Sarah von Hahn

Hope at Work

A Multidimensional Perspective on the Activating and Deactivating Effects of Hope


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ISBN:

978-3-8440-9713-9

Series:

Psychologie

Keywords:

hope; work; decision making; motivation; uncertainty; ambiguity; goal attainment

Type of publication:

Thesis

Language:

English

Pages:

190 pages

Figures:

7 figures

Weight:

371 g

Format:

24 x 17 cm

Binding:

Paperback

Price:

58,80 € / 73,60 SFr

Published:

December 2024

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Open Access (PDF):

978-3-8440-9813-6

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Abstract:

Few phenomena are as prevalent, common, and yet elusive as hope. In times of great uncertainty, life transitions, social threats, or personal challenges, hope emerges as a fundamental psychological mechanism that drives motivation and behavioral intention. It influences various aspects of life, from individual goals to professional endeavors and social interactions. Despite its profound impact on human experience and behavior, research on hope still holds great potential in uncovering its complex nature and motivational impact in different contexts.
Driven by personal and scientific curiosity, this dissertation explores the role of hope in the workplace, providing an empirical investigation of how hope influences decision making, behavioral intentions, and actions, while distinguishing it from related psychological and decision-theoretical constructs. To establish a clear and comprehensive understanding of hope, a conceptual model, the hope framework, is developed, comprising the conditions, dimensions and characteristics, and outcomes of hope. Based on prior research, literature, and empirical approaches, the hope framework serves as the foundation for the central assumptions elaborated in this thesis: First, hope can have both an activating and deactivating effect on behavior under uncertainty. Second, hope is a multidimensional construct, consisting of internal hope, external hope in others, and external hope in chance, and has various dimension-specific effects on professional intentions and behaviors.

In four empirical studies the propositions are tested and supported. The first two scenario-based studies examine how hope encourages either active or passive goal-directed behavior in the face of uncertainty in a health and work context. The findings extend the traditional view of hope as exclusively action-promoting, showing that hope can inspire both effortful and non-effortful behaviors depending on the level of outcome uncertainty, with those behaviors with the highest success ambiguity being promoted. These results lead to the hope-as-ambiguity-preference hypothesis, which substantially links hope theory with decision theory. The third and fourth studies delve into how hopes’ multidimensionality affects career motivation and employee turnover. It is shown that internal hope drives overall career ambitions and that the three hope dimensions shape different specific career motives, revealing distinct hope-job profiles. Moreover, the findings uncover a dual role of hope: hope increases job satisfaction but can also encourage turnover in unsatisfactory work environments.
Grounded in a theoretical framework and supported by empirical data, this dissertation highlights hope as a powerful psychological mechanism shaping different intentions and actions in the workforce. It argues for a multidimensional hope conceptualization and a sophisticated consideration of hope as a decision-theoretical construct under uncertainty, and clearly differentiates hope from related constructs like optimism or risk preference. The findings offer fresh insights for both psychological and decision-theoretical research, as well as practical applications of hope in organizational settings.

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