Appraisal in Positive Emotion: Differentiation Between Hope and Challenge/Determination

The object of this study was to test individual differentiation between the emotions Hope and Challenge/Determination in terms of motivational, cognitive, and behavioral components. The former emotion requires a more globalized and potentially optimistic appraisal process while the latter is reliant on self-motivation to a greater extent in a short-term context. If individuals are asked to recall hopeful or challenging memories in open-ended and other appraisal-focused self-report measures are they more likely to be able to generally differentiate between the emotions? We found that psychological ownership and internal motivation in a task plays a pivotal role Determination while Hope relies on a relationship to external factors; both emotions utilize problem-focused coping to a greater extent than emotion-focused coping potential.The object of this study was to test individual differentiation between the emotions Hope and Challenge/Determination in terms of motivational, cognitive, and behavioral components. The former emotion requires a more globalized and potentially optimistic appraisal process while the latter is reliant on self-motivation to a greater extent in a short-term context. If individuals are asked to recall hopeful or challenging memories in open-ended and other appraisal-focused self-report measures are they more likely to be able to generally differentiate between the emotions? We found that psychological ownership and internal motivation in a task plays a pivotal role Determination while Hope relies on a relationship to external factors; both emotions utilize problem-focused coping to a greater extent than emotion-focused coping potential.Vanderbilt UniversityPsychological SciencesThesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Honors Program in Psychological Science