Because optimism is a personality trait shown to correlate strongly with psychological and physical well-being, researchers at Maastricht University in The Netherlands, investigated whether optimism can be increased by imagining a “Best Possible Self” (BPS).
Effects were compared to a control group in which participants imagined their daily activities (DA). In order to minimize inter-individual differences in content of imagery, participants constructed their BPS according to 3 domains: personal, relational, and professional. All participants were instructed to practice their imagery exercise for 5 min per day over a period of two weeks. Effects on optimism and mood were measured after one session, after one week and after two weeks.
Results indicated that BPS imagery led to significantly larger increases in optimism as compared to DA imagery, after one session and over a two week period. Effects on optimism remained after controlling for possible mediation by the change in positive mood.
One limitation of this study is that it relies exclusively on self-report measures. However, that said, the results suggest that imagining a "Best Possible Self" enhances levels of optimism, independent of the mood effect.
Thanks for sharing this study, it sounds like a very effective strategy to tap into our personal resources to improve mood and wellbeing. Self-talk can be extremely powerful and so can the imagination, but I'm curious as to how such a subjective experience could be generalized to the extent of these results. I'd really love to read some examples of what people were imagining in each domain of their life and seeing what made those visualizations so helpful. Were they imagining themselves succeeding at particular tasks? I really want to try this but wonder how goal-oriented or trait-oriented this exercise may need to be to have the intended results on one's feelings of optimism.
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