Key points

Hope includes both believing in pathways to goals and the motivation to persist in using them.

Beyond motivation, hope also has an emotional side—hopeful feelings impact meaning in life.

New research shows hopeful feelings predict life meaning beyond motivation or other positive emotions.

New research suggests that hopeful feelings predict greater meaning in life. Here’s what six studies reveal about the emotional power of hope.

These studies were conducted by Edwards and colleagues from the USA and China, and their paper is currently published online ahead of print in Emotion .

Meaning in life typically involves three components:

Purpose: Having a central aim in life.

Coherence: Feeling a sense of order in our personal experiences.

Existential significance: B

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