The Hope Institute
A 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit
Your Total Hopefulness Score is:
000
/80
Hopefulness is humanity’s most important character strength, the psychological equivalent of an immune system. Like the biological immune system, hope can be strengthened or weakened by external factors that vary on a continuum from very healthy to very toxic. The workplace can be empowering or disabling, welcoming or alienating, freeing or restrictive, experienced as meaningful or completely devoid of purpose. In short, a good workplace can strengthen and even infuse hope. A toxic work environment "sickens the soul", and erodes hope. The link between satisfaction of the needs underlying hope and employee wellbeing are supported by more than seven decades of research, dating back to the classic analysis of Friedman and Havighurst (1954) and continuing with studies such as those by Wang et al. (2020) and Tusi et al. (2024).
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Share Your Results
Would you like to see a full report with scores on the four major aspects of hope in the workplace (Mastery, Attachment, Survival, and Spiritual Hope)? If yes, click below to purchase your full report and obtain a detailed hopefulness profile of your workplace.
Mastery Hope Score:
00
/20
In several large-scale studies, psychologists asked lay people (non-professionals) open-ended questions about hope. Hopeful individuals reported a focus on non-negotiable, life-defining endpoints (ultimate, unconditional desires, linked to cherished values). They also highlighted the role of empowerment and inspiration. Does your workplace align with your cherished values? (At a minimum, your workplace should not be at odds with your most important principles and values.) Do you derive any sense of empowerment from trainings and skill development opportunities? As you inspired by your work environment in any manner? Friedman and Havighurst (1954) included the needs for esteem and identity in their functions of work. As they note, beyond power and prestige, there remains a basic needs for identification with, and a sense of contribution to, larger efforts. They suggest that one of the risks of technological advances could be a diminishment in a sense of collective mastery, leading to greater "work alienation".
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Attachment Hope Score:
00
/20
Philosophers, who have provided the deepest thoughts on hope, consistently stress the importance of social connections and trust. A hopeful person has internalized a sense of embeddedness in a predictable universe of caring people and benign forces, visible and invisible. Some philosophers equate hopefulness with openness. Do you feel an emotional connection to at least some of your co-workers/colleagues? Are there trustworthy leaders at the top of your organization? Does your workplace feel like a place where you can safely share your thoughts and feelings? Are people in your workplace genuine in their dealings with you?
Friedman and Havighurst (1954) included "association" as a key work function. They note the powerful human need for attachment and incorporated theory and research to support the high value placed on the social aspects of work.
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Survival Hope Score:
00
Ancient Greek healers as well as modern-day medical investigators have touted the importance of hope for stress management and general wellbeing. Hope is distinguishable from optimism, confidence, or mere “expectation” by its association with difficult but not impossible challenges. Survival hope includes imaginative constructions of reality, fact-finding, development of options, and help-seeking. Does your workplace inspire you to believe a better future is possible? Does your workplace invest in you in ways that make you more skilled, and more employable if you had to move on from your current place of work? Does your workplace provide some flexibility and choice-making (roles, tasks, hours, etc.). We can translate Friedman and Havighurst's (1954) "income" and "life structure" functions of work into survival hope via resource-building and self-regulation or time-binding (work is something that life can be organized around).
/20
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Spiritual Hope Score:
00
/20
For countless millennia, humanity has found hope in spiritual beliefs. From the perspective of our critical “MASS.” model, we view spirituality (broadly defined, not just religious), as essential for the full development of hopefulness. Humans cannot fully satisfy their needs for mastery, attachment, or salvation with ordinary responses to the world. Spirituality offers an important and extraordinary layer of empowerment, presence, and salvation. From this perspective, work can be viewed as one of several means of securing this additional layer of transcendent mastery, attachment, or survival experience (e.g., in addition to engagements with religious or spiritual belief systems). Friedman and Havighurst (1954) included purpose and meaning among their functions of work. A more recent study by Syahir et al. (2025) affirms linkages between employee wellbeing and spirituality in the workplace.
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Critical Items Score:
00
/20
We created a critical item score by analyzing worker ratings of importance for each of the 16 items on our scale. We extracted the single item rated most important from the categories of Mastery Hope, Attachment Hope, Survival Hope, and Spiritual Hope. These items were all rated as highly important to workers. Again, these were not remote workers so we can presume their ratings reflect direct experiences of the workplace. The highest rated mastery item: The workplace leaders and staff respect me and others like me. The highest rated attachment item: The workplace leaders and staff do not trample on, or violate, your dignity. The highest rated survival item: My workplace provides training, skill-building, and other opportunities to make me more financially secure in the future. The highest rated spiritual item: The leadership and staff of my workplace do their best to create an environment that supports a higher purpose or mission.
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(goalProgressScale): Goal Progress(goalProgressBand): med(goalProgressSum): 13(goalProgressGauge): 65(goalProgressDisplayText): Placeholder: Medium interpretation for Goal Progress.(goalProgressDisplayTextId): 626d08a7-1056-4f98-b0e6-66cd42a7f3fa(goalSupportScale): Goal Support(goalSupportBand): med(goalSupportSum): 14(goalSupportGauge): 70(goalSupportDisplayText): Placeholder: Medium interpretation for Goal Support.(goalSupportDisplayTextId): ae2f50c7-6635-4754-b023-31b138c1c084(connectionsScale): Connections(connectionsBand): med(connectionsSum): 12(connectionsGauge): 60(connectionsDisplayText): Placeholder: Medium interpretation for Connections.(connectionsDisplayTextId): 92a11b71-e65e-4826-a9c1-aff79a80f04c(trustScale): Trust(trustBand): low(trustSum): 8(trustGauge): 40(trustDisplayText): Placeholder: Low interpretation for Trust.(trustDisplayTextId): 463fb669-c47d-40b4-985c-f06d1efb0330(personalCopingScale): Personal Coping(personalCopingBand): med(personalCopingSum): 13(personalCopingGauge): 65(personalCopingDisplayText): Placeholder: Medium interpretation for Personal Coping.(personalCopingDisplayTextId): a49fd0a6-30c2-437f-9dff-65a79406451e(copingSupportScale): Coping Support(copingSupportBand): med(copingSupportSum): 14(copingSupportGauge): 70(copingSupportDisplayText): Placeholder: Medium interpretation for Coping Support.(copingSupportDisplayTextId): a91de0d7-4576-4278-a65b-fefe693d5456(libertyScale): Liberty(libertyBand): med(libertySum): 13(libertyGauge): 65(libertyDisplayText): Placeholder: Medium interpretation for Liberty.(libertyDisplayTextId): db3b193a-08b3-4a6e-9418-390073859695(spiritualInspirationScale): Spiritual Inspiration(spiritualInspirationBand): low(spiritualInspirationSum): 9(spiritualInspirationGauge): 45(spiritualInspirationDisplayText): Placeholder: Low interpretation for Spiritual Inspiration.(spiritualInspirationDisplayTextId): 80af660d-34f0-4fc5-bb85-5a01a7b57e27(spiritualPresenceScale): Spiritual Presence(spiritualPresenceBand): high(spiritualPresenceSum): 17(spiritualPresenceGauge): 85(spiritualPresenceDisplayText): Placeholder: High interpretation for Spiritual Presence.(spiritualPresenceDisplayTextId): 2dff1cc0-2bbd-4771-8747-fb44be5b34cf(spiritualProtectionScale): Spiritual Protection(spiritualProtectionBand): low(spiritualProtectionSum): 10(spiritualProtectionGauge): 50(spiritualProtectionDisplayText): Placeholder: Low interpretation for Spiritual Protection.(spiritualProtectionDisplayTextId): a580ea9e-0146-4ee8-939f-b612afdd5ac6(masteryScale): Mastery(masteryBand): med(masterySum): 27(masteryGauge): 68(masteryDisplayText): Your score may represent a moderate (but not a high degree) of clarity and confidence about your aspirations and support for these desires (Goal Progress). Alternatively, you may possess great clarity and confidence, but experience limited or only partial support for these aspirations (Goal Support). What is holding you back from a life of greater mastery? Clarity needs to come first, then support will follow.(masteryDisplayTextId): 5fea34eb-89b6-49ba-9852-f1ca8f8a4900(attachmentScale): Attachment(attachmentBand): low(attachmentSum): 20(attachmentGauge): 50(attachmentDisplayText): You may often feel alone in the world and wish you had more loving early care. You may question whether you have similar beliefs and values compared to those around you (Connections). You may be quite guarded around others and do not harbor much trust or faith in people (Trust). Start slowly. Find one person you can trust. Share a little of yourself, your likes, dislikes, and values. Wait for the other person to match your level of disclosure. Spend a little more time in a group setting even if you just listen and learn about others, verify your initial assumptions and fine-tune your gut.(attachmentDisplayTextId): 1f8f4b0e-956e-4e4e-986c-015f6e415211(survivalScale): Survival(survivalBand): med(survivalSum): 40(survivalGauge): 67(survivalDisplayText): You have some resources for maintaining hope when confronting adversity. You rarely feel stuck or trapped (Liberty). You may have a solid, even very strong level of imaginative capacity to look beyond immediate problems. If you rated high in this sub-domain, and nevertheless had an overall medium survival score, perhaps you reported more difficulty with concrete problem solving (or vice versa) (Personal Coping). Alternatively, you might have a great capacity for imagination and problem solving but find it difficult to recruit good help (Coping Support). Prioritize your weak areas. Divide and conquer them.(survivalDisplayTextId): d8db705f-038c-419d-9352-c50594ffadbb(spiritualityScale): Spirituality(spiritualityBand): med(spiritualitySum): 36(spiritualityGauge): 60(spiritualityDisplayText): You may be low in spiritual beliefs related to one or two, but not all three of the needs underlying hope (Inspiration, Presence, Protection). Alternatively, you may have reported lower scores on all three spiritual hope scales. If you desire a stronger spiritual foundation, research empowerment, presence, and protection-related content within your preferred belief system. Alternatively, you can look across multiple religious or spiritual systems but be careful to avoid confusing yourself with conflicting belief systems.(spiritualityDisplayTextId): 3668c04e-4493-4ee6-87e4-1dad68514f85(totalHopefulnessScale): Total Hopefulness(totalHopefulnessBand): med(totalHopefulnessSum): 126(totalHopefulnessGauge): 63(totalHopefulnessDisplayText): You may have lower scores on several of the ten minor subscales. Your lower scores may be scattered across the four major sections (mastery through spirituality) and suggest a specific target for improvement (e.g., goal support). However, you might find that all of the scores for a major section are a little low (e.g., all 3 survival hope scores). In this case, focus on improving those areas with the greatest number of below average scores. There is one caveat. You might focus on attachment hope first, even if only one of the two scales is low, then address the other major dimensions, starting with the most deficient. Attachment is the most critical dimension of hope. Warning: Among some adults, a medium score sometimes results from a lower spirituality score. Check to see if your spirituality score is a low-score outlier, pulling down your overall score. Review the section on spiritual hope.(totalHopefulnessDisplayTextId): 1a36ef7e-dae4-47fe-9f8f-deb92918dea8