In April 2011, 23-year-old Arunima Sinha, a national level basketball player, boarded a train from Lucknow to Delhi with dreams of pursuing a career in the paramilitary forces. But one horrifying moment in the journey changed the track of her life forever. A group of robbers tried to snatch her bag and gold chain. When she resisted, they pushed her out of the moving train. She fell onto the adjacent track – just as another train was approaching there. Arunima tried to save herself, but the wheels of the oncoming train crushed her left leg below the knee.
She was rushed to the hospital, but her left leg had to be amputated to save her life. Lying on the hospital bed Arunima heard people whispering around her about how her dreams of joining the forces, as well as her career in sports were over. But Arunima refused to be beaten. Instead of drowning in despair she set an audacious goal for herself – that of climbing Mount Everest! She admits, at that time even she felt absurd about it. But it gave her something crucial – Hope.
She began training with a prosthetic leg under the guidance of legendary mountaineer Bachendri Pal. Two relentless years of physical and mental challenges later, on May 21, 2013, Arunima Sinha became the first female amputee in the world to climb Mount Everest. She went on to scale six more of the world’s highest peaks. Her story not only continues to inspire millions, illustrates a powerful psychological force that researchers in positive psychology call HOPE.
So, what really is Hope, and how is it different from optimism and positivity?
A major component of Happiness, or Subjective well-being, as positive psychologists call it, is Life Satisfaction, and two of the most important predictors of life satisfaction have been found to be Hope and Optimism. Both, hope and optimism, involve expecting good things and positive outcomes. Both lead to better physical and mental health, increased resilience and an overall sense of well-being. However, there are some fundamental differences between the two.
Optimism has famously been explained with the popular metaphor of a “glass half full”. It has been defined as the stable tendency to ‘‘believe that good rather than bad things will happen”(Scheier & Carver, 1985, p. 219). So, optimism is a belief that things will improve without necessarily requiring specific action. As an example, I could have a strong belief that my life will get better, or that things will improve in the future. Hope, on the other hand, is more goal oriented. Charles Snyder, one of the most prominent researchers in the field of Hope, and his colleagues conceptualize Hope as having two different, but interrelated components – Pathways and Agency. Thus, Hope includes both, the ability to generate plans to reach the desired goals (pathways), as well as belief in our ability to implement those plans (agency). And for goal pursuit both components are equally crucial. So, to excel in my graduation class (goal), I would need to identify strategies like take coaching, plan my studies better and create a reading list, while also having the motivation and confidence to commit to these strategies.
Scientific research has shown that Hope, and not Optimism predicted grade expectancy, i.e. what students expected to score, which in turn predicted their final scores (Rand et al, 2020). Hope also predicted significant improvement in happiness levels over the semester. Hope was found to have an association with better health outcomes (Scioli et al, 1997), and also has a stronger role in existence of health problems as well as the severity of those problems.
Thus, hope appears to outshine optimism on several levels. While optimism focuses primarily on expecting good outcomes, hope is more action-oriented. It involves not only envisioning a better future but also actively identifying pathways to reach desired goals and believing in one’s ability to pursue them. Optimism can sometimes falter when confronted with harsh realities, but hope tends to persist by adapting and finding alternative routes toward the goal.
The encouraging news, however, is that hope is not just a personality trait that some people are born with—it is a psychological capacity that can be cultivated.
Research on hope suggests a few simple ways in which we can strengthen it in our daily lives:
1. Set clear and meaningful goals
Hope begins with goals. These do not have to be dramatic or life-changing. Even small, meaningful goals give our mind a direction and something to work toward.
2. Develop multiple pathways
One of the core components of hope is the ability to generate different routes to reach a goal. When obstacles arise, hopeful individuals ask themselves: “What are my options to move forward?”
3. Strengthen your sense of agency
Agency refers to the belief that “I can do this.” Reminding ourselves of past successes, however small, can build confidence in our ability to act and persist.
4. Break big goals into small steps
Large goals can feel overwhelming. Breaking them into smaller achievable steps creates progress and builds momentum—fuelling the cycle of hope.
The story of Arunima Sinha reminds us that hope is far more than a positive attitude. It is the courage to set a goal even in the face of adversity, the creativity to find new pathways, and the determination to keep moving forward.
Optimism may help us believe that things will turn out well. But hope helps us create the path that makes them turn out well.
So, stay optimistic. But more importantly, stay hopeful.
Dr. Vaishali Marathe (Ph.D.)
References:
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1985). Optimism, coping, and health: assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health psychology, 4(3), 219.
Snyder, C. R. (1994). The psychology of hope: You can get there from here. Simon and Schuster.
Rand, K. L., Shanahan, M. L., Fischer, I. C., & Fortney, S. K. (2020). Hope and optimism as predictors of academic performance and subjective well-being in college students. Learning and Individual differences, 81, 101906.
Scioli, A., Chamberlin, C. M., Samor, C. M., Lapointe, A. B., Campbell, T. L., Macleod, A. R., & McLenon, J. (1997). A prospective study of hope, optimism, and health. Psychological reports, 81(3), 723-733.
Best Happy 
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