The Influence of Hope on Political Involvement
Author:
Jessica A LumleyMentor:
Virgil H. Adams III, Ph.D, Associate Professor and Chair of Psychology, California State University Channel IslandsHope has been shown to be a major influence in just about every aspect of a person’s life. There are those who believe that a person’s ability to set goals and derive paths to achieve those goals can be heightened with or used to enhance involvement in the political process. With a struggling economy and a seemingly uninterested youth, there have been many attempts to raise the public’s interest and participation in politics. Hope has continuously shown its power to promote change; it seems we have a great tool to help our country. This study used the responses from a sample population of adults from Southern Californian (n=869). It was hypothesized that those participants with more hope would also be more interested and involved in politics. Hierarchical Regression results did support the hypothesis. Variance in Hope was significantly accounted for by both political involvement and political interest even after controlling for age, gender, educational attainment, marital status, and household income. Discussion focuses on the role of hope in American politics.