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“I had hope. I loved this city once.”: A mixed methods study of hope within the context of poverty
Author(s) -
Clark Rachael S.,
Stubbeman Bobbie L.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.22502
Subject(s) - poverty , inclusion (mineral) , psychology , context (archaeology) , socioeconomic status , qualitative research , social psychology , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , sociology , geography , social science , demography , population , political science , archaeology , law
The purpose of this emergent mixed methods study was to measure hope in individuals living in poverty and to explore potential contextual influences on hope. We used a sequential mixed methods study in which the quantitative phase was administered first followed by a qualitative phase. Participants in impoverished areas scored higher in hope than a comparison group of university students. In a follow‐up qualitative phase, participants named contributors to and detractors from hope that included experiences driven by environmental factors. Findings were organized according to Ecological Systems Theory (EST). Participants named factors from all levels of EST, and interactions between levels were evident. These results and findings support the inclusion of relevant contextual factors in psychological inquiry, and we suggest deliberate inclusion of individuals from all socioeconomic groups in future positive psychological research.