Review Five challenges for hope and resilience research Anthony D. Ong 1,2 , Zhiheng Liu 1 and Dakota W. Cintron 1,2 Abstract Twenty years after Snyder’ s seminar article on hope theory , research on hope has moved in many directions and has spanned multiple spheres of personal life and social life, including psychological adjustment, physical health, lifespan development, and interpersonal relationships. Given its importance for well-being, it is somewhat surprising that a close look at the literature reveals that the question of whether hope is a source of resilience is far from resolved, and key questions remain unanswered. Here, we outline five chal- lenges for future hope and resilience research, including conceptualization, measurement, research design, modeling methods, and multidirectional and multidimensional perspec- tives on adaptation. Although each of these challenges has received some attention, additional work is needed to build a more cumulative science, thereby contributing important in- sights into what it means to be well in the face of adversity. Addresses 1 Department of Psychology, Cornell University, USA 2 Center for Integrative Developmental Science, Cornell University, USA Corresponding author: Ong, Anthony D () (anthony.ong@cornell.edu) Current Opinion in Psychology 2023, 49:101538 This review comes from a themed issue on Hope Edited by Matthew Gallagher For a complete overview see the Issue and the Editorial Available online 5 December 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101538 2352-250X/Published by Elsevier Ltd. Keywords Hope, Measurement, Stress, Resilience, Mental health, Well-being. Introduction Few things more poignantly reveal our remarkable ca- pacity for resilience as our ability to sustain hope in the face of vulnerability, pain, and loss. As defined by Snyder, “Hope is a perceived capability to derive path- ways to desired goals, and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways” [1, p. 249]. Pathways thinking relates to the perceived ability to generate routes towards desired goals and is necessary to attain goals and navigate around obstacles. Agency , or willpower, is considered the mental determination and energy necessary to begin and sustain movement towards goals. Pathways and agency are positively related, but describe distinct aspects, each of which is insufficient to define hope [1]. Hope has also been theoretically distinguished from constructs such as optimism [2] and self-efficacy [3]. Unlike optimism, which focuses on the agency- like, generalized expectancies that one will experience good outcomes in the future, hope theory also gives equal emphasis to pathways [4,*5]. Likewise, self- efficacy theory primarily reflects an individual’s perceived capacity to engage in actions that will provide movement towards specific goals (similar to agency thoughts), but focuses less on pathways thinking [6]. Considerable empirical research suggests that hope is directly related to adjustment and well-being [1,7,8]. Associations between hope and measures of psycholog- ical and physical health have been documented across a wide variety of contexts, both in within-person [9] and between-person analyses [10]. Moreover, the robustness of these associations has been demonstrated in both clinical and nonclinical samples of children and adoles- cents, as well as adults [for reviews, see Refs. [11e13]]. By contrast, much less is known about the role of hope as a primary factor in resilience [14]. In this review, we identify five key theoretical, conceptual, and empirical challenges, present recommendations for addressing these major research gaps, and discuss remaining ques- tions and future hope and resilience research. Challenge 1: Conceptualizing resilience Although scholarly interest in resilience has grown in recent years, there remains little consensus on defini- tions and terminology. In particular, extant criticisms surround the criteria used to operationalize resilience and the measurement of pivotal constructs [15]. Variation in core definitions and central terminology Although resilience has been variously defined in prior work, predominant conceptualizations emphasize three key components: sustainability, recovery, and steeling. Sustainability refers to the capacity to continue forward in the face of acute and chronic life difficulties [16]. Re- covery refers to how rapidly and efficiently one returns to a stable state of functioning following challenges and adversity [17]. Steeling refers to the propensity for prior stressor exposure to confer enhanced coping against subsequent stressors [18]. Some evidence of these core components has been documented across several recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses of hope. For example, Shanahan and colleagues [19] conducted a Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com Current Opinion in Psychology 2023, 49:101538 

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