A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF HOPE, OPTIMISM, AND HEALTH

The present investigation sought to distinguish hope from optimism in the context of a 10-wk. prospective study involving reports of health outcomes. Gottschalk's (1985) Hope Scale and Scheier and Carver's (198 7) Life Orientation Test which assesses optimism were given to subject s, along with a health questionnaire. Ten weeks later subjects were gi ven a second health questionnaire. To rule out potential confounds we included measures of neuroticism, depression, extroversion, and social desirability. After controlling for the effects of correlated confoun ds,we found that lower hope scores (but not optimism) were correlated with several dimensions of reported health, including frequency and se verity of illness.