The Best Possible Self Intervention : the mediating effect of engagement with technology between the BPS future and past intervention and well-being

While the Best Possible Self (BPS) intervention has shown to be effective to increase well-being in prior research, the underlying mechanisms responsible for those effects are not fully discovered yet. (Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2006). Therefore, as the intervention was delivered using a mobile application, it is of interest to explore whether levels of user engagement can influence the effects of the BPS. Further, while the role of temporality, namely whether focusing on the past can produce similar results as focusing on the future, is not determined yet, it will be investigated whether the temporality might affect user engagement. Thus, this study aims to explore (1) whether levels of user engagement differ over time, (2) between time conditions and (3) whether user engagement had a mediating effect on well-being. This study revealed that user engagement had an impact on the outcomes of the BPS intervention, even though it did not act as a mediator between condition and well-being. Further, that user engagement and its subdimensions decreased over time during the study supports the view that strategies to enhance cognitive, behavioural and affective engagement should be explored in future research.