The Cognitive Aspect of Hope in the Semantic Space of Male Patients Dying of Cancer

Abstract

The aim of this study is to characterize the cognitive aspect of the semantic space of hope in patients in the terminal stage of cancer. This was confirmed in the research on hope by C. R. Snyder and B. Schrank. Hope is of great importance in all the great world religions and belief systems, both as regards a personal God or impersonal deities. Hoping is a human capacity with varying affective, cognitive and behavioral dimensions. Psychological, pedagogical (particularly in the framework of special needs pedagogy and thanatological pedagogy) and theological reflection on hope can provide support for dying people. In order to conduct the research, the semantic differential research method was selected. The research technique employed was a therapeutic conversation, and the research tool was the B.L. Block’s DSN-3 test. The DSN-3 test allows one to assess hope in the semantic space in three aspects: cognitive, emotional and functional. For the purposes of this study, only the cognitive aspect was taken into account. The study was begun on 1 April 2010 and ended in the last days of December 2020. It included 110 male patients in the terminal stage of cancer. The youngest respondent was 19 years old and the oldest was 94 years old. The surveyed men most often perceived hope in the semantic space in the cognitive aspect as more true, wise, meaningful and real than false, stupid, meaningless and deceptive. Their attitude to hope was, therefore, more affirmative than negative. The research did not reveal the importance of the age of the respondents on the degree of affirmation/negation of hope in the cognitive aspect in the semantic space; however, men in the period of late maturity and professional activity expressed the lowest level of the affirmation of hope. It is worthwhile to conduct further research concerning hope in other aspects (especially emotional and functional) in the semantic space in order to use the obtained results to consider what to take into account when providing patients in the terminal stage of cancer with better personalized holistic care than before.