Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy
Open Access

Hope being operationalized: Psychology students personal understanding of hope

17^th World Summit on Positive Psychology, Psychotherapy & Cognitive Behavioral Sciences

May 01-03, 2017 Toronto, Canada

Lindi Nel

University of the Free State, South Africa

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Psychol Psychother

Abstract :

Statement of Problem: Within the teachings of positive psychology constructs, academies are often faced with the dilemma of theory versus practice. Surely students should grasp the theoretical foundation of constructs, but surely they also need to identify and relate to concepts in order to be fully engaged within the experiential learning curve. Researchers have reported many benefits of teaching positive psychology with emphasis on practical value � allowing for interventions to flow from the understanding. Methodology: A qualitative research design was utilized. As a part of an introductory module on positive psychology, 29 first year students at the University of the Free State, South Africa, voluntarily agreed to discuss their understanding of hope on both a theoretical and a practical level. Semi-structured interviews and two focus groups were conducted. Students were also asked to present a personal artifact that represents hope for them. Data were analyzed through narrative and discourse analysis, which yielded the six themes across the cases. Findings: The participants of the study reported the research project to have had personal value of significance. Furthermore themes indicated hope as mediator and moderator for current stressors, hope as facilitator for future mindedness, hope as theoretical construct to be shared with others, hope as meaning making tool for past failures, hope as an undefinable movable concept and hope as personal deliberator. Conclusion & Significance: Given the relevance of the teaching methods of positive psychology theories and constructs and the need for students to develop hope, this study�s results aids in the better understanding of 1) teaching practices that are effective and also valuable on a personal level and 2) the way students conceptualize hope for themselves

Biography :

Email: nelli@ufs.ac.za