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“False” hope
Author(s) -
Snyder C.R.,
Rand Kevin L.,
King Elisa A.,
Feldman David B.,
Woodward Julia T.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.10096
Subject(s) - psychology , illusion , agency (philosophy) , social psychology , epistemology , psychotherapist , cognitive psychology , philosophy
Abstract “False” hope is condemned in the literature on the grounds that it reflects the counterproductive use of: (a) expectations based on illusions rather than reality, (b) inappropriate goals, and (c) poor strategies to reach desired goals. Snyder, Harris, et al.'s (1991) hope theory involving self‐referential thoughts about finding routes to desired goals (pathways) and the motivation to use those routes (agency) is used as a framework for examining these three criticisms of false hope. It is concluded that the presently available evidence does not support any of the false‐hope criticisms. The implications of hope‐related issues for the applied clinical arena are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 58: 1003–1022, 2002.