Sailing and self-esteem: the effect of a ten day developmental voyage at sea on the multidimensional self-concept

Abstract

This study sought to empirically assess the widely held assumption that developmental voyages at sea serve to enhance self-esteem. One hundred and fifty eight, 15 to 18 year olds completed measures of global and domain specific selfesteem three weeks prior to a ten day developmental voyage (Tl), on the first day of the voyage (T2), the last day of the voyage (T3), and then again, three months after the voyage (T 4). Analysis of T2 - T3 responses revealed that participants experienced elevated levels of global and domain specific self-esteem, particularly in those domains judged a priori to be more relevant to the programme. Further analysis (Tl - T4) revealed that global, and many of the domain specific increases were maintained in the three months following the voyage. Overall, these results suggest that developmental voyages can enhance participants' self-esteem, and that such effects are maintained over several months. The implications of these results and suggestions for future research are also discussed.