Adding multiple select data to widget database

I’m trying to what I thought was simple, namely use a select element in a form that allows for multiple selections, and add that information to a widget database. Here is the relevant code for the widget

public function update( $new_instance, $old_instance ) {
	$instance = array();
	$instance['numoption[]'] = $new_instance['numoption[]'];
	return $instance;
}	

	public function form( $instance ) {

		$numoption =$instance['numoption[]'];
    ?>
		<p>
				<label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('numoption'); ?>"><?php _e('How many results displayed?'); ?></label>
				<select name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name('numoption[]'); ?>" id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('numoption'); ?>" class="widefat" multiple="multiple">
					<option value="1">1</option>
						<option value="2">2</option>
						<option value="3">3</option>
						<option value="4">4</option>
						<option value="5">5</option>

						<?php
						}

But here is what shows up in the database
a:2:{i:4;a:1{s:11:”numoption[]”;N;}s:12:”_multiwidget”;i:1;}

Any ideas how to make this work properly so that if you choose multiple selections they go in the database table?

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