The pursuit for self-esteem has launched hundreds of books, TV shows, and blogs over the past 30 years, all trying to be the definitive source for improving self-confidence.
But science has also gotten in on the action, studying behavior and media consumption as potential factors for improving our opinions of ourselves.
We scoped out some recent studies to bring you 10 scientifically proven ways to boost your self-esteem, including spending time with your dad and voting Republican.
Spend a few minutes on your Facebook wall.
According to a study by social media researchers at Cornell, Facebook walls can have a positive influence on the self-esteem of college students.
63 Cornell students were left alone in the university's Social Media Lab and seated either at computers with Facebook, or at computers that were turned off. The students with access to Facebook were allowed to peruse their wall posts and newsfeed for three minutes, and then all students were asked to fill out a questionnaire designed to measure their self-esteem.
The students who were allowed to spend a few minutes on Facebook had much more positive feedback about themselves than those who had sat in the control group with no computer access.
Go out and get some exercise.
A Canadian study from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute found that overweight teens reaped psychological benefits after exercising twice a week for 10 weeks.
30 adolescents ranging in age from 12 to 17 were asked to either ride a stationary cycle or play an interactive video game of their choice for one hour.
Following the sessions, each group was asked to rate how competent they felt academically, socially, and athletically, as well as how they felt about their body image and self esteem.
Though little physical change occurred over the course of the experiment, the teens who exercised rated their self-confidence much higher than their video game-playing counterparts.
Create your own digital avatar.
A new study from the University of Missouri found that creating an avatar alter ego can serve as a positive influence in a person's life.
The study questioned 279 people who play the virtual reality game Second Life and found that the closer people felt to their avatars, the more likely they were to live a healthy lifestyle and have higher self-esteem in real life.
The avatars boosted feelings of self-worth and even inspired people to get fit to look more like their digital selves.
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