Development economists have recently begun considering the role of hope in determining various observed behaviors relating to both production and consumption decisions of the poor. Although several papers have examined how the concepts of hope and aspirations may fit into existing economic theories, empirical studies have yet to validate a reliable approach to measure hope. This paper seeks to fill this gap by adapting an empirical approach to measure hope, developed by psychologists, to the context of rural Myanmar. In this paper, a detailed description of the survey instruments of this measurement approach is presented along with several validity tests. These tests include: An investigation of construct validity, which examines how educational attainment, gender, and age correlate with hope and aspirations. A factor analysis testing for conceptual validity, which examines how hope relates to several related, but distinct, concepts such as self-efficacy and locus of control. And an examination of empirical validity by testing how measurements of hope correlate with perceptions of household welfare and the provision of basic necessities. This study finds that, with sufficient effort adapting survey instruments to a local context, the measurement approach developed by psychologists performs relatively well in rural Myanmar. Although future research could make various improvements, this study provides the necessary foundation for viable and reliable empirical measurements of hope in developing countries.
Read
