Hope: The Psychology of What Makes One Happy

The present paper pinpoints on a very simple and straightforward concept of hope. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, hope is explored within the theoretical framework of positive psychology, which considers hope as a character strength that contributes to wellbeing and happiness. Second, to examine relationship between hope and happiness. Sample comprised of fifty undergraduate students from D.A.V College, Chandigarh in the age range of 18-21 years. Adult Trait Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991) and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (2002) were used to measure hope and happiness respectively. Correlation analysis was carried out and results revealed positive significant correlation between hope and happiness i.e. (r = 0.721, p ≤ 0.01). It indicated that students high in hope are more likely to experience happiness. In today’s time where there is so much of hassle, stress and anxiety among adolescents, hence, there is a need for parents, psychologists, counsellors and even teachers to inculcate character strength like hope in order to produce effects such as self belief, self esteem and happiness.