Positive Pschology of Hope and Compassion

8/13/2019 Positive Pschology of Hope and Compassion

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COMPASSION

The English words compassion (from Latin) or empathy and sympathy (from Greek) denote fellow

feeling, affinity for, and sorrow for the sufferings of another. The word compassion is defined in various

but similar ways as: (a) a feeling of sorrow or pity for the pain or misfortunes of another that inclines

one to help; (b) feeling deep sympathy for anothers suffering or misfortune accompanied by a desire toalleviate the pain and remove its cause; (c) the feeling of emotion when one is moved by the suffering of

another and by the need to relieve it, and (d) sympathetic consciousness of anothers distress with a

desire to alleviate it.

The definition has two components:first, feeling for or with, a feeling of closeness to others (to feel

compassion), coupled with a desire to help, a sense of responsibility for anothers welfare (to show

compassion).

There is a feeling component to compassion and a showing component. We need to keep these in

balance. On the feeling continuum, if we only have a feeling of distress with anothers pain, then there is

the capacity for trauma simply to spread with vicarious effects and other consequences. However, if we

are so detached, self-protected, and disconnected, then we have a diminished capacity to understand

and intervene. On the showing continuum, if we just show un-discerned action, then there is the

possibility of ineffectiveness, of compounding problems, and issues for rescuers such as whose

distress is being relieved? However, if we are not practically engaged and merely have a vague hope that

someone should intervene without taking any effective meaningful action, then this can lead to further

impotence and victimization for the person.

A definition:

Compassion is a painful emotion occasioned by the awareness of another personsundeserved misfortune (Nussbaum, 2001).

Notable themes:

Compassion is an emotion. Compassion is an individual or interpersonal phenomenon

A broadened conceptualization of individual compassion

FeelingCompassion is a way of experiencing emotions (e.g., Blum, 1980; Solomon,1998).

ActionCompassion is evident in the ways people respond to anothers suffering (e.g.,Frost, Dutton, Worline, & Wilson, 2000; Reich 1989).


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ContextThe nature and expression of compassion are shaped by social contexts (e.g.,Nussbaum, 2001; Wuthnow, 1991).

Compassion is a multidimensional emotional construct expressed through action within a social context.

Components of Compassion

Attributes Self Compassion Compassion to others Compassion from

others

1. Sensitivity I notice when I am

distressed

I would notice that the

person was distressed

The person noticed

when I was distressed

2. Sympathy I have a sense of

wishing to help myself

when I am distressed

I would feel moved to

help the person

I felt that the person

was genuinely moved

and wished to care for

me.

3. Non-judgmental I accept, rather than

judge myself, when I

am distressed.

I would accept the

person in their distress

The person accepted

rather than judged me.

4. Empathy I am able to makes

sense of my feelings

The persons feelings

would make sense to

me

I felt that the person

understood my feelings.


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5. Distress Tolerance I am able to tolerate

my distress.

I would be able to

tolerate being with the

person

The person was able to

tolerate my distress.

6. Well-being I actively invest in myown well-being

The persons well-being would be

important to me.

The person was clearlyconcerned about my

well-being.

Ref: Professor Paul Gilbert, The Compassionate Mind.


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HOPE

Snyder, Irving & Anderson (1991, as cited in Snyder, 2000, p.8) define hope as a positive motivational

state that is based on an interactively derived sense of successful (a) agency (goal-directed energy) and

(b) pathways (planning to meet goals) .

Hope theory can be subdivided into four categories: goals, pathway thoughts, agency thoughts and

barriers. Goals that are valuable and uncertain are described by Snyder (1994, as cited in Snyder, 2000,

p.9) as the anchors of hope theory as they provide direction and an endpoint for hopeful thinking.

Pathway thoughts refer to the routes we take to achieve our desired goals and the individuals perceived

ability to produce these routes (Snyder, 2000). Agency thoughts refer to the motivation we have to

undertake the routes towards our goals. Barriers block the attainment of our goals and in the event of a

barrier we can either give up or we can use our pathway thoughts to create new routes.

Goal attainment has been found to be associated with positive emotions (Snyder et al, 1996), whereas

goal blockages are related to negative emotions (Diener, 1984); however this is not always the case.

High hope individuals do not react in the same way to barriers as low hope individuals, instead they view

barriers as challenges to overcome and use their pathway thoughts to plan an alternative route to their

goals (Snyder, 1994 as cited in Snyder, 2000 p. 10). High hope has been found to correlate with a

number of beneficial constructs including, academic achievement (Snyder et al, 2002) and lower levels

of depression (Snyder et al, 1997). Meanwhile low hope is associated with negative outcomes including

a reduction in well-being (Diener, 1984).

In studies, hope has been linked to higher academic and athletic performance, better adjustment, and

better coping with health issues:

Performance - Hope is linked to higher standardized achievement test scores but not to scores on

intelligence tests. Higher hope and higher GPA are positively correlated. According to Curry (as cited in

Snyder, 2000), higher hope and increased athletic performance are positively correlated.

Adjustment - The level of hope people have is related to their perceptions about themselves and their

goals. People with higher levels of hope remember more positive comments and events about

themselves, whereas people with lower levels remember more negative comments and events. People

with higher levels of hope feel challenged by goals, whereas people with lower levels feel demoralized

by goals. People with higher levels of hope have higher feelings of self-worth.

Health - Higher levels of hope are correlated with better coping skills and higher levels of pain tolerance.

For spinal cord injury patients and adolescent burn survivors, those with higher levels of hope showed

better coping with the problem, less depression, fewer harmful-to-recovery behaviors, and interacted


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better with caregivers. Using a cold-pressor test, Snyder and Brown (in Snyder, 2000) found that higher

hope correlated positively with less perceived pain and greater endurance for pain. For cancer patients,

higher hope was related to greater knowledge and better coping with the disease.

Documents

Positive Pschology of Hope and Compassion