"There are days when your self-belief runs dry. Your motivation flickers. The future feels foggy. You know there's something ahead, but you just can't see it clearly. And in romantic relationships, these moments can feel even more fragile. You might question yourself, your partner's intentions, or even the relationship's future. A 2022 study published in Social and Personality Psychology Compass offers a powerful lens through which to understand these moments, as invitations to lean into something called "relational hope.""
"Unlike the traditional view of hope as an internal, individual trait, new findings suggest that hope also thrives "between" people, particularly in close relationships. This emerging model of relational hope proposes that couples can build and borrow hope through three key facets: the wills (relational agency), the ways (relational pathways), and the wishes (relational aspirations) that partners co-create over time."
Relational hope reframes hope as something that exists between people rather than solely within individuals. Couples can co-create hope via three facets: relational agency (shared energy to pursue goals), relational pathways (collaborative routes toward goals), and relational aspirations (shared wishes). Partners can carry motivational load for one another during low periods, and relationship-based effort influences both partners' satisfaction. Hope can be sparked by a partner's actions, allowing recovery of belief and forward movement when individual motivation wanes. Practicing shared effort, supportive strategies, and co-created goals strengthens relationship resilience and collective optimism.
Read at Psychology Today
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