Within-person dynamics between hope and academic goal pursuit among college students: an intensive longitudinal study

Many studies have been conducted on the association between hope and academic performance among college students. However, they have predominantly conceptualised hope as a trait and tested the association at an interindividual level. This study was conducted to unravel the intraindividual variations of state hope within an academic semester and how they were related to ongoing academic goal pursuit. A sample of college students in Hong Kong (N = 101, Medianage = 20 years old) was recruited. We adopted an intensive longitudinal study design and measured students’ experience twice per week over five weeks. Results indicated that, during the semester, (1) higher trait academic hope was associated with fewer intraindividual fluctuations in state academic hope; (2) state academic hope varied in a self-perpetuating manner; and (3) state academic hope had significant within-person concurrent and lagged associations with positive academic goal pursuit. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.