennen, R. (2002) Clipped Feathers: The Theory and Measurement of Hope. PsychologicalInquiry, 13, 311-317.
[30]
Shade, P. (2001) Habits of Hope—A Pragmatic Theory. Vanderbilt University Press.
[31]
Krafft, A.M., Martin-Krumm, C. and Fenouillet, F. (2017) Adaptation, Further Elaboration, and Validation of a Scale to Measure Hope as Perceived by People. Assessment, 26, 1594-1609. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191117700724
[32]
Eliott, J. and Olver, I. (2002) The Discursive Properties of “Hope”: A Qualitative Analysis of Cancer Patients’ Speech. Qualitative Health Research, 12, 173-193. https://doi.org/10.1177/104973230201200204
[33]
Eliott, J.A. and Olver, I.N. (2007) Hope and Hoping in the Talk of Dying Cancer Patients. Social Science & Medicine, 64, 138-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.08.029
[34]
Martin, A. (2019) Interpersonal Hope. In: Bl？ser, C. and Stahl, T., TheMoralPsychologyofHope, Rowman & Littlefield, 229-248.
[35]
Connors, M.H. and Halligan, P.W. (2015) A Cognitive Account of Belief: A Tentative Road Map. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, Article 1588. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01588
[36]
Oeberst, A. and Imhoff, R. (2023) Toward Parsimony in Bias Research: A Proposed Common Framework of Belief-Consistent Information Processing for a Set of Biases. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18, 1464-1487. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916221148147
[37]
Seitz, R.J., Paloutzian, R.F. and Angel, H. (2018) From Believing to Belief: A General Theoretical Model. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 30, 1254-1264. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01292
[38]
Seitz, R.J. and Angel, H.F. (2020) Belief Formation—A Driving Force for Brain Evolution. Brain and Cognition, 140, Article 105548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105548
[39]
Sugiura, M., Seitz, R.J. and Angel, H.F. (2015) Models and Neural Bases of the Believing Process. JournalofBehavioralandBrainScience, 5, 12-23. https://doi.org/10.4236/jbbs.2015.51002
[40]
Angel, H.F. (2017) A Process of Merging Interior and Exterior Reality: A Short View on the Structure of Credition. In: Teixeira, M.T., MindinNature. EuropeanStudiesinProcessThought, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 201-209.
[41]
Seitz, R.J., Paloutzian, R.F. and Angel, H.F. (2024) Manifestations, Social Impact, and Decay of Conceptual Beliefs: A Cultural Perspective. BrainandBehavior, 14, e3470. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.3470
[42]
Tollefsen, D. and Friedlaender, C. (2017) Collective Intentionality. In: RoutledgeEncyclopediaofPhilosophy, Taylor & Francis.
[43]
Aguilar-Raab, C. and Ditzen, B. (2017) Neurobiological Factors Underlying Attachment and Trust in the Believing Process. In: New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, Springer, 83-95. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50924-2_6
[44]
Brashier, N.M. and Marsh, E.J. (2020) Judging Truth. Annual Review of Psychology, 71, 499-515. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-050807
[45]
Ajzen, I. (2001) Nature and Operation of Attitudes. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 27-58. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.27
[46]
Porot, N. and Mandelbaum, E. (2019) The Science of Belief: A Progress Report. WIREs Cognitive Science, 12, e1539. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1539
[47]
Krafft, A.M. (2026) The Centrality of Hope in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. SwissArchivesofNeurology, Psychiatry, andPsychotherapy, 176, Article 3.
[48]
Erikson, E.H. (1959) Identity and the Life Cycle: Selected Papers. International Universities Press.
[49]
van Kleef, G.A. and Lelieveld, G.J. (2022) Moving the Self and Others to Do Good: The Emotional Underpinnings of Prosocial Behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 44, 80-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.029
[50]
Ishizu, T. and Zeki, S. (2013) The Brain’s Specialized Systems for Aesthetic and Perceptual Judgment. European Journal of Neuroscience, 37, 1413-1420. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.12135
[51]
Rolls, E.T. (2006) Brain Mechanisms Underlying Flavour and Appetite. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 361, 1123-1136. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.1852
[52]
Oakley, D.A. and Halligan, P.W. (2017) Chasing the Rainbow: The Non-Conscious Nature of Being. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, Article 1924. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01924
[53]
Seitz, R.J., Angel, H.F., Paloutzian, R.F. and Taves, A. (2022) Believing and Social Interactions: Effects on Bodily Expressions and Personal Narratives. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 16, Article 894219. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.894219
[54]
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1989) Assumptive Worlds and the Stress of Traumatic Events: Applications of the Schema Construct. Social Cognition, 7, 113-136. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.1989.7.2.113
[55]
Lerner, M.J. (1980) The Belief in a Just World. Plenum.
[56]
Clifton, J.D.W., Baker, J.D., Park, C.L., Yaden, D.B., Clifton, A.B.W., Terni, P., et al. (2019) Primal World Beliefs. Psychological Assessment, 31, 82-99. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000639
[57]
Clifton, J.D.W. and Yaden, D.B. (2021) Brief Measures of the Four Highest-Order Primal World Beliefs. Psychological Assessment, 33, 1267-1273. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001055
[58]
Krafft, A.M. (2025) Basic Beliefs of Hope: A Cross-Cultural Comparison. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 1520887. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1520887
[59]
Paloutzian, R.F. and Mukai, K.J. (2017) Believing, Remembering, and Imagining: The Roots and Fruits of Meanings Made and Remade. In: New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, Springer, 39-49. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50924-2_3
[60]
Jeannerod, M. (2013) The Functional Role of Conscious Will in Voluntary Action: Cause or Consequence? A Position Paper. In: Brains Top down, World Scientific, 103-120. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814412469_0005
[61]
Graybiel, A.M. and Grafton, S.T. (2015) The Striatum: Where Skills and Habits Meet. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 7, a021691. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a021691
[62]
Cunningham, W.A. and Zelazo, P.D. (2007) Attitudes and Evaluations: A Social Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11, 97-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2006.12.005
[63]
Izuma, K. (2013) The Neural Basis of Social Influence and Attitude Change. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 23, 456-462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2013.03.009
[64]
Michaelsen, M.M. and Esch, T. (2021) Motivation and Reward Mechanisms in Health Behavior Change Processes. Brain Research, 1757, Article 147309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2021.147309
[65]
Bl？ser, C. and Stahl, T. (2017) Hope. In: Zalta, E., StanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy, Online Version, Center for the Study of Language and Information.
[66]
Jeffrey, A. (2019) Hope in Christianity. In: Bl？ser, C. and Stahl, T., TheMoralPsychologyofHope, Rowman & Littlefield, 37-55.
[67]
Vice, S. (2019) Pessimism and the Possibility of Hope. In: Bl？ser, C. and Stahl, T., TheMoralPsychologyofHope, Rowman & Littlefield, 153-170.
[68]
Fremstedal, R. (2019) Kierkegaard on Hope as Essential to Selfhood. In: Bl？ser, C. and Stahl, T., TheMoralPsychologyofHope, Rowman & Littlefield, 75-92.
[69]
Lazarus, R.S. (1999) Hope: An Emotion and a Vital Coping Resource against Despair. SocialResearch, 66, 653-678.
[70]
Friston, K., Sengupta, B. and Auletta, G. (2014) Cognitive Dynamics: From Attractors to Active Inference. Proceedings of the IEEE, 102, 427-445. https://doi.org/10.1109/jproc.2014.2306251
[71]
Zaidel, D.W. (2019) Coevolution of Language and Symbolic Meaning: Co-Opting Meaning Underlying the Initial Arts in Early Human Culture. WIREs Cognitive Science, 11, e1520. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1520
[72]
Krafft, A.M., Chukwuorji, J.C., Choubisa, R., Conte, S., Flores-Lucas, V., Guse, T., et al. (2023) Long-Term Future Expectations and Collective Hope. In: Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology, Springer, 103-165. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24412-4_4
[73]
Barrett, L.F. (2019) How Emotions Are Made. Providence Book Festival.
[74]
Adolphs, R. (2002) Neural Systems for Recognizing Emotion. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 12, 169-177. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-4388(02)00301-x
[75]
Lieberman, M.D. (2007) Social Cognitive Neuroscience: A Review of Core Processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 259-289. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085654
[76]
Ditzen, B. and Heinrichs, M. (2014) Psychobiology of Social Support: The Social Dimension of Stress Buffering. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 32, 149-162. https://doi.org/10.3233/rnn-139008
[77]
Sprevak, M. (2019) Extended Cognition. In: Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Routledge.
[78]
Bar‐Tal, D. (2001) Why Does Fear Override Hope in Societies Engulfed by Intractable Conflict, as It Does in the Israeli Society? Political Psychology, 22, 601-627. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895x.00255
[79]
Stahl, T. (2019) Political Hope and Cooperative Community. In: Bl？ser, C. and Stahl, T., TheMoralPsychologyofHope, Rowman & Littlefield, 265-283.
[80]
Rorty, R. (1999) Philosophy and Social Hope. Penguin Books.
[81]
te Riele, K. (2010) Philosophy of Hope: Concepts and Applications for Working with Marginalized Youth. Journal of Youth Studies, 13, 35-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676260903173496
[82]
Webb, D. (2013) Pedagogies of Hope. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 32, 397-414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-012-9336-1
[83]
Cobb, A.D. and Green, A. (2017) The Theological Virtue of Hope as a Social Virtue. Journal of Analytic Theology, 5, 230-250. https://doi.org/10.12978/jat.v5i1.167
[84]
Nussbaum, M.C. (2019) The Monarchy of Fear: A Philosopher Looks at Our Political Crisis. Simon & Schuster.
[85]
Garrett, B. and Hough, G. (2021) Brain & Behavior: An Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience. 6th Edition, Sage Publications.
