Hopes and fears - future views of quality of life

Abstract

First, concepts of hope from different disciplines are presented, after which studies about hopes and fears in the field and beyond the field of Quality of Life research are reviewed. We conclude that hopes and fears are part of subjective wellbeing, but this has not yet been worked out. With hopes and fears, which design future expectations of individuals and collectivities, we consider one aspect which is part of subjective wellbeing. If the sample of respondents represents the whole population, we get social reports about the subjective state of the nation. The text provides a social report on the subjective state of a nation based on the hopes and fears of citizens from different nations. The levels of hopes and fears and their continuity may change and this will have consequences for the future perspective of nations. That is why we will have a look at theoretical and empirical results in this field.