The findings of our many years of research are summarized in scientific publications and books and made available to an interested audience. An interdisciplinary approach that combines philosophy, psychology, theology, and future studies.
This open-access book presents an integrative and transdisciplinary conceptualization of hope and brings together cross-cultural studies based on quantitative data from around the globe. It incorporates state-of-the-art theories of hope from psychology, philosophy, and theology and presents a novel approach to studying hope in different life situations. The volume analyses empirical data from the Hope Barometer international research network, collected from more than 40,000 participants between 2017 and 2021. The authors use this broad database to investigate the nature and value of hope for well-being and flourishing at individual and societal levels in various regions and cultural, religious, and social backgrounds. The chapters study the cultural characteristics of different facets and elements of hope and explore their common qualities to elucidate the universal nature of hope across cultures. This volume’s comprehensive, transdisciplinary, and cross-cultural scope interests a global readership across the social and behavioral sciences.
How can we overcome crises and shape our common future?
Since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, we have all been put to an immense test. This shows how humanity can successfully and constructively deal with such situations and make the best of them. And we learn that the future does not happen to us but that we can actively and constructively shape it. The essential prerequisite for this is an attitude of openness, mutual helpfulness, and hope.
This book vividly reports on the currently prevailing images of the future and the common longings, as well as on people’s capacity for hope and action. It reveals the power of desirable future pictures and collective hope as the opposite of general helplessness or unquestioning and naïve optimism.
The central statements of this book are based on the experiences of thousands of people in more than ten countries who participated in the scientific study of the Hope Barometer in 2019 and 2020. This combines lived practice with the latest findings of social science futurology, positive psychology, and pragmatic philosophy.
This book vividly and convincingly reports the origin and meaning of worldviews and universal values as an essential source of hope. This work derives its power from the integration of theory and practice. The reader learns about the empirical results from the Hope Barometer, an annual, scientifically broad-based survey of people’s hopes, which are presented concisely and comprehensively in a philosophical and psychological context. This provides the reader with answers to key questions that can help them shape their lives in a future-oriented and confident way:
This book invites discovering and understanding the phenomenon of hope in its different facets. The scientific framework is provided by positive psychology, flanked by theology and philosophy – supplemented by the authors’ findings from the “Hope Barometer,” a study conducted in Switzerland since 2009 on the significance and experience of the phenomenon of hope in people’s everyday lives. The essence of what research has so far uncovered about hope can be found in this book as valuable basic knowledge for fields of activity such as psychology, psychotherapy, medicine, nursing, education, social work, care, church, coaching, and leadership – as well as an overview of the state of research for scientists and teachers.
This volume addresses the convincing belief that hope is an existential need and resource for living a good life, not only when all is going well but especially in difficult times. The findings reported in this volume result from the annual survey of the Hope-Barometer Research Program collected over 7 years and conducted in several countries. Structured in three parts, the first provides the reader with a general introduction to hope, the theoretical and methodological foundations, and the major general results of the Hope-Barometer. Part two presents specific issues related to the levels and variations of hope across different population groups and the relationship of hope with several measures of well-being. Further, part three focuses on comparing elements and levels of hope across cultures, discussing methods and techniques to improve hope and thus increase overall well-being.
Krafft, A.M. (2024). Positive Futures – Die Hoffnungswerkstatt. In U. Lichtinger (Ed.) Positive Bildung für die Schulische Praxis. Beltz-Verlag.
Krafft, A. M. (2022). Positive Futures and Hope for a Better Life: A Transdisciplinary Approach for Imagining a Flourishing and Sustainable World. In Davids, N. et al. (Eds). Education Transformation in Muslim Societies: A Discourse of Hope. Indiana Univ.
Krafft, A. M., Guse, T., & Maree, D. (2021). Distinguishing perceived hope and dispositional optimism: Theoretical foundations and empirical findings beyond future expectancies and cognition. Journal of Well-Being Assessment, 1-27.
Krafft, A. M. (2021). La nature et la valeur de l’espoir. Nouvelles découvertes issues du baromètre de l’espoir. In Ch. Martin-Krumm & C. Tarquinio (Eds.) Grand manuel de psychologie positive – Fondements, theories et champs d’intervention. Dunod, pp. 327-346.
Slezackova, A., & Krafft, A. (2016). Hope: A driving force of optimal human development. In J. Mohan & M. Sehgal (Eds.), Idea of excellence: Multiple perspectives (pp. 1–12). Chandigarh, India: Panjab University.
Krafft, A. (2012) Innovationskraft und Wohlbefinden von Führungskräften aus salutogenetischer Sicht. In: Athanassiou, G / Schreiber-Costa, S. / Sträter, O. (Hrsg.) Psychologie der Arbeitssicherheit und Gesundheit. Sichere und gute Arbeit erfolgreich gestalten – Forschung und Umsetzung in die Praxis, S. 241 – 244.
Krafft, A. / Müller, J. (2011) Change Management lernen und erfahren: Ein internes Führungskräfte-Qualifizierungsprogramm bei der AOK Hessen. In: OrganisationsEntwicklung Nr. 1/2011, S. 4 – 14.
Krafft, A. M. (2025). Basic Beliefs of Hope – A Cross-cultural comparison. Frontiers in Psychology, 16:1520887. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1520887
Slezackova, A., Malatincova, T., Millova, K., Svetlak, M., & Krafft, A. M. (2024). The moderating effect of perceived hope in the relationship between anxiety and posttraumatic growth during the Russian-Ukrainian war. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1440021.
Marujo, H. Á., Velez, M. J., Gonçalves, S. P., Neto, L. M., Krafft, A. M., & Casais, M. (2021). The value of hope: Validation of the perceived hope scale in the Portuguese population. Current Psychology, 1-9.
Krafft, A., Martin-Krumm, C., & Fenouillet, F. (2017/2019) Adaptation, further elaboration, and validation of a scale to measure hope as perceived by people: Discriminant value and predictive utility vis-à-vis dispositional hope. Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191117700724.
Slezáčková, A., Prošek, T., Malatincová, T., & Krafft. A. M. (2020). Psychometrické vlastnosti české verze škály prožívané naděje: faktorová struktura a vnitřní konzistence [Psychometric characteristics of the Czech version of The Perceived Hope Scale: factor structure and internal consistency]. Československá psychologie / Czechoslovak Psychology, 64(3), 288-305.
Krafft, A. (2013) The Management of Innovations and Personal Well-being: A Trans-Disciplinary Model and Empirical Findings. In: Grösser, S. / Zeier, R. (Ed.) Systemic Management for Intelligent Organizations: Concepts, Models-Based Approaches and Applications, 99-119.
Kazimierz Wielki University
Dr. Karolina Mudło-Głagolska is a psychologist – researcher and practitioner. She is employed as an assistant professor in the Department of Work and Organizational Psychology at Kazimierz Wielki University. Her research interests include passion (mainly for work and studying), hope, emotion regulation, and human functioning in various life contexts. She is also a co-author of the Polish adaptation of the Perth test battery.
