building a life of hope for college students
TRANSCRIPT
Hope Happens: Building Character Strengths That
Matter
Eileen Hulme, PhDExecutive Director, Noel StrengthsAcademy
Azusa Pacific University
Anita Fitzgerald Henck, PhDChair, Dept of College StudentDevelopment/Organizational Leadership
Azusa Pacific University
What brought you to this
session?
What do you hope to hear?
Why should we care about building hopein college students?
* Preparing students
as leaders
* Positioning students
for thriving lives
Leadership Constructs
Psychological Capital (PsyCap)–Hope–Self‐Efficacy–Resilience–Optimism
Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio (2007)
Leadership Constructs
Gallup – 4 characteristics people need from their leaders
–Hope–Stability–Compassion
–Trust
Student Thriving
• Historically, focused on natural maturation (or student development)
• New movement toward positive student development theory
Individual Thriving
CompetenceStrengths
Character Strengths
StrengthsIndividuals already have within themselves what they
need to succeed!
BeautyBraveryCitizenshipCreativityCuriosityFairnessForgivenessGratitudeHopeHumorIntegrityJudgment
KindnessLeadershipLoveLove of LearningModestyPersistencePerspective/WisdomPrudenceSelf‐RegulationSocial IntelligenceSpiritualityZest/Vitality
Which Five Would You Include?VIA Character Strengths
Curiosity
Hope
Altruistic Love/Compassion
Persistence/Self‐Regulation
Zest/Vitality
VIA Character Strengths
Positive Student Development includes:
VIAMeasure
General Life
Satisfaction
College
Satisfaction
GPA
Zest .48** (1) .29** (5) 16* (9)
Love .45** (2) .15* (18) .02 (18)
Hope .43** (3) .37** (1) .22** (6)
Self‐Regulation .41**(4) .34** (2) .26** (3)
Curiosity .41** (4) .22** (11) .19** (8)
Fairness .39** (11) .31** (5) .24** (5)
Persistence .32** (18) .34** (2) .31** (1)
Correlations of VIA Character Strengths with Life Satisfaction,
College Satisfaction & GPA
Lounsbury, J., Fisher, L., Levy, J., Welsh, D. (2009)
Students with higher levels of hope outperform low‐hope individuals on
academic achievement measures including:
‐
semester grades,
‐
graduation rates, and
‐
standardized tests,
even after controlling for preexisting levels of intelligence and ability.
(Curry et al., 1997; Snyder, Harris, et al., 1991)
Six‐Year Longitudinal Study
Gathered hope scores of entering first‐year students and tracked for 6 years
High hope predictedBetter GPA’sHigher 6‐year graduation ratesLess likely to be dismissed
Controlled for entrance examination scores
(Snyder, et. al. 2002 )
Hope
is positively related to
indicators of perceived academic competence (Onwuegbuzie & Daley, 1999)
increased problem‐solving ability
greater academic satisfaction
fewer incidents of disengagement in academic settings (Chang, 1998)
Hope is positively related to athletic performance even after controlling for
natural athletic ability. (Curry, Manain, Sondag, Sandstedt, 1997;
Curry & Snyder, 2000)
High hope track athletes outperformed low hope
in track and field events. State and trait hope
accounted for 56% of variance.
(Curry, 1997)
OK, I care but what is hope anyway?
Small Group Discussion
Create a one sentence definition for hope.
Hope
The ideas and energy we have for the future
High hope people believe the future will be better than the presentthey have the power tomake it so
Hope
Goal‐directed thinking in which people perceive that they
can produce routes to desired goals
(pathways thinking)and the requisite motivation to
use those routes (agency thinking)
(Snyder, 1995)
Goal‐Directed Thinking
Four Categories of Hopeful Goals:
Approach goals
Forestalling negative outcome goals
Maintenance goals
Enhancement goals
Snyder, Feldman, Taylor, Schroeder, and Adams (2000)
Goal‐Directed Thinking
Certainty of Attainment
Too Easy Too Difficult
Goal‐DirectedThinking
Performance vs. Mastery Goals
Autonomously Chosen Goals
Pathways
Perceives that one can create multiple strategies to reach his or her goals
Contingency plans when obstacles occur
Agency
Can‐do thinking
Related to people’s confidence in their ability to attain valued goals
Snyder, C, Shorey, H., Cheavens, K., Pulvers, M., Adams, V., & Wiklund, C. (2002).
Snyder, C, Shorey, H., Cheavens, K., Pulvers, M., Adams, V., & Wiklund, C. (2002).
Motivation
Agency
Belief that a person’s behavior is truly imposed by them
rather than imposed by some external source
Locus of
Control Mindset
Snyder, C, Shorey, H., Cheavens, K., Pulvers, M., Adams, V., & Wiklund, C. (2002).
Motivation
Locus of
Control
Locus of control refers to an individual’s belief about what
causes the good or bad events in his/her life.
High internal ‐
events result primarily from their own
behaviors or actions.
High external ‐
others, chance, or fate determine the results of
events.
Motivation
Fixed Mindset –
believe their intelligenceis fixed, they have a certain amount of it
and that’s all
Growth Mindset –
intelligence is not afixed trait that they simply possess, but
something they cultivate through learning
Growth Mindset
Intelligence and personality are not set at birth, butsomething to cultivate through learning.
Everyone with effort and guidance can increase theirintellectual ability.
They want to learn. Readily give up opportunities tolook smarter to engage in something where theycan learn.
Even students with low confidence in their abilitieswill still throw themselves into difficult tasks andstick with them.
Fixed Mindset
Intelligence and personality traits are innate and wecan’t change them.
They worry about how much intelligence they haveand need to look smart at all costs.
Easy, low effort success and outperforming otherstudents makes them feel smart.
They will often pass up valuable learning opportunitiesif the opportunities might reveal inadequacies.
They readily disengage from tasks that pose obstacles
IMPLICATION S
FOR PRACTICE
Challenge yourself to pursue big questions and worthy
dreams. (Parks, 2000)
Develop
ing Hop
e
Hope Scale
___ 1. I energetically pursue my goals.
___ 2. I can think of many ways to get out of a jam.
___ 3. My past experiences have prepared me well for my future.
___ 4. There are lots of ways around any problem.
___ 5. I’ve been pretty successful in life.
___ 6. I can think of many ways to get the things in life that are important to me.
___ 7. I meet the goals that I set for myself.
___ 8. Even when others get discouraged, I know I can find a way to solve the problem.
1= Definitely 2= Mostly 3= Somewhat 4= Slightly 5= Slightly
6= Somewhat 7= Mostly 8= DefinitelyFalse False False
False True True True
TrueSnyder, H
arris, et al. (1991)
“Begin with the end in mind.”
(Covey) Challenge students to make their goals their own.
Develop
ing Hop
e
Teach reframing
skills in relationship to obstacles
Develop
ing Hop
e
Imagine Yourself at Graduation
?Future Defined (Goals)
Action Steps with Energy
Aligning Your Strengths
Support People
Obstacles
Strategies for Hope
Developm
entMicro‐intervention exercise ‐‐
Goal
developmentParticipants identify goals with concrete measurable end points
Frame approach toward positive goal accomplishment (i.e., not away from failure)
Identify sub‐goals for short‐term “wins”
(Luthans, et al, 2006)
Strategies for Hope
Developm
entPathway
development
Select personal goal; brainstorm possible pathways to it
Create small groups to give feedback with additional pathway options
Inventory pathways, discard unrealistic options, retain small group of realistic opportunities
(Luthans, et al, 2006)
Strategies for Hope
Developm
entContingency
development
Participants consider possible obstacles
Create small groups to give feedback with additional obstacle and strategy options
Facilitator focuses participants on advance identification of possible obstacles and alternate pathway development
(Luthans, et al, 2006)
Hope draws students beyond the
limits of their present situations, opens visions of new horizons and
possibilities for them, and enables them to live in the midst
of change and disturbance while being anchored to a sense of
belonging and purpose. (Dalton & Crosby, 2009)
For additional information, contact:
[email protected] Academy for Strengths‐
Oriented Leadership andEducation
Azusa Pacific UniversityAzusa, CA
Please do not use these materialswithout advance permission ofEileen Hulme ([email protected])or Anita Henck ([email protected])