Hope the Beloved Country: Hope Levels in the New South Africa

The concept of hope seems to have attracted increased attention in popular and academic discourse in South Africa. Despite
this increased focus, no empirical studies on national hope levels have been conducted in South Africa to date. This article
sought to address this gap by investigating national hope levels using data taken from the 2009 wave of the Human Sciences
Research Council’s nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey of approximately 3,300 South Africans aged
16 and older. Using a slightly modified version of the widely used Snyder Hope Scale, this study found significant geographic
and social differences in citizens’ average hope levels. Differences appear to attest to the continued negative association
between hope levels and membership of groups that have historically been relegated to the margins of South African society.
Contrary to most current political portrayals, however, there does not appear to be a significant age cohort effect. Self-perceptions
of marginalisation also appear to be related to hope. In light of the paucity of South African empirical work in this area,
the paper concluded by identifying possible future research needs.