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The value of hope: Validation of the perceived hope scale in the Portuguese population

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Abstract

Hope is a timeless phenomenon that has witnessed a re-emergence in recent times and has been conceptualized and measured in many different ways. The Perceived Hope Scale (PHS) intends to measure hope in an unbiased way, asking people directly about their experienced levels of hope. This paper presents the validation and psychometric evaluation of the PHS in the Portuguese context. It evaluates the reliability and the factorial structure via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, as well as convergent validity and predictive/incremental utility using two samples of 452 adult individuals and 266 university students. Results suggest that the Portuguese version of the PHS exhibits robust psychometric properties: a one-dimensional structure with high internal consistency, as well as convincing convergent validity and predictive power. The PHS was found to relate highly to other psychological dimensions, such as harmony in life, vitality, and flourishing (positively), and negatively with depression and anxiety, adding to their prediction beyond dispositional hope and optimism. Overall, the scale presented here proved to be a useful instrument for assessing perceived hope in the Portuguese context. This study is part of a yearly cross-cultural and cross-sectional internet survey entitled Hope Barometer.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Universidade de Lisboa (ISCSP-ULisboa), Campus Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, Rua Almerindo Lessa, 1300-663, Lisbon, Portugal

    Helena Á. Marujo,  Maria João Velez, Sónia P. Gonçalves & Luís Miguel Neto

  2. Centro de Administração e Políticas Públicas (CAPP), Lisbon, Portugal

    Helena Á. Marujo,  Maria João Velez, Sónia P. Gonçalves & Luís Miguel Neto

  3. Institute of Systemic Management and Public Governance, University of St. Gallen, Gallen, Switzerland

    Andreas M. Krafft

  4. CIAUD - Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design, Lisbon School of Architecture, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Mafalda Casais

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  1. Helena Á. Marujo
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  2. Maria João Velez
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Correspondence to Helena Á. Marujo.

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The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals (1964 Declaration of Helsinki)

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

We are enclosing herewith a paper entitled “The value of hope: Validation of the Perceived Hope Scale in the Portuguese population” for publication in the Journal Applied Research in Quality of Life. This manuscript has not been published, accepted for publication or under editorial review for publication in another journal.

The submitted paper is a research article that describes the validation of an assessment measure of hope in the Portuguese context, in a neutral and unbiased form – the Perceived Hope Scale (PHS). All the scales involved had the full permission of the authors.

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Appendix

Appendix

Perceived Hope Scale Portuguese version

Até que ponto as informações abaixo se aplicam a si?

  1. 1.

    Na minha vida, a esperança tem mais peso do que a ansiedade

  2. 2.

    As minhas esperanças normalmente realizam-se

  3. 3.

    Sinto-me esperançoso/a

  4. 4.

    A esperança melhora a minha qualidade de vida

  5. 5.

    Sinto-me esperançado/a em relação à minha vida

  6. 6.

    Mantenho a esperança mesmo em tempos difíceis

0 = discordo fortemente; 1 = discordo; 2 = discordo ligeiramente; 3 = concordo ligeiramente; 4 = concordo; 5 = concordo fortemente or 0 = discordo totalmente; 1 = discordo; 2 = discordo parcialmente; 3 = concordo parcialmente; 4 = concordo; 5 = concordo totalmente

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Marujo, H.Á., Velez, .J., Gonçalves, S.P. et al. The value of hope: Validation of the perceived hope scale in the Portuguese population. Curr Psychol 42, 7981–7989 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02115-6

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