Summary: Hope is more than wishful thinking — it is a distinct emotional experience that reliably supports a sense of meaning in life. A multi-study analysis by researchers at the University of Missouri finds that hope outperforms other positive emotions as the most consistent predictor of perceived life meaning, with implications for psychological well-being.
Across six studies involving more than 2,300 participants, researchers led by Megan Edwards and Laura King examined a variety of positive emotions and their links to meaning in life. Their results show that hope, more than happiness, excitement, gratitude, or other positive affects, is uniquely associated with feeling that life is meaningful. These findings reframe hope not only as a cognitive driver of goal pursuit but as an emotional cornerstone of mental health.
Key Findings:
- Hope versus other positive emotions: Hope consistently predicted higher levels of perceived meaning in life, even when other positive emotions and goal-related processes were taken into account.
- Everyday opportunities: Small positive experiences, a focus on potential and growth, and acts of care or nurturing all help cultivate hope.
- Broader life benefits: A stronger sense of meaning ties to better relationships, improved physical and mental health, greater life satisfaction, and even higher income.
“Our research shifts the perspective on hope from merely a cognitive process related to goal attainment to recognizing it as a vital emotional experience that enriches life’s meaning,” said Megan Edwards, who completed her doctorate at Mizzou and is now a postdoctoral scholar at Duke University. Laura King, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Psychological Sciences, added that experiencing life as meaningful is central to many positive life outcomes.
The research drew on diverse samples and multiple methods, including cross-sectional surveys, daily-diary reports, a five-wave longitudinal design, and experimental mood manipulations. Across these approaches, hopeful feelings were the most reliable emotional predictor of meaning in life. In some studies, hope predicted meaning even when other positive emotions and goal-oriented measures were controlled for; in others, daily fluctuations in hope tracked daily changes in perceived meaning.
Practical strategies to build hope
Because feeling that life is meaningful supports broad well-being, the researchers suggest practical, everyday ways to strengthen hope:
- Notice and savor small positive moments. Recognizing what is going well right now can foster hope for the future.
- Look for opportunities during uncertainty. Even small chances to move forward create momentum and a sense of possibility.
- Value growth and potential in yourself and others. Tracking progress and potential helps anchor expectations of a better future.
- Engage in nurturing acts. Caring for others or investing in long-term projects — whether tending a garden or supporting a child’s development — symbolizes and reinforces hopeful thinking.
- Remember that situations change. Hope often begins with the belief that present difficulties are not permanent.
Implications and future directions
King and Edwards note that these results are an important step toward understanding how emotions shape meaning in life, but more work remains. Future research will probe how hope functions during sustained adversity and whether targeted interventions can help people maintain or regain hope and meaning in particularly challenging circumstances. The goal is to translate this evidence into strategies that support resilience and psychological health.
About this psychology research news
Author: Eric Stann
Source: University of Missouri–Columbia
Contact: Eric Stann, University of Missouri–Columbia
Image credit: Neuroscience News
Original research (closed access): “Hope as a meaningful emotion: Hope, positive affect, and meaning in life” by Megan Edwards et al., published in Emotion. DOI: 10.1037/emo0001513
Abstract (summary)
Six studies (combined N = 2,312) evaluated whether the emotion of hope uniquely predicts meaning in life. In cross-sectional analyses, affective hope predicted greater meaning after accounting for other positive emotions and goal-related measures in several U.S. samples. A daily-diary study conducted with Chinese participants found that daily hope predicted daily meaning independent of other positive affects. A five-wave longitudinal study replicated that hope was the only positive emotion predicting meaning at later waves. Two experimental studies examined whether feelings of hope explained the effects of mood inductions (cheerful vs. sad; hopeful vs. hopeless) on meaning in life; while manipulations did not directly change meaning, hopeful feelings produced significant indirect effects on meaning. Overall, the studies support the conclusion that feeling hopeful contributes to the sense that life is meaningful, above and beyond other positive feelings.