Researchers Design Games to Boost Self-Esteem

May 12, 2004 -- Our sense of self is critical to our ability to get along with others and live our lives in relative harmony with those around us.

People who like themselves just seem to have it easier in life, as long as they don't get carried away with their own virtues. And we all know it's no fun spending time with persons who don't like themselves.

But what are you going to do if you find you're just unhappy with who you are, or what you have become? What if you suffer from low self-esteem?

Researchers at McGill University in Montreal have come up one possible answer: Computer games. Yup. They've concocted games that can actually help people raise their own sense of self worth.

Experimental psychologist Mark Baldwin, associate professor of psychology at McGill, has been delving into this subject for more than 20 years now, and what he's learned is that if you can change the way people see themselves in the eyes of others, then you can change the way they evaluate themselves.

Why is that important?

"The way you think and feel about yourself guides your actions, guides the way you approach your goals, guides the way you interact with other people," Baldwin says.

How we feel about ourselves is a "key" to living successfully, he says.

Catch the Smiling Face

Baldwin directed three doctoral students in his department, Jodene Baccus, Stephane Dandeneau and Maya Sakellaropoulo, in what is billed by the university as the world's first effort to create games that can enhance self-esteem. Reports on two of the games will be published in upcoming peer-reviewed journals, the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, and Psychological Science.

The games can be played here.