Effectively influencing students' possible selves: a pilot study

Abstract

Background: Possible selves (PS) are representations of the self, and involve images of what people hope, expect, or fear to become in the future. The transition from high school to university is unique because many first year students become disconnected from the adolescent social circles that anchor their identities, and have to make decisions about their lives independently. We will ask first-year students to generate PS, and will investigate to what extent their PS influence academic achievements, lifestyle, and wellbeing. Specifically, we want to determine: a. whether a narrative approach, graphic approach, or mixed approach is most successful at producing vivid, accessible and realistic PS; b. whether the three methods have different effects on the outcomes; and c. whether possible effects are moderated by PS-characteristics. Methods: 90 first year students will be asked to generate PS. Vividness, ease of recall, and reality of the PS will be assessed directly after PS-elicitation. Grades, lifestyle and wellbeing will be assessed before PS-elicitation and two months after. Expected results: We expect that the mixed approach will render the best results. Current stage of work: We are currently designing the study. Discussion: This study will aid development of future PS interventions as a way to improve students' academic performance, health behaviors, and well-being. Such interventions might also help identity-building for students at a critical time in their lives. Lastly, PS interventions might allow students to plan their lives more effectively by basing life choices on where they see themselves in the future.