 "Photo: Matty Greene")
Hope has figured prominently in the current presidential race, from Republican Rep. Ron Paul's Hope for America campaign to Sen. Barack Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope."
The constant use of the word may diminish its impact, but Elizabeth Alexander, who recently completed a psychological model of hope to earn a doctorate in educational psychology at UT, said hope is more than a political buzzword.
"I think it's been important for contemporary politicians to use this term because it is indicative of change - positive change," Alexander said. "Hope is not some passive thing. If we want to be hopeful as a nation, as opposed to being fearful all the time, then we need to challenge ourselves."
She said Obama's book and campaign resonate with people by providing the same openness, feeling of empowerment and sense of social connectedness that she saw in the "high-hope" individuals she studied.
"If you think about the word 'audacity,' it means boldness," Alexander said. "It means daring. It implies risk. Those were the things that my higher-hope people all did."
For her dissertation, Alexander studied people aged 18-22 who were considered disadvantaged - teen mothers, for example, or high school dropouts - and interviewed them over a period of several years to find commonalities among those who exhibited especially high or low levels of hope.
The high-hope individuals were oriented toward future goals, Alexander said. They were also skilled at framing their past in terms of what they learned from experience, asking for help and having strategic backup plans in case they were prevented from meeting their original goals.
"They didn't have better lives, but they had different attitudes," she said. "They had a very different way of thinking and feeling about the world and their place in it."
Without interference from Alexander, some of the individuals she interviewed showed increased hope over time. She said that caused her to believe hope could be taught, and now she applies her findings as a "hope coach."
Alan Constant, director of the UT Learning Center, said Alexander will present her research at the center's annual Student Educators' Conference in August. Her "hope model" will likely be implemented in the center's academic coaching and mentoring programs by September.
"What I especially like … are Dr. Alexander's ideas about students facing challenges and uncertainty," Constant said. "It's useful for students to have an academic coach when they're facing those things, especially during their first years here."
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