Hope and Education: Role of Psychological Capital and Cultural Differences

Abstract

Hope is a relevant variable in education and there is enough empirical evidence about its significant relationships with important education related. In this chapter, we make a brief summary of hope in an educational context by introducing the construct of psychological capital (PsyCap) that we speculate to have an impact on education and that possibly play an important role in promoting students’ personal resources. In order to contextualize, Snyder’s hope conceptualization is discussed in relation to some proposals that are reverberated and rooted in cultural differences. We also present preliminary findings from an international research on hope highlighting major cultural differences. In all, this chapter attempts to extend the effect of positive resources beyond hope.