Study Meevissen et al. (2011): study NL 2008

Public

Students, Netherlands, 2008

Survey name

Unnamed study

Sample

Respondents

N = 50

Non Response

Assessment

Questionnaire: Conputer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI)

Correlate

Authors's Label

Best Possible Self Intervention

Our Classification

Remarks

First participants in both groups received a 5 minutes imagery training during which they imagined a lemon using all their senses. After 20 minutes of writing about their Best Possible Life or Daily activities participants performed their imagenary exercise and they were instructed to practice this exercise at home once a day for 5 minutes over a period of two weeks

Distribution

1: N = 27, 0:Nn = 23

Operationalization

Participants were randomly assigned to:
1. BEST POSSIBLE SELF INTERVENTION.
You are going to think of your best possible self. Your best possible self means imagining yourself in a future in which everything has
turned out as good as possible. You have worked hard and you have managed to realize all your life goals. You can envision it as satisfying all your life dreams and development of all your best possible potentials. In a moment, you are going to think of the best possible ways in which your life could develop on three domains (Personal, Relational, and Professional), with the goal to direct the decisions you make in the present. You have probably never thought about yourself in this way but research has indicated that this method may have a positive influence on your mood.We would like to encourage you to keep thinking about and imagine yourself in this way during the next two weeks. In order to determine and guide constructing your best possible self, for the next 20 min you
are going to think of and write down your goals, skills and desires you would like to achieve in the far future for each of the three
domains, and finally merge these into a personal story like a diary. Think during this whole process of realistic skills and manageable goals/wishes that you would like to possess or attain in the future. (1)Personal domain:Think of goals you would like to attain on the personal level (e.g. physical and psychological skills and developments).
(2) Professional domain: Think of goals you would like to attain on the professional / workrelated level (e.g. position, accomplishments, level of expertise, but also occupation and skills, etc.). (3) Relational domain: Think of goals you would like to attain on the relational level (e.g. relations and contacts with loved ones, friends, colleagues, but also joint activities etc. in your social life).
Now we would like to ask you to write down in as much detail as possible your ideal future. You can use the goals you have just
constructed as a guide. While describing your thoughts, try to activate your senses, feelings, and perceptions and make a personal story of it.
0: CONTROL.
You are going to give more thought to the ordinary daily activities of your life that normally would have gone unnoticed like
for instance, specific meetings, lectures, conversations, typical thoughts you have during the day, etc. Use your day schedule of the past 24 h as guidance. This exercise will help you to more easily identify difficult problem areas you may have in your life and take action in order to improve these areas. You have probably never thought about yourself in this way but research has indicated that this method may have a positive influence on your mood.We would like to encourage you to keep thinking about and imagine yourself in this way during the next two weeks. In order to help you determine and guide your focus, work according to the following
structure. Think of your day schedule of the past 24 h and go over it calmly. Think of the activities, meetings, etc. and go more deeply
into the conversations, discussions, thoughts, or mood you may have had. For the next 15 min we would like to ask you to write down your thoughts. While describing your thoughts, try to activate your senses, feelings, and perceptions and make a personal story of it.

Observed Relation with Happiness