The DOI matches its Crossref record; 49 of the 52 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Become more optimistic by imagining a best possible self: Effects of a two week intervention
Open accessAbstract
Background and objectives Optimism is a personality trait which has repeatedly been shown to correlate with, and predict psychological and physical well-being. The present study 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).Methods In order to minimize inter-individual differences in content of imagery, participants constructed their BPS according to 3 domains, namely a personal, relational, and professional domain. 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 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.Limitations In order to test the effectiveness of our BPS imagery intervention we relied exclusively on self-report measures.Conclusion The present study confirmed that imagining a BPS enhances levels of optimism, independent of the mood effect.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Regarding direct effects of PP on activity, the established benefits of PP on mood, resilience, well-being, and optimism (pathway B1) [41, 54, 124, 125] are associated with increased physical activity (pathway B2) [48, 88, 123, 131, 132].”
From Positive Psychological Interventions for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Rationale, Theoretical Model, and Intervention Development (2015) · cites this paper as [125]
In the citing paper
“PP exercises have led to increased optimism and outcome expectancy [124, 125], confidence and self-efficacy [126], and greater perceived social support and interpersonal connectedness (pathway A1) [127, 128].”
From Positive Psychological Interventions for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Rationale, Theoretical Model, and Intervention Development (2015) · cites this paper as [125]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173 · Cited by 91,532
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037//0003-066x.56.3.218 · Cited by 18,025
Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies.
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1985) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.4.3.219 · Cited by 6,690 · cited 1×
“Dispositional optimism was measured using a Dutch translation of Scheier and Carver ’ s (1985) Life Orientation Test (LOT), which re fl ects the extent to which individuals generally expect favorable outcomes.”
A revised version of the Psychoticism scale
Eysenck, S. B. G., Eysenck, H. J., & Barrett, P. (1985) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/0191-8869(85)90026-1 · Cited by 3,094
Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model
Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.482 · Cited by 2,541
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1992) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/bf01173489 · Cited by 2,220
Argyle, M. (2013) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315812212 · Cited by 1,549
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1987) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00434.x · Cited by 1,268
The attributional Style Questionnaire
Peterson, C., Semmel, A., von Baeyer, C., Abramson, L., Metalsky, G., & Seligman, M. (1982) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/bf01173577 · Cited by 1,226
Depressive attributional style.
Seligman, M. E. P., Abramson, L. Y., Semmel, A., & von Baeyer, C. L. (1979) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.88.3.242 · Cited by 1,131
Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760500510676 · Cited by 925
Coping: The Psychology of What Works
Snyder, C. R. (1999) · Cited by 865
Mackinnon, A., Jorm, A. F., Christensen, H., Korten, A. E., Jacomb, P. A., & Rodgers, B. (1999) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(98)00251-7 · Cited by 850
The Health Benefits of Writing about Life Goals
King, L. A. (2001) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167201277003 · Cited by 795
Imagery rescripting in cognitive behaviour therapy: Images, treatment techniques and outcomes
Holmes, E. A., Arntz, A., & Smucker, M. R. (2007) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2007.10.007 · Cited by 465
What are the differences between happiness and self-esteem?
Lyubomirsky, S., Tkach, C., & DiMatteo, M. R. (2006) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-005-0213-y · Cited by 431 · cited 1×
“Optimism has been shown to correlate with higher levels of self-esteem (Lyubomirsky, Tkach, & Dimatteo, 2006), positive mood (Andersson, 1996; Ben-Zur, 2002; Räikkönen, Matthews, Flory, Owens, & Gump, 1999; Wenglert & Rosen, 1995), more resilience to stressful or negative events (Solberg,…”
Optimism and Rehospitalization After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery
Scheier, M. F., Matthews, K. A., Owens, J. F., Schulz, R., Bridges, M. W., Magovern, G. J., & Carver, C. S. (1999) · Archives of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/archinte.159.8.829 · Cited by 383
Somatic and Psychologic Predictors of Long-term Unfavorable Outcome After Surgical Intervention
Peters, M. L., Sommer, M., de Rijke, J. M., Kessels, F., Heineman, E., Patijn, J., Marcus, M. A. E., Vlaeyen, J. W. S., & van Kleef, M. (2007) · Annals of Surgery · doi:10.1097/01.sla.0000245495.79781.65 · Cited by 356
Self-citationPeters, M. L., Flink, I. K., Boersma, K., & Linton, S. J. (2010) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439761003790963 · Cited by 329
Self-citationThe causal effect of mental imagery on emotion assessed using picture-word cues.
Holmes, E. A., Mathews, A., Mackintosh, B., & Dalgleish, T. (2008) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/1528-3542.8.3.395 · Cited by 299
Räikkönen, K., Matthews, K. A., Flory, J. D., Owens, J. F., & Gump, B. B. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.1.104 · Cited by 288
The benefits of optimism: A meta-analytic review of the life orientation test
Andersson, G. (1996) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/0191-8869(96)00118-3 · Cited by 230
Optimism, Pessimism, and Gambling: The Downside of Optimism
Gibson, B. D., & Sanbonmatsu, D. M. (2004) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167203259929 · Cited by 226
The psychology of happiness, 2nd ed.
Argyle, M. (2001) · Cited by 225
Optimism and immunity: Do positive thoughts always lead to positive effects?
Segerstrom, S. C. (2004) · Brain Behavior and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2004.08.003 · Cited by 222
Looking at or through rose-tinted glasses? Imagery perspective and positive mood.
Holmes, E. A., Coughtrey, A. E., & Connor, A. (2008) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/a0013617 · Cited by 198
Coping, affect and aging: the roles of mastery and self-esteem
Ben‐Zur, H. (2002) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(01)00031-9 · Cited by 191
Matthews, K. A., Räikkönen, K., Sutton-Tyrrell, K., & Kuller, L. H. (2004) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000139999.99756.a5 · Cited by 179
Engagement and Arousal: Optimism’s Effects During a Brief Stressor
Nes, L. S., Segerstrom, S. C., & Sephton, S. E. (2004) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167204271319 · Cited by 157
Ruthig, J. C., Perry, R. P., Hall, N. C., & Hladkyj, S. (2004) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02566.x · Cited by 151
Mika Kivimaki, B., Vahtera, J., Elovainio, M. J., Helenius, H. Y. M., Singh‐Manoux, A., & Pentti, J. (2005) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.4.413 · Cited by 148
The Costs and Benefits of Optimistic Explanations and Dispositional Optimism
Tennen, H. A., & Affleck, G. G. (1987) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00443.x · Cited by 143
Mindset, optimistic bias about personal risk and health‐protective behaviour
Weinstein, N. D., & Lyon, J. E. (1999) · British Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1348/135910799168641 · Cited by 140
Affect, Emotional Disorder, and Future-directed Thinking
MacLeod, A. K. (1996) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/026999396380394 · Cited by 124
Optimism, Goal Conflict, and Stressor-Related Immune Change
Segerstrom, S. C. (2001) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1023/a:1012271410485 · Cited by 100
For Every Malady a Sovereign Cure: Optimism Training
Riskind, J. H., Sarampote, C. S., & Mercier, M. A. (1996) · Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1891/0889-8391.10.2.105 · Cited by 83
Attributional style and athletic performance: Strategic optimism and defensive pessimism
Gordon, R. A. (2007) · Psychology of sport and exercise · doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2007.04.007 · Cited by 79
Mahler, H. I. M., & Kulik, J. A. (2000) · Psychology Health & Medicine · doi:10.1080/713690216 · Cited by 74
How does optimism suppress immunity? Evaluation of three affective pathways.
Segerstrom, S. C. (2006) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.25.5.653 · Cited by 74
Korrelboom, K., de Jong, M., Huijbrechts, I., & Daansen, P. (2009) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0016742 · Cited by 65
Explanatory style, expectations, and depressive symptoms
Peterson, C., & Vaidya, R. S. (2001) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(00)00221-x · Cited by 61
Self-consciousness, outcome expectancy, and persistence
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1982) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/0092-6566(82)90002-2 · Cited by 60
Benefits of expressive writing and expressive talking about life goals
Harrist, S., Carlozzi, B. L., McGovern, A. R., & Harrist, A. W. (2006) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2006.09.002 · Cited by 60
Heritability and nineteen-year stability of long and short EPQ-R Neuroticism scales
Birley, A. J., Gillespie, N. A., Heath, A. C., Sullivan, P. F., Boomsma, D. I., & Martin, N. G. (2006) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.09.005 · Cited by 55
Optimism, self-esteem, mood and subjective health
Wenglert, L., & Rosén, A. (1995) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/0191-8869(94)00193-v · Cited by 52
Giving Off a Rosy Glow: The Manipulation of an Optimistic Orientation
Fosnaugh, J., Geers, A. L., & Wellman, J. A. (2009) · The Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.3200/socp.149.3.349-364 · Cited by 46
Convergence and predictive validity in measures of optimism and pessimism: Sequential studies
Reilley, S. P., Geers, A. L., Lindsay, D. L., DeRonde, L., & Dember, W. N. (2005) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-005-1003-z · Cited by 40
Fresco, D., Moore, M. T., Walt, L., & Craighead, L. (2009) · Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1891/0889-8391.23.4.350 · Cited by 25
Cohen, L., van den Bout, J., Kramer, W., & van Vliet, T. (1986) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/bf01173753 · Cited by 14
Flagged first, then by citations
3 of the 52 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy
Gilbert, P. (2014) · British Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjc.12043 · Cited by 1,593
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2014) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2014.02.003 · Cited by 1,004
Positive interventions: An emotion regulation perspective.
Quoidbach, J., Mikolajczak, M., & Gross, J. J. (2015) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0038648 · Cited by 546
Great expectations: a meta-analytic examination of optimism and hope.
Alarcon, G. M., Bowling, N. A., & Khazon, S. (2013) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2012.12.004 · Cited by 531
Mental Imagery in Depression: Phenomenology, Potential Mechanisms, and Treatment Implications
Holmes, E. A., Blackwell, S. E., Burnett Heyes, S., Renner, F., & Raes, F. (2016) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-021815-092925 · Cited by 325
Metadata
- Authors
- Meevissen, Y. M. C., Peters, M. L., & Alberts, H. J. E. M.
- Affiliations
- Maastricht University (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Meevissen, Yvo M.C.
- Venue
- Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-09
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 371-378
- ISSN
- 0005-7916 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2112854993
- Cited by
- 335
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 21.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- NWO
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- optimism, best possible self, mental imagery, imagery intervention, mood, positive mood, personality trait change, self-concept
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Affect, Female, Humans, Male, Motivation, Neurotic Disorders, Personality, Personality Inventory, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Psychotherapy, Brief, Imagery, Psychotherapy, Self Report
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
