An Exploration of the Psychological and Theological Factors Related to Hope
Dissertation, Loyola College in Maryland (
2003)
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Abstract
The objective of this study was to explore the differences between psychological and theological hope in women. The Leyva Theological Hope Scale was developed in order to measure theological hope. The results of this instrument were compared with the Beck Hopelessness Scale and the Brief Symptom Inventory. This study took place within the context of the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC. Additional factors of media coverage, vicarious victimization, depression, faith and terrorism were explored. The LTHS was validated through inter-item correlations and coefficient alpha. Through correlation analysis and profile analysis, theological hope and psychological hope were determined to be different constructs. Through a repeated measures analysis, it was determined that neither psychological hope or theological hope remained stable in the face of terrorism. Theological hope appears to be affected by celebrations of religious events , and psychological hope appears to be affected by the advent of a new year. A positive relationship was found between past experiences of hope and both theological and psychological of hope as measured in this study. Theological hope is negatively related to the experience of phobic anxiety. There appears to be no relationship for either type of hope with media exposure or vicarious victimization. Possible explanations for these results are offered and discussed