published_or_final_version / abstract / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

The primary purpose of this study was to describe relationships between the concepts of caring behaviors of nurses, adolescent hopefulness and adolescent health care outcomes. The secondary purpose was to test and refine instruments developed to index those concepts. The conceptual framework used for the study was derived from two sources: an existential theory of nursing, Humanistic Nursing, as developed by Paterson and Zderad (1976). and a set of inductive studies on nurse-adolescent patient interactions (Hinds, 1983). A longitudinal, descriptive-correlational design having three data collection points was used. The study sample consisted of 25 adolescents (x age 15.6 years) receiving inpatient treatment for substance abuse. The data collection points occurred at 24-48 hours after admission (T₁), 96-120 hours before discharge (T₂), and 4-5 weeks after discharge (T₃). Adolescents completed visual analogue instruments and responded to a set of open-ended questions indexing the study concepts. Instrumentation data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational statistics and tests of significance for change. Qualitative data resu1ting from the interviews were content analyzed. Findings included statistically significant positive relationships between the concepts of caring behaviors of nurses and adolescent hopefulness at T₁, and T₂. Secondly, the relationship between adolescent hopefulness and adolescent health care outcomes was statistically significant at T₃. The concepts of caring behaviors of nurses and adolescent hopefulness changed significantly in a positive direction from T₁ to T₂. Content analysis findings indicated the concept of adolescent hopefulness was qualitatively different at each of the data collection points. Findings provide support for the theorized link between nurse-patient relationships and positive patient change. The purposeful use of a caring self for positive patient change represents the blend of art and science that defines the nursing profession.

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Thesis advisor: Robert Bartlett / In his depiction of Athens in his Peloponnesian War, Thucydides shows a city of extraordinary daring, energy, resourcefulness and hope. However, it is difficult adequately to articulate the character of that which is most central to Athens, namely, her imperial ambition. Although Athens is clearly distinguished from the fearful, ever-hesitating Sparta by her apparently boundless activity and hopefulness, it is nonetheless unclear what, precisely, Athens is hoping for. What is the attraction of the ceaseless toil and danger of great empire? In risking what they have because they are “always seeking more,” what exactly do the Athenians think they are getting? My study approaches these questions through a focus on one of the great puzzles of Athenian imperialism, namely, that the Athenians claim both that their empire is pursued under the compulsion of fear, honor, and/or interest, and that it is freely undertaken -- a contradiction that creates a difficulty especially for the Athenians’ repeated suggestion that their empire is a noble, praiseworthy enterprise. Through consideration of the Athenians’ experience of their imperial ambition and the ways in which the contradictory elements of that ambition fit together in their minds, as made clear especially through the rhetoric of their outstanding statesmen, we gain greater clarity about the character of the longings underpinning the extraordinary Athenian energy for empire. We also come better to understand the conditions in which the Athenians’ hopes are made more or less tractable and reasonable, as well as the influence of the rhetoric of leading Athenians on these hopes. This dissertation argues that the Athenians are less attached to one particular object as the deepest root of their imperialism, and more to the notion of a freedom from all limits, which can be both inflamed by, as well as helpfully anchored to, their opinions of their virtue; thus, the study suggests that the desire for empire is deeply rooted in human nature, and that empire will therefore appeal to us for as long as human nature remains unchanged. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

楊德立. / "2007年11月". / 論文(哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 2007. / 參考文獻(leaves 110-113). / "2007 nian 11 yue". / Abstract also in English. / Yang Deli. / Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2007. / Can kao wen xian (leaves 110-113). / 楔子 --- p.1 / 本文目的 --- p.5 / 文章結構 --- p.5 / Chapter 第一章´Ø --- 引論´Ø論「希望」在康德哲學中的重要性 --- p.9 / Chapter 1.1 --- 被忽略的槪念與問題：「希望」和「我可以希望甚麼？」 --- p.9 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- 從外緣因素看希望問題被忽略原因 --- p.9 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- 從內部因素看希望問題被忽略原因 --- p.12 / Chapter 1.2. --- 從哲學的區分看希望問題的特殊地位 --- p.13 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- 在一種最高統合的要求下，「希望」能作爲連繫理論與實踐 的橋樑 --- p.15 / Chapter 1.3 --- 希望問題不僅屬於宗教哲學的原因一「我可以希望甚麼？」可引申出怎樣的論域？ --- p.16 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- 康德哲學的核心關懷與希望的關係 --- p.18 / Chapter 1.4 --- 康德的希望哲學 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- 簡介希望槪念的歷史，以及康德的承先與啓後 --- p.22 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- 「康德的希望哲學」的意思，與及相關的文本範圍 --- p.25 / Chapter 第二章´Ø --- 希望作爲德福一致的渴望 --- p.27 / Chapter 2.1 --- 希望與最高善的關係：談最高善問題的哲學史根源及康德的突破 --- p.28 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- 最高善問題的哲學史根源槪覽 --- p.28 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- 希望問題的進入點´ؤ思辨與實踐理性的區分，與及實 踐理性的優先性 --- p.31 / Chapter 2.1.2.1 --- 「法規」的目的與意義 --- p.31 / Chapter 2.1.2.2 --- 實踐理性的應用相對思辨理性的應用在旨趣上的優 先性 --- p.33 / Chapter 2.2 --- 解釋希望即是「對德福一致（最高善）的渴望」之意 --- p.36 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- 希望是主體與對象的一種意向性關係，及「我可以希望 甚麼？」引申了「希望作爲對最高善的渴求」和「希望作爲對道 德進步的渴望」兩個命題 --- p.38 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- 康德討論「希望即對最高善的渴望」這命題的大體流程 --- p.40 / Chapter 2.2.2.1 --- 最高善與道德世界之意 --- p.40 / Chapter 2.2.2.2 --- 最高善預設道德世界 --- p.41 / Chapter 2.2.2.3 --- 道德世界預設了上帝存在和靈魂不朽兩個命題 --- p.42 / Chapter 2.2.2.4 --- 道德神學和上帝存在之道德論證 --- p.43 / Chapter 2.2.2.5 --- 目的論世界觀與目的論判斷力 --- p.44 / Chapter 2.3 --- 「希望作爲最高善」的細節一相關的槪念分析 --- p.46 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- 何謂「德行」？ --- p.47 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- 何謂「幸福」？ --- p.48 / Chapter 2.3.2.1 --- 作爲偏好的滿足之「感性的幸福」 --- p.48 / Chapter 2.3.2.2 --- 作爲道德情感一種的「智性的幸福」 --- p.50 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- 「配享」作爲連繫希望、德行與幸福的關鍵槪念 --- p.54 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- 道德必然引致對最高善渴求´ؤ最高善的實現在於吾人 實踐理性上有其必然性， --- p.56 / Chapter 2.4 --- 第二章總結´Ø希望問題作爲應然與實然的聯繫，導致目的論判斷力的批判 --- p.59 / Chapter 第三章´Ø --- 目的論判斷力作爲連繋「批判」與「學說」的橋樑，以及作爲希望的根據 --- p.60 / Chapter 3.1 --- 論目的論判斷力的特性 --- p.61 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- 兩種因果的區分留下了關於兩界如何統一運作的問題 --- p.61 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- 境、界、域：實踐與理論哲學的區分，說明一個更高的統 含基礎的需要 --- p.62 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- 判斷力細分爲決定性判斷力和反省性判斷力 --- p.64 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- 理性之根本目的在於建立系統´ة反省性判斷力的特性幫助 成就此目的 --- p.66 / Chapter 3.1.5 --- 反省性判斷力的兩種發用´ة美感的與邏輯的面向 --- p.68 / Chapter 3.2 --- 從康徳哲學最宏觀的關懷去看目的論判斷力的在重要性 --- p.71 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- 目的論判斷力延續至學說的基點：人作爲最後目的和終極 目的 --- p.72 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- 由自然目的論轉向道德目的論、再從道德目的論轉向道德 神學 --- p.74 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- 目的論判斷力作爲康德哲學旨趣的樞紐，以及連繫「批判」 與「學說」的橋樑 --- p.76 / Chapter 3.3 --- 目的論判斷力與希望的關係 --- p.77 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- 將希望能力理解成目的論判斷力的理由 --- p.78 / Chapter 3.4 --- 第三章總結´Ø目的論判斷力提供了康德哲學問題轉向的基礎 --- p.80 / Chapter 第四章´Ø --- 在目的論的基礎上發展出來的宗教、歷史、政治面向´ؤ希望的多向度發展 --- p.81 / Chapter 4.1 --- 目的論判斷力與學說的關係 --- p.81 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- 「學說」與「批判」的意思和關係 --- p.83 / Chapter 4.2 --- 「學說」中的「人類道德進步問題」的兩個面向一「人類道 德的進步是否可能？」和「人類道德如何得以進步？」 --- p.84 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- 人類道德進步論´Ø主題一：「人類道德的進步是否可 能？」一道德軟弱如何可能和如何克服？ --- p.86 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- 人類道德進步論´Ø主題二：「人類道德如何得以進步？」´ؤ 道德如何才能實際地得到改進？從動物性進至人性 --- p.89 / Chapter 4.3 --- 「人類道德進步問題」揭示康德對「最高善能於這個世界中實 現嗎？」的關懷 --- p.94 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- 最高善能在塵世上實現嗎？ --- p.95 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- 如若最高善不能在這個世上實現，那又怎樣？ --- p.98 / Chapter 4-3.3 --- 即使最高善有其現實的可能性，我們又有何理由認爲「最 高善能實現」是一個合理的推測？ --- p.99 / Chapter 第五章´Ø --- 結論：以希望作爲閱讀線索的重要性：再次學習康德的哲學 精神 --- p.102 / Chapter 5.1 --- 從希望看「作爲有限者的我們，如何能有尊嚴地嚮往無限？」 --- p.102 / Chapter 5.2 --- 從希望看「康德哲學的開放精神」 --- p.105 / Chapter 5.3 --- 結語´Ø康德哲學的關懷的轉向與升進 --- p.107 / 康德原著於文中的書目與文章的統一譯名 --- p.109 / 參考書目 --- p.110

Trait expectancies are related to several aspects of psychological well-being. Specifically, hope, optimism, and hopelessness have been associated with positive and negative indicators of mental health, including suicidality. In addition to empirical similarities, these constructs also have substantial conceptual and measurement overlap. Moreover, while current literature suggests hope and optimism are unique constructs, the distinctions between hopelessness, hope, and optimism remain unclear. The main goals of the present study were: 1) to identify the best structural conceptualization of hope, optimism, and hopelessness; and 2) to apply this conceptualization to examine how different trait expectancies uniquely predict suicidal ideation. Undergraduate students (N= 456) completed a battery of questionnaires at two time points, two months apart. To achieve the first goal, a series of a priori factor models of hope, optimism, and hopelessness was tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). CFA was also performed to confirm the best factor structure of suicidal ideation. Finally, using results from these CFAs, the differential relationships between trait expectancies and suicidal ideation were examined using latent variable path analysis. Results showed that hope, optimism, and hopelessness are best conceptualized as distinct but related constructs. Results also found that both hope and hopelessness predicted increased suicidal ideation over time; whereas, optimism was not predictive of suicidal ideation. Surprisingly, these results suggest that higher hope may be a risk factor for increased suicidal ideation among undergraduates.

The Common Factors Model was introduced in 1992 by Michael Lambert suggesting that four factors that exist in all forms of psychotherapy are what account for positive therapeutic outcomes. The four common factors posited by Lambert include: Extratherapeutic Factors, The Therapeutic Relationship, Hope and Expectancy and Specific Factors. Marriage and family therapy is one form of psychotherapy that has taken an interest in The Common Factors Model and dedicated various amounts of research to understand connections between the two philosophies. Despite the efforts to understand common factors that exist in marriage and family therapy, very little research has been done studying the relationship between the common factor Hope and Expectancy, and marriage and family therapy. The current study aimed to fill that gap, by exploring the relationship between marriage and family therapy, and the common factor hope and expectancy through the lens of Snyder’s Hope Theory. In this study, a mixed methods sequential embedded designed was implemented to examine the relationship that exists between marriage and family therapy and the common factor Hope and Expectancy. The results indicated that levels of hope and expectancy were high in parents/guardians who were going to start participating family therapy with their child. The high levels of hope and expectancy were likely due to the activation of an interaction between extratherapeutic factors and hope and expectancy. Some of the extratherapeutic factors involved in the interaction were specific to marriage and family therapy, while others can be found in all forms of psychotherapy.

To date, few multicomponent interventions focused on meeting the complex needs of unaccompanied homeless youth (UHY) have been developed. One intervention, called Starting Right, Now (SRN), provides unaccompanied homeless adolescents with a broad range of home-, school-, and community-based services and supports to meet the unique needs of each individual. Previous qualitative research has supported the effectiveness of SRN on student outcomes; there has not yet been an examination of the program using quantitative methods. Thus, the current study investigated the impact of Starting Right, Now on students’ well-being through the examination of longitudinal data collected over a 12-month period. Specifically, changes in students’ life satisfaction, hope, and use of coping strategies at three time points were examined. A dataset including ten unique participants was analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test to evaluate whether statistically significant changes in participants’ (1) life satisfaction, (2) hope agency, (3) hope pathways, (4) maladaptive coping strategies, and (5) adaptive coping strategies occurred between baseline (Time 1), six months of participation (Time 2), and twelve months of participation (Time 3; available for a subset of the sample). Results indicated a statistically significant increase in life satisfaction, hope agency, and hope pathways after six months of participation in SRN. There were no additional statistically significant changes in life satisfaction, hope agency, or hope pathways after one year of participation, and there were no statistically significant changes in adaptive coping or maladaptive coping at any time point. Findings from the current study support the implementation and future expansion of the SRN model in order to positively impact life satisfaction and hope among UHY.

This three-paper dissertation aims to enhance our understanding of the role of positive psychology constructs, hope, and positive emotions during bereavement among older adults. The study will be mainly guided by the Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotion, the Hope Theory, and the Revised Stress and Coping Theory. This dissertation is based on secondary data analysis using two different data - the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) for Paper 1 and the Complicated Grief Treatment in Older Adults Study (CGTOA) for Paper 2 and Paper 3. Paper 1 examines the level of positive and negative emotions before and after bereavement, and the impact of positive emotions on bereavement adjustment outcomes such as depression and purpose in life among a nationally representative sample of widowed older adults. Paper 1 finds that recently widowed older adults experience a significant decrease in positive emotions and an increase in negative emotions (compared to the married comparison group) after the loss of their spouse, but they still experience a considerable level of positive emotions during bereavement. The level of post-loss positive emotions was significantly associated with better adjustment outcomes, lower odds of having depression, and a higher level of purpose in life. A significantly greater impact of positive emotions on purpose in life was found among the widowed group compared to the married counterparts. However, the beneficial impact of positive emotions on depression did not differ between the widowed and married groups. Paper 2 and Paper 3 explore hope among the bereaved older adults with complicated grief using data from the CGTOA Study, a randomized clinical trial, which compared the treatment efficacy of complicated grief treatment (CGT) with interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT). Paper 2 focuses on evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Trait Hope Scale (THS) among older adults with complicated grief before proceeding to address the role of hope in CGT in Paper 3. Paper 2 suggests that overall the THS is a valid and reliable tool to measure hope among older adults with complicated grief. The THS demonstrated its sensitivity to change with treatment, showing a significantly greater increase in hope score among treatment responders (in both CGT and IPT) compared to non-responders. However, unlike the theoretically supported two-factor structure of the THS (Pathways and Agency), a different two-factor structure was identified in the study, which suggests that further validation of the factor structure of the THS in older adults with complicated grief is necessary in future studies. Paper 3 investigates the role of hope in CGT, particularly examining hope as a potential moderator and/or mediator of treatment effects. Paper 3 found that both CGT and IPT groups increased their hope scores significantly during the treatment. However, there was no significant difference in increases in hope between CGT and IPT groups. Mediation analysis showed that hope is not a mediator of treatment effects of CGT over IPT. However, significant treatment effects of CGT (over IPT) were found for reduction in the level of grief-related avoidance among those with lower baseline hope, but not for those with higher baseline hope, which confirmed hope is a moderator of treatment effects for only the grief-related avoidance outcome. The findings of this dissertation suggest that 1) positive emotions during bereavement may play a beneficial role in adaption to bereavement, 2) the Trait Hope Scale is a valid and reliable tool to measure hope among older adults with complicated grief, and 3) hope can be improved in complicated grief interventions (both CGT and IPT), and regaining hope may be an important factor associated with the resolution of complicated grief symptoms.

The Eucharist is preeminently the sacrament of Christian hope. It is a foretaste of the eschatological banquet. Saint Thomas Aquinas, in the antiphon for the Magnificat on the feast of Corpus Christi, described the Eucharist as the pledge of future glory. It contains within it the memorial of Christ’s Passover and the anticipation of his coming in glory. Filled with hope, Christians celebrate the Eucharist as “a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us” in anticipation. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, par. 47). How this eschatological consciousness is related to the Eucharist is a question that deserves further exploration. While some authors have touched on the subject, there has been no systematic treatment of this theme since Geoffrey Wainwright’s Eucharist and Eschatology. Our thesis explores the contemporary insights into Eucharistic eschatology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Francois-Xavier Durrwell, Gustave Martelet, and Louis-Marie Chauvet. We shall situate our study in terms of a current philosophical-phenomenological context of hope as explored by Gabriel Marcel and Ernst Bloch, and the questions of gift as discussed in the works of Robyn Horner, Jacques Derrida, Jean-Luc Marion and David Power. To approach the Eucharist as the pledge of future glory is to discern the eschatological meaning of this sacrament and its relationship to Christian hope. If hope is essential to the human condition, then the Eucharist keeps hope alive within the Christian community and the world. As the sacrament of the Eschaton, the Eucharist activates hope in the present time for the consummation of God’s purposes for all humanity and for the fulfilment of God’s reign of justice, freedom and peace throughout creation. To celebrate the Eucharist is to participate in a “holy communion” with God through the bread and wine shared together. Such an eschatological communion foreshadows the future transformation of the whole cosmos into New Creation. The Eucharist is thus the divine milieu where the Christian community celebrates the real presence of the risen and glorified Christ, and the eschatological grounds for its ultimate expectations. In order to celebrate the Eucharist as the pledge of future glory it is also important to recognize that the future glory which Christians anticipate through the Eucharist is God’s gift. It is a gift of grace to be received and cultivated with a sense of responsibility. The Eucharist inspires Christian hope and gives birth to creative human activity in the direction of the coming of the new heaven and new earth. Only when Christians recognize the future as eschatological gift, they will be able to commit themselves to building up the body of Christ in the world and at the same time dare to hope for the future glory in the fullness of God’s time. The Eucharistic hope thus embodies an ethical praxis that the Christian community is summoned to embody in their lives. The Christian community, gathered for prayers and thanksgiving, and for the “breaking of the bread” is itself an eschatological reality. It proclaims the real presence of the future that God has prepared for the whole of creation in Christ. We seek to explore the notion that the Eucharist, as the sacrament of hope, is both a vision of the future and a celebration of the Christian community as it is nourished on the body and blood of Christ, the firstfruits of the Kingdom. It is significant because if God is our ultimate future glory it matters greatly that we understand and know that the gathering at the Eucharistic table confirms and extends our communion with God and with all creation. It is in this Eucharistic communion that hope is born. A foretaste of what is to come is already celebrated and given in Christ’s self-giving love. It is vital therefore that we explore the interconnection between the Eucharist and eschatology and attend to the meaning and practice of Christian hope. The thesis will conclude with a constructive retrieval of the eschatological dimension of the Eucharist as a pledge of the future glory.