Can Playfulness be Stimulated? A Randomised Placebo-Controlled Online Playfulness Intervention Study on Effects on Trait Playfulness, Well-Being, and Depression

Playfulness in middle- and older age: testing associations with life satisfaction, character strengths, and flourishing

OBJECTIVES

Playfulness describes individual differences in (re)framing situations in a way that they are experienced as interesting, intellectually stimulating, or entertaining. We extended the study of playfulness to groups of middle- and higher age and examined the relations of four facets of playfulness (Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, and Whimsical) to indicators of positive psychological functioning.

METHOD

We collected self-report data from 210 participants aged between 50 and 98 years.

RESULTS

The playfulness expressions in this age group were comparable to younger adults. We found that playfulness relates to life satisfaction, the PERMA domains of well-being, and character strengths with small-to-medium correlation effect sizes. The OLIW facets showed differential associations, with regression analyses revealing that particularly Other-directed is positively associated with positive psychological functioning.

CONCLUSION

Our findings highlight the importance of playful relationships across the lifespan. We discuss the findings regarding the role of playfulness for healthy aging.

Exploring the acquaintanceship effect for the accuracy of judgments of traits and profiles of adult playfulness

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to extend the research on the interpersonal perception of adult playfulness (global and facets: Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, and Whimsical [OLIW]) by testing whether judgmental accuracy relates to indicators of acquaintanceship.

BACKGROUND

Playfulness has been found to contribute to social relationships.

METHOD

Using data from 658 dyads (1,318 participants) who had been acquainted for 1 month to 62.2 years, we computed measurement invariance analyses and self-other agreement (SOA) for the facets and profiles of playfulness. We operationalized acquaintanceship as length of acquaintanceship, relationship type (friends, family, and partners), and intensity of acquaintanceship. We tested acquaintanceship effects with multigroup latent analyses and response surface analyses.

RESULTS

Self- and other ratings of playfulness showed scalar measurement invariance and robust SOA in traits and distinctive profiles (≥ .37). There was only minor evidence for acquaintanceship effects for relationship duration (only Intellectual playfulness), and group comparisons showed that friends yielded lower SOA in profiles than dyads of family members and couples.

CONCLUSION

Considering that playfulness can be accurately perceived even at zero acquaintance, we discuss whether playfulness is a "good trait" (high trait visibility) in which acquaintanceship plays a minor role. We also discuss methodological considerations for detecting acquaintanceship effects during relationship formation.

"Play with Me, Darling!" Testing the Associations between Adult Playfulness and Indicators of Sexuality

Previous studies have shown that individual differences in adult playfulness are important in interpersonal relationships. However, there is a lack of research on the role of playfulness in human sexuality. Using three studies with four independently collected samples (N_total = 1,124) we tested the differential relations between global playfulness and four facets of playfulness (Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, Whimsical; OLIW) with broad ("Sexy Seven") and narrow (sociosexuality, sexual sensation seeking, and sexual compulsivity) sexuality-related personality traits and sadomasochistic sexual practices (BDSM). Our main findings were: (1) Each of the Sexy Seven traits was related to global playfulness or at least one playfulness facet while only Whimsical playfulness (liking odd and/or unusual things, persons, or activities) was related to each Sexy Seven trait; (2) Sexual sensation seeking related to playfulness with small effect sizes (f² ≤ 0.11), Whimsical playfulness positively related to narrow traits of sexuality; and (3) those engaging in BDSM were more playful than non-practitioners. The findings support the notion that playfulness (particularly Whimsical playfulness) relates to sexuality-related personality traits and sadomasochistic practices may be one way of expressing adult playfulness.

Do Clowns Really Taste Funny? An Investigation of the Relationship between Humor and Playfulness in Clown Doctors

Healthcare clowning represents a well-established method for relieving patients and their relatives of discomfort during hospitalization. Although studies concerning the effectiveness of this approach are increasing in number, state-of-the-art studies conducted to evaluate the psychological characteristics of clown doctors are scarce. In this cross-sectional study, a convenient sample of 210 clown doctors (143 females, 67 males) aged between 18 and 75 years (M = 47.34, SD = 12.31) completed a demographic questionnaire, the Comic Styles Markers, and the Short Measure for Adult Playfulness. The results demonstrated that clown doctors bring higher levels of fun, benevolent humor, and nonsense and a lower level of cynicism compared to the populace. Moreover, the participants with more experience tend to use less irony, sarcasm, and cynicism than those with less experience. Playfulness was primarily related to the lighter styles of humor, and specific differences between the Whiteface and the Auguste clown doctors were observed. The results are discussed with reference to previous studies conducted on groups of clown doctors.

Effects of Physical Education Playfulness on Academic Grit and Attitude toward Physical Education in Middle School Students in The Republic of Korea

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of playability in secondary physical education classes in Korea on academic grit and attitudes toward physical education. A total of 296 middle school students located in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, Korea were surveyed via simple random sampling. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistical analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and standard multiple regression analysis. Three primary results were obtained. First, playfulness was found to have a significant positive effect on academic grit. Specifically, mental spontaneity positively and significantly affected academic passion (β = 0.400), academic perseverance (β = 0.298), and consistency of academic interest (β = 0.297). Additionally, among the sub-variables of playfulness, humorous perspective was found to have a positive significant effect on maintaining consistency of academic interest (β = 0.255). The second primary finding was that playfulness had a significant positive effect on classroom attitudes to physical education. Specifically, physical animation and emotional fluidity were found to positively and significantly affect basic attitudes (β = 0.290 and 0.330, respectively) and social attitudes (β = 0.398 and 0.297, respectively). Third, academic grit was found to have a significant positive effect on PE classroom attitudes. Specifically, academic passion was found to have a positive and significant effect on basic attitudes (β = 0.427) and social attitude (β = 0.358). The results imply that attitude toward school life can be improved through physical activity in secondary physical education classes.

Does the self-reported playfulness of older adults influence their wellbeing? An exploratory study

Aim: Older adults represent a growing demographic in Australia who are at an increased risk of isolation, loneliness, and experiencing poorer overall health. Thus, the need for understanding factors that influence older adults' wellbeing is important. Emergent research into adult playfulness has shown positive associations with indicators of wellbeing, but limited research has been conducted in older adults (60+). This study investigated whether types of playfulness present in Australian older adults (60+) were predictive of their wellbeing.Method: An online survey was administered (n = 123) using the Other-directed, Light-hearted, Intellectual, Whimsical (OLIW) Playfulness Scale and the PERMA-Profiler wellbeing measure to explore playfulness types and its influence on self-reported wellbeing. Multiple linear regression analysis with bootstrapping was completed to determine if any significant relationships between OLIW and PERMA-Profiler subscales existed.Results: Playfulness was a significant predictor of wellbeing. The OLIW Other-directed subscale (enjoyment of others, using playfulness in tense situations) was the greatest predictor of PERMA-Profiler subscales with OLIW Intellectual and Whimsical subscales making smaller contributions.Conclusion/implications: Playfulness was shown to be a significant contributor to wellbeing in older adults and should be used as a part of occupational therapy intervention, especially when considering social activities.

Testing associations between language use in descriptions of playfulness and age, gender, and self-reported playfulness in German-speaking adults

Adult playfulness describes individual differences in (re)framing everyday situations as personally interesting, and/or entertaining, and/or intellectually stimulating. We aimed at extending initial evidence on the interconnectedness between language use and adult playfulness by asking 264 participants (M = 26.5 years, SD = 9.7; 66.7% women) to provide written descriptions of their understanding of playfulness (mean length: 30.6 words; SD = 24.1) and collected self-reports of their playfulness. We used the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count methodology to quantitatively analyze the language use in these descriptions and tested the associations with individual differences in participants’ age, gender, and playfulness. While higher expressions in all measures of playfulness did go along with writing more content when describing playfulness (rs = 0.13 to 0.25), facet-wise analyses revealed differential findings (e.g., intellectual playfulness relates to using words describing cognitive processes); but the effects were small. We found that being a women and younger age were related to writing longer texts (0.13 ≤ rs ≤ 0.24), and we discovered additional associations between certain LIWC categories and age and gender. Our study expands the knowledge about adult playfulness and its manifestations in natural language use. We embed our findings into previous research and discuss limitations and potential approaches for replication studies.

The Evolution of Playfulness, Play and Play-Like Phenomena in Relation to Sexual Selection

By conceptualizing Sexual Selection, Darwin showed a way to analyze intra-specific individual differences within an evolutionary perspective. Interestingly, Sexual Selection is often used to investigate the origins of sports, arts, humor, religion and other phenomena that, in several languages, are simply called "play." Despite their manifested differences, these phenomena rely on shared psychological processes, including playfulness. Further, in such behaviors there is usually considerable individual variability, including sex differences, and positive relationship with mating success. However, Sexual Selection is rarely applied in the study of play, with exception to what is concerned as infant training behavior for adult sex roles. We offer an integrated grounding of playful phenomena aligning evolutionary propositions based on sexual selection, which might stimulate further exploration of playfulness within evolutionary perspective.

Perceived Functions of Playfulness in Adult English as a Foreign Language Learners: An Exploratory Study

Influenced by the flowering of positive psychology in the field of foreign language acquisition research in recent years, the present study aimed to explore the perceived functions of playfulness, as a personality construct, among English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. To this aim, an initial sample of 38 EFL learners were selected randomly from the private language institutes of Mashhad, the second largest city in Iran. They were interviewed about any perceived functions of playfulness in the EFL learning context. A qualitative content analysis of the collected data led to the extraction of four categories: Fun and laughter, creativity, mastery orientation, and cultivating relationships. A further in-depth analysis of the categories and comparison with the functions of adult playfulness in psychology (primarily Proyer's 2014 and 2017 works of research) revealed that these four categories can be subsumed under two of the four structural components of adult playfulness; namely, other-directed playfulness and intellectual playfulness. The ability of EFL learners to turn language learning situations, tasks, and environment into enjoyable ones via their playfulness can have implications for the quality of their interpersonal interactions in class and eventually their language proficiency. The findings of this study can pave the way for the translation of the adult playfulness construct from developmental and personality psychology and family relations into the second language acquisition (SLA) domain and its conceptualization in future research in this domain.

Connectedness and well-being in simulated nature

People relate to nature physically, cognitively and emotionally, and this relationship fosters their well-being. There are several types of environments that vary according to their degree of naturalness, raising the question of whether they each exert different effects on people, connectedness and well-being. In order to study the extent to which environmental connectedness and well-being are a function of viewing different types of nature, we conducted a study with 454 participants from five different countries, who viewed images on a computer screen of one of three types of environment (totally natural, quasi-natural or non-natural) and responded to a series of associated items. The results of a mediation analysis showed an indirect effect of type of environment on well-being through positive and negative affect and connectedness to nature. The corresponding ANOVAs revealed differences in the connectedness and well-being elicited by different types of environment, and in preference: totally natural and quasi-natural environments (with no differences between them) showed differences with non-natural environments. Therefore, our study results suggest the usefulness of images of natural environments in fostering people's well-being and connectedness to nature.

Testing the Associations Between Adult Playfulness and Sensation Seeking: A SEM Analysis of Librarians and Police Officers

Playfulness is an understudied personality trait in adults. We examined the relationships between facets of adult playfulness and sensation seeking (SS) in distant vocational groups, namely, librarians (N = 339) and police officers (N = 399). First, manifest and latent group comparisons (measurement invariance [MI] analysis) showed that police officers were higher in SS than librarians, while we found no group differences for playfulness. Second, structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses showed that playfulness was widely positively related to SS, and findings were replicated across groups. However, the effects were of small to moderate size, and playfulness and SS shared between 4 and 22% variance. Our findings indicate that playfulness is not redundant with SS. Our study extends the understanding of adult playfulness by clarifying its overlap and distinctiveness from SS.