In a world-first, researchers from McGill University’s Department of Psychology have developed and tested computer games that can actually help people enhance their self-acceptance. Read on for brief facts concerning the studies that will be published in Psychological Science and the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.

May 6, 2004

Source: Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins
Communications officer, University Relations Office,
514-398-6752, sylvain-jacques.desjardins@mcgill.ca
Contact: Mark W. Baldwin, Department of Psychology,
514-398-6090, mbaldwin AT ego.psych.mcgill.ca

Computer Games that help boost self-esteem
Details behind Wham! and EyeSpy: The Matrix

In a world-first, researchers from McGill University’s Department of Psychology have developed and tested computer games that can actually help people enhance their self-acceptance. Read on for brief facts concerning the studies that will be published in Psychological Science and the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.

About Wham!

Can self-esteem be increased by playing a computer game called Wham? The answer is yes according to a study conducted by Jodene Baccus, a doctoral student in McGill’s Department of Psychology. Baccus, the lead researcher, collaborated with McGill graduate Dominic Packer (now a grad student at University of Toronto), under the direction of associate psychology professor Mark W. Baldwin. The team explains how computer games can enhance feelings of self-acceptance in the July edition of Psychological Science.

Some 139 participants were recruited for the study, which began with a self-esteem measurement. Participants were then split into two groups: one played Wham! and another group played a placebo version. Participants who played Wham! entered into a computer some self-relevant information (e.g. first name, birthday). These identifiers would then flash on screen, be clicked (whammed) and be followed by a smiling face.

Baccus found that pairing a person’s personal information with the game’s positive social feedback helped enhance self-acceptance. “After playing Wham! for 10 minutes, the automatic and unconscious thoughts of participants was measured,” she says. “The result showed that players of Wham! had higher self-esteem than participants who played the placebo game.”

About EyeSpy: The Matrix
The McGill scientists designed EyeSpy: The Matrix to help change the habits of people with low self esteem, who often seem to expect rejection. In a forthcoming edition of the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, Stéphane Dandeneau, a doctoral student, and Mark W. Baldwin, an associate psychology professor, explain how EyeSpy: The Matrix was created to train people to reduce their focus on non-acceptance.

“We designed the game to teach players to seek the smiling or approving person in a crowd of frowning faces,” explains Dandeneau, who with Baldwin recruited 64 participants for the study. The researchers begun by measuring the self-esteem of each participant. Half of participants were then asked to play EyeSpy and half competed a placebo task. Using an attentional bias measure called the Rejection Stroop, the researchers demonstrated that the bias toward rejection among people with low self-esteem – versus subjects who completed a placebo task – was significantly lower for participants who completed EyeSpy.

“We found that EyeSpy: The Matrix teaches people, especially those with low self-esteem, the habit of looking for acceptance and ignoring rejection,” explains Dandeneau. “This could serve as an antidote to their usual habit of consistently looking for rejection information in their environment.”

To sample Wham! or Eyespy: The Matrix, see our games page.

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