Board games as an element of psychological training in developing soft skills among psychology students

Jakub Lickiewicz; Zbigniew Wajda

doi:10.35765/pk.2026.5403.18

Jakub Lickiewicz Jagiellonian University Medical College in Krakow https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7371-0204
Zbigniew Wajda Jagiellonian University in Krakow https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5987-0145

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2026.5403.18

Keywords: psychological training, board games, group processes, soft skills

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study on the use of board games during group psychological training for psychology students. A longitudinal study design was employed, with data collected from participants in six psychological training groups during the first, fourth (midpoint), and seventh (final) sessions. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and a questionnaire containing questions developed by the authors were used. In three groups, psychological training was conducted using board games (n = 44), while in the other three groups it followed a “standard scenario” involving psychological exercises (n = 54). The collected data were compared between groups (game groups with vs. non-game groups) and within groups (first vs. fourth vs. seventh session).

In the first phase, participants in the psychological training groups using board games reported higher motivation to attend the sessions and rated them more highly in terms of their usefulness for personal development and understanding group processes. Anxiety related to participation in the sessions was similar in both groups and decreased significantly over the course of the training. In the second phase, greater changes were observed in the group not using games, where participants rated the sessions more highly in terms of their usefulness for self-understanding and personal development. It was also observed that self-esteem increased significantly in this group when comparing the first and final sessions.

Board games were particularly useful during the initial part of the training, when building motivation was an important aspect, whereas in the later stages of the training, less structured psychological exercises were more conducive to participants’ development.

Author Biographies

Jakub Lickiewicz, Jagiellonian University Medical College in Krakow

PhD in Health Sciences, associate professor at Jagiellonian University, psychologist and lawyer. He is a researcher and lecturer at the Chair of Bioethics and Health Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University. Outside academia, he is an avid board game enthusiast and seeks to incorporate board games into his teaching.

Zbigniew Wajda, Jagiellonian University in Krakow

PhD in Health Sciences, clinical psychologist, certified psychotherapist and trainee supervisor with the Polish Psychiatric Association. He is an assistant professor at the Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków. He also practices clinically at the Dąbrówka Centre for the Treatment of Neuroses and Eating Disorders in Gliwice.

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