Best possible self (BPS) is a positive psychological intervention shown to enhance well-being which involves writing a description of an ideal future scenario. This paper presents a comparison of psychophysiological effects of a BPS activity that has been adapted for classroom settings and a time-matched control activity (NA). Thirty-three undergraduate students participated in the study that assessed state anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI), affect (Affective Slider, AS), and cardiac vagal activity (heart-rate variability, HRV) as an indicator of self-regulatory resource usage, at three time periods (PRE, DURING, POST). Results show that BPS led to a significantly greater increase in positive valence (DURING) and overall higher levels of cardiac vagal activity (HRV) compared to NA. These findings suggest that BPS has promising characteristics as a self-regulatory technique aimed at fostering positive affect and positively impacting self-regulatory resources. As BPS does not require expert knowledge nor specialized technology to administer, it may be a suitable activity for educators to use when teaching and having students practice self-regulation. This study presents evidence collected in a replicable multimodal approach of the self-regulatory effects of a brief BPS activity on undergraduate students.

翻译：最佳可能自我（BPS）是一种通过描述理想未来情景来提升幸福感的积极心理干预方法。本文比较了针对课堂环境改编的BPS活动与时间匹配的控制活动（NA）的心理生理效应。33名本科生参与了本研究，在三个时间点（前期、期间、后期）评估了状态焦虑（状态-特质焦虑量表，STAI）、情绪（情绪滑块，AS）以及作为自我调节资源使用指标的心脏迷走神经活动（心率变异性，HRV）。结果显示，与NA相比，BPS显著提升了积极效价（活动期间），并总体维持了更高水平的心脏迷走神经活动（HRV）。这些发现表明，BPS作为一种旨在培养积极情绪并积极影响自我调节资源的自我调节技术具有良好特性。由于BPS无需专业知识或专门技术即可实施，它可能成为教育者在教学和指导学生练习自我调节时的适宜活动。本研究通过可复制的多模态方法，提供了简短BPS活动对本科生自我调节效应的证据。