Hope has been called the "life blood of the soul," an indispensable condition for human existence. Yet evidence in this book suggests that hope is neither a necessary nor a universal part of life. Rather, hope is constituted in accordance with cultural norms, and hence it may vary fundamentally from one society to another. In the first of four studies, Averill, Catlin, and Chon delineate four classes of rules that help constitute hope in Western societies. A second study examines the similarities and differences between hope and other, more prototypic emotions, such as anger and love. The...