The authors suggest that people of all ages are goal oriented and that 2 related thought processes typically accompany this goal-related thinking. First, there are pathway thoughts, which tap the perceived capability to generate 1 or more workable routes to desired goals. Second, there are agentic thoughts, which reflect the perception that one can initiate and sustain movement toward a goal along the given pathways. Together, pathway and agentic goal-directed thinking define hope in the present model. After describing how hope develops, the self-report instruments for measuring hope in children and adults are reviewed. How hope is sustained in the context of larger groups is explored, and the importance of shared goals as the foundation of communal hope is described.