Relationships among Hope, Psychosocial Development, and Locus of Control

Abstract

29 male and 79 female undergraduate and graduate students took the 1986 Miller Hope Scale, Beck's 1988 Hopelessness Scale, Erikson's Psychosocial Stage Inventory, Levenson's 1972 Locus of Control Scale and rated their present state of hopefulness on a 10-point scale. As expected, scores on both the Miller Hope Scale and the self-rated hope scale were negatively correlated with scores on Beck's Hopelessness Scale, but positively with scores on Erikson's Psychosocial Stage Inventory. Thus, greater hopelessness was associated with more successful resolution of psychosocial issues. The Miller Hope Scale was negatively and Beck's Hopelessness Scale was positively associated on the Locus of Control Scale with viewing control as from powerful others or chance. Therefore, lack of hopefulness was related with the perception that external factors control one's life. The Miller Hope Scale and scores on self-rated hopefulness were not significantly correlated. The concept of hope is more complex than currently measured by any single scale and requires further refinement.