Dr Andreas Krafft
S5 E9: Why Hope Matters: Action, Resilience, and the Hope Barometer with Dr Andreas Krafft
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In a conversation with Cameron, Andreas Krafft explains why hope is an existential human phenomenon needed to survive, flourish, and act, especially amid environmental, political, and societal crises. He describes hope as an emergent property with three necessary elements: a meaningful wish, belief that it is possible, and trust in personal and external resources to cope with setbacks. They discuss how young people have faced helplessness and a lack of positive prospects since the pandemic, and how negativity bias can fuel spirals of despair, countered by attention to positive experiences, strengths, solidarity, and success. Andres emphasises relationships—warning loneliness is a “hope killer”—and notes fear of disappointment often blocks hope, though disappointment is part of it. He outlines the Hope Barometer, a 15-year multinational survey mapping cultural patterns of hope and its links to wellbeing, resilience, values, and beliefs, and argues for new positive narratives to reduce polarisation and motivate shared societal goals.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr Andreas Krafft
Dr Andreas Krafft holds a doctoral degree in Management Sciences at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) with special focus on Organizational Psychology, Culture and Development. He has academic specializations in Social Psychology of Organizations, Work and Health Psychology as well as Positive Psychology from the University of Zürich. Andreas is researcher fellow for futures studies and lecturer at the Institute of Systemic Management and Public Governance and at the department of Organizational Psychology at the University of St. Gallen. Furthermore, he teaches at the University of Zürich in the field of Work and Health, at the Master of Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, as well as at the Master of Futures Studies from the Free University Berlin. He is co-president of swissfuture, the Swiss Society for Futures Studies, member of the executive board of SWIPPA (the Swiss Positive Psychology Association) and of the DACH-PP (German speaking Association of Positive Psychology). Since many years, he leads the International Research Network of the Hope-Barometer and has published several scientific articles and books on hope.
Andreas Krafft studied business administration in Buenos Aires, where he grew up, and holds a doctorate in management sciences from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), focusing on organizational psychology, culture, and development. He has academic specializations in Social Psychology of Organizations, Work and Health Psychology, and Positive Psychology at the University of Zurich. Andreas Krafft is an associate researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance at the University of St. Gallen. He also teaches the Master of Futures Studies at the Free University of Berlin, at the University of Zurich in the field of work and health, and the Master of Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. He is co-president of swissfuture, the Swiss Society for Futures Studies, a member of the board of SWIPPA (Swiss Society for Positive Psychology), and DACH-PP (German-speaking umbrella organization for Positive Psychology). He has headed the international research network of the Hope Barometer for more than ten years. He has published several scientific articles and books on the future and hope.
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SHOW NOTES / RESOURCES
00:00 Why Hope Matters
02:42 Hope Fuels Action
05:20 Three Elements of Hope
12:43 Hope in Hard Times
20:20 Negativity Bias Trap
25:15 Rebuilding Hope Daily
28:56 Belief and Disappointment
32:22 Hope Needs Connection
34:04 Love as a Metaphor
35:12 Rebuilding Hope Together
35:47 Hope Barometer Origins
38:26 Hope Across Cultures
40:33 Hope Links to Resilience
43:53 Crisis Focus Fuels Polarization
49:25 Young People and Lost Prospects
52:18 New Narratives for the Future
58:14 Practical Ways to Foster Hope
01:01:27 Books That Shaped Him
01:02:57 Hope Beyond the Self
01:08:51 Sharing the Candle of Hope
01:09:43 Final Thanks and Farewell
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TRANSCRIPT