ADULT PLAYFULNESS AS A PERSONALITY TRAIT: ITS CONCEPTUALIZATION, MEASUREMENT, AND RELATIONSHIP TO PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING
Open Access
- Author:
- Shen, Xiangyou
- Graduate Program:
- Recreation, Park and Tourism Management
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- August 20, 2010
- Committee Members:
- Garry Chick, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Harry C Zinn, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Garry Chick, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Linda L Caldwell, Committee Member
Melvin Michael Mark, Committee Member - Keywords:
- adult playfulness
play
personality trait
measurement
psychological well-being - Abstract:
- Playfulness is more than a frivolous luxury. This is a developing consensus view among scholars who have studied play and playfulness over the past several decades. Theoretical development and empirical studies of playfulness, however, have been seriously hampered by the lack of a sound conceptualization and a valid, reliable measure of playfulness. The purpose of this research was to examine playfulness in adults as a personality trait, including its conceptualization, measurement, and relationships to psychological well-being. An integrated interactionist approach was used to inform the entire process of theoretical development, including the conceptualization of trait as internal psychological quality that is strictly distinguished from its overt behavioral manifestations, and the proposition of studying playfulness in context in order to understand its coherent functioning in daily life. A theory-based conceptualization of adult playfulness was first developed, which defined the trait as characterized by three interrelated, relatively stable motivational and cognitive qualities that underlie the tendency to engage in playful behavior: fun-loving motivation, uninhibitedness, and spontaneity. Guided by this conceptualization and following a systematic psychometric approach, a self-report instrument was developed, refined, and validated through multiple studies, including focus groups, expert review, conceptual back-translation, a scale development study, and a known group comparison study. The resultant Adult Playfulness Trait Scale (APTS) is a 19-item uni-dimensional measurement that consists of three sub-scales, each assessing one playfulness dimension. Aside from adequate face validity and content validity established through literature reviews, logical analyses, and conceptual evaluation, supporting empirical evidence was found for the scale’s internal consistency reliability, structure validity, predictive validity, convergent validity, concurrent validity, and differentiation ability. As part of the effort to construct an interactionist theoretical framework for playfulness research, two additional measurements were developed following a similar procedure: the 6-item Psychological Situation for Play Scale (PSPS) and the 17-item Playful State Scale (PSS). Both scales displayed adequate internal consistency reliability, face validity, content validity, and structure validity. The implication of playfulness to psychological well-being was investigated by examining how playfulness related to one’s ability to entertain the self and tendency to perceive boredom during free time as well as two personality correlates: openness and positivity. The combined results of this research offered a deeper understanding of playfulness and an integrated interactionist framework for future playfulness research. With the conceptual and measurement tools provided by this framework, researchers may start to investigate the trait effects vs. situational effects in predicting playful behavior, how relevant situational factors motivate/demotivate play, the long-term/short term effects of play and playfulness, whether individuals with different levels of playfulness interpret or approach a life situation differently, and if yes, how. Finally, practical implications were discussed in areas of personnel decisions, recreational product design, programming, and therapeutic service.