This study was designed to fill gaps in the new field of positive psychology. Using data from two sequential interviews, this study examined the effect of faith-based and secular pathways to hope and optimism among 226 middle-aged and older patients facing a major medical crisis—cardiac surgery. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that religious faith factors contributed to the agency component of hope and dispositional optimism indirectly through the use of prayer as a coping strategy. Other sociodemographically resourcable factors affected both the agency and pathway components of hope as well as dispositional optimism and dispositional pessimism directly or indirectly through their effects on emotional distress.
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