Lost in transition: designing an online Possible Selves intervention for
new university students
Authors
W. Gebhardt
V. Visch
S. Boess
A. Wiedemann
P. Norman
Abstract
Background: In a transnational study, a three-staged
online-intervention encouraging new university students to adopt healthy lifestyles is
developed and evaluated. The motivational component/stage uses Possible Selves (PS), i.e.
images of what students expect, hope or fear to become in the future, to guide health-related
behavioral decisions during their first year at university. Method: In this formative research
with 20 students, quantitative and qualitative data are gathered on several mock-ups for online
PS-interventions (e.g. text, photorealistic pictures, avatars) regarding content,
identification, functionality and usability. Expected results: Mock-ups that include feared PS
and dynamic features will be evaluated as most effective. Current stage of work: In a current
study first year students generate attributes they might possess at specific times in the
future. Most commonly mentioned PS will be used in the mock-ups, to be designed and
pilot-tested during Spring/Summer 2015. Discussion: The results will inform the design of a
tailored PS-intervention providing vivid and easily-accessible mental images of future-selves,
which can be retrieved when making health-related behavioral decisions to help align the
present-self with future-selves.