Psychologists are finding that hope plays a surprisingly vital role in giving people a measurable advantage in realms as (36) _____________ as academic achievement, bearing up in tough jobs and coping with (37) ______________ illness. And, by contrast, the loss of hope is turning out to be a stronger sign that a person may (38) ______________ suicide than other factors long thought to be more likely risks. “Hope has proven a powerful predictor of (39) ______________ in every study we’ve done so far,” said Dr. Charles R. Snyder, a psychologist who has devised a (40) ______________ to assess how much hope a person has. For example, in research with 3,920 college students, Dr. Snyder and his (41) ______________ found that the level of hope among freshmen at the beginning of their first semester was a more (42) ______________ predictor of their college grades than were their S.A.T. scores or their grade point (43) ______________ in high school, the two measures most commonly used to predict college performance. (44)”_______________,” Dr. Snyder said. “When you compare students of equivalent intelligence and past academic achievements, what sets them apart is hope.” In devising a way to assess hope scientifically, Dr. Snyder (45)________________. “That notion is not concrete enough, and it blurs two key components of hope,” Dr. Snyder said. (46)”________________.” 44()
Most young boys are trained to believe that men should be strong, tough, cool, and detached. Thus, they learn early to hide vulnerable emotions such as love, joy, and sadness because they believe that such feelings are feminine and imply weakness. Over time, some men become strangers to their own emotional lives. It seems that men with traditional views of masculinity are more likely to suppress outward emotions and to fear emotions, supposedly because such feelings may lead to a loss of composure (镇定). Keep in mind, however, that this view is challenged by some researchers. As with many gender gaps, differences in emotionality tend to be small, inconsistent, and dependent on the situation. For instance, Robertson and colleagues found that males who were more traditionally masculine were more emotionally expressive in a structured exercise than when they were simply asked to talk about their emotions. Males’ difficulty with “tender” emotions has serious consequences. First, suppressed emotions can contribute to stress-related disorders. And worse, men are less likely than women to seek help from health professionals. Second, men’s emotional inexpressiveness can cause problems in their relationships with partners and children. For example, men who endorse traditional masculine norms report lower relationship satisfaction, as do their female partners. Further, children whose fathers are warm, loving, and accepting toward them have higher self-esteem and lower rates of aggression and behavior problems. On a positive note, fathers are increasingly involving themselves with their children. And 30 percent of fathers report that they take equal or greater responsibility for their children than their working wives do. One emotion males are allowed to express is anger. Sometimes this anger translates into physical aggression or violence. Men commit nearly 90 percent of violent crimes in the United States and almost all sexual assaults. According to the author, men who suppress their emotions may develop ()